A Physician to the Soul | Miroslav Volf

The Doctor's Art

What makes a life worth living? This question has animated great thinkers and faith traditions for millennia. Interestingly enough, in our time of rapid globalization, technological advancement, and material abundance, we often seem more unmoored from our conception of the self and its relation to the world than ever before.

Our guest on this episode, Miroslav Volf, has spent his life wrestling with this question of questions and helping others to do the same. Volf is a professor of theology at Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, and his work explores the intersections of faith, identity, and public life. He is the author of more than 10 books, including the bestselling Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (2023), based on one of the most popular courses at Yale University, which he co-teaches. The book, an inquiry into the nature of human flourishing, invites readers to consider wisdom drawn from various religious, philosophical, and literary traditions. He challenges the often superficial metrics of happiness promoted by modern society, urging readers to reflect deeply on the kind of life they want to lead — one that is not just pleasurable or successful by conventional standards, but that is positively shaped by adversity, contemplation, and interconnectedness.

In our conversation, we discuss how growing up as the son of a Pentecostal minister in Former Yugoslavia influenced Volf's relationship with Christian theology, why faith is a “comfortably difficult” thing, why “finding your authentic self” is a problematic concept in modern culture, how social media, divisive political currents, and the relentless drive for productivity distract us from what matters most, and the nobility in pursuing a richer, more intentioned, and just life.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

3:12 - What Volf’s work as a systematic theologian entails, and key childhood experiences that shaped his relationship with faith

12:18 - The philosophical basis for the Yale class that inspired the book Life Worth Living

20:23 - Why Volf uses Smokey Bear as a representation of the pursuit of a meaningful life

26:53 - Shifting the focus of life from personal desires toward the quest to live by “truth”

40:38 - The inherent challenge in shifting focus away from “I, Me, and Mine”

45:49 - How the search for a meaningful life relates to the experiences of a medical professional

51:42 - Advice for how to add philosophical practices to a busy modern life
Miroslav Volf is the author of 17 books, including Life Worth Living (2023)
Past episodes discussed in this episode:

Episode 95: Shaping a Soul, Building a Self | William Deresiewicz

Episode 21: Pain, Pleasure, and Finding Balance | Anna Lembke, MD

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