The mission of this blog is to stimulate interest in the deeply perceptive and still-relevant teachings of Levi A. Olan (1903-1984) by sharing from the Levi A. Olan Sermons and Images at Bridwell Library Digital Collection. The title "Conscience of the City" was applied to Rabbi Olan by a Fortune magazine reporter in 1964. Although Olan's city was Dallas, his thought transcends locality. Our goal is to...
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Psychiatry and Religious Faith
“The Biblical faith teaches that man and God are co-workers in the business of living.” Is psychiatry a replacement for religion? During the 1960s reliance on the former was growing in popularity while the latter …
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An Attempt at Defining Religion
“The Biblical answer to man’s question – ‘why should I do good and not evil?’ – is that man is made in the image of God. God is holy, so is man.” Rabbi Olan’s March …
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Every act must be tested
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Let Us Pay What We Owe
“There is a story of a poor beggar who came to the home of a very rich man. He looked upon the lavish furniture, the gold and silver ornaments, the precious jewels and clothes of …
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On Praying to a Limited God
“If God can do anything and He loves all mankind, and He does not use His power to help His child, He is either not God or not good, as the poet McLeish told us …
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Men fail over and over again
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The business of religion
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Yet One More Plague
“One of the oldest and most persistent of our human failings is our stubborn refusal to learn from experience.” Rabbi Olan’s sermon “Yet One More Plague,” delivered on February 9, 1964, begins with a dramatic …
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Can God Really Help?
“All man really wants to hear from God is: ‘I am.'” On February 2, 1964 Rabbi Olan returned to some familiar themes found in many of his radio sermons: the existence of God, the nature …
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God just is
