James P. Carse Quotes

James P. Carse is Professor Emeritus of history and literature of religion at New York University. His book Finite and Infinite Games was widely influential. Although Dr. Carse may not believe in God, he describes himself as religious "in the sense that I am endlessly fascinated with the unknowability of what it means to be human, to exist at all."

Also known as Professor

True parents do not see to it that their children grow in a particular way, according to a preferred pattern or scripted stages, but they see to it that they grow with their children.

James P. Carse
- Children
- True
- Parents
In an encounter with divine reality, we do not hear a voice but acquire a voice, and the voice we acquire is our own.

James P. Carse
- Reality

The finite play for life is serious; the infinite play of life is joyous.

James P. Carse
- Life
- Serious
Belief systems thrive in circumstances of collision. They are energized by their opposites.

James P. Carse
There are at least two kinds of games. One could be called finite, the other, infinite. A finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the play.

James P. Carse
- Game
- Purpose
- Winning
What I have experienced, and experienced repeatedly, is the silence of God. For many years, this was a distressing matter for me. I did not consider it an experience, but the absence of an experience.

James P. Carse
- God
- Experience
- Silence
The Bible... provides no guide to reading the Bible. In fact, it is full of such inconsistencies, contradictions, lacunae, obscurities, baffling tales, and poetic imagery that to quote it at all is to select from conflicting alternative passages. Every quotation is therefore necessarily an interpretation.

James P. Carse
- Reading
- Bible