Re: we are not suppose to know this

On Jan 27, 12:11 am, Matt Giwer <jul...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Day Brown wrote:
Reminds me that Gibbon, commenting on the time of the martyrs, when
Christianity was still in its first century, and most pure, that they
all thot Jesus would return in their own lifetimes. Whackos go back a
long ways.

Of course it reminds you of Gibbon's baseless speculation which is pious
but without foundation. It is in conformity with the ideas of Reformation,
that the Catholic church screwed it all up, that Protestants should imitate
what they can determine to be the "pure" form indicated by the Epistles.
I have seen phrases in the documentation left by the Founding Fathers
that were taken right from Gibbon. They also took his warning about
the fall of the republic in their design for the US constitution. I
yet to see where Gibbon was wrong on anything other than triviality.
His understanding of character, both of individual men, and the
organizations they form, in this case Christianity, has always been
insightful, but never pious. Unless you have, as you may, a special
definition for the term.

The sheer scope of his encyclopedic knowledge of the Roman world
vastly exceeds the intellectual content of your posts IMO; but readers
can make their own judgements. There's a *reason* Gibbon has been
cited authoratively since 1776.

As that is without foundation and contrary to well known facts today there
is no point to taking it seriously.

Not that there are not lotsa fundamental problems with the current
system that indicate its days are numbered. Wallace, in his anthro
classic, "Culture and Personality" noted that when a system is on the
skids, people's coping skills dont work so well anymore, and so they
engage in "magical thinking". A term he coined. Thus we see the rise
in religious fanatics and their rants.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: we are not suppose to know this
    ... Reminds me that Gibbon, commenting on the time of the martyrs, when ... Christianity was still in its first century, and most pure, that they ... all thot Jesus would return in their own lifetimes. ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: we are not suppose to know this
    ... Christianity was still in its first century, and most pure, that they ... what they can determine to be the "pure" form indicated by the Epistles. ... yet to see where Gibbon was wrong on anything other than triviality. ... you are not even appealing to authority as that fallacy requires actually citing the authority. ...
    (sci.archaeology)