classics digests, reflections and reviews
Previously in the “Exploring LDAB” blog series, I calculated roughly the manuscript coverage for every book in the New Testament. To my excitement, I’ve since found out that I can now calculate the New Testament manuscript coverage with precision. Thanks to the tremendous joint efforts of NT scholars and IT professionals, who have provided detailed manuscript information online. There are a total of 7957 verses in the New Testament. For […]
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Last year, I wrote a blog series on Leuven Database of Ancient Books (LDAB), in which I queried the metadata of ancient manuscripts, including their bookform, material, manuscript counts, popularity of classical authors, and the historical formation of the New Testament Canon. To my pleasant surprise, that series became by far the most popular series in 2018. In this post, I’ll look into another topic related to the New Testament, […]
Read morePreface The following is a comment made by a fellow WP blogger on one of my posts on Kierkegaard. Because it is very informative and interesting, I decided to turn it into a “guest post”, so that other readers can potentially learn from it. The author is a Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, and did his doctoral thesis on Kierkegaard. So his opinion carries the weight of an expert. […]
Read morethis mental infirmity is now more prevalent and hurtful than ever, to such an extent that even after the truth has been as fully demonstrated as man can prove it to man, they hold for the very truth their own unreasonable fancies, either on account of their great blindness, which prevents them from seeing what is plainly set before them, or on account of their opinionative obstinacy, which prevents them […]
Read moreIt was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. –Hebrews 2:10 Historical Background Christianity historically has not taught the “prosperity gospel”. On the contrary, it might be properly called the Suffering Gospel. Jesus was not prosperous in this life, but suffered and died on the cross. His disciples made it […]
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Augustine had great respect for the Roman statesman and orator Cicero, whose writings inspired him to pursue philosophy, especially Platonism. What Augustine writes about the death of Cicero and Fall of the Roman Republic (Bk III, 30) is a sobering historical lesson for all idealists who aspire to and engage in politics. After Gaius Julius Caesar had conquered Pompey, he was suspected of aiming at royalty, and was assassinated by […]
Read moreTwo Contrasting Conceptions of Human Dignity In Book I of the City of God, Augustine contrasts Greco-Roman (pagan) and Christian conceptions of dignity. Cato the Younger and Lucretia are paragons of pagan virtues, of man and woman, respectively. They committed suicide out of a strong sense of dignity. Lucretia killed herself to protest her innocence as a rape victim; Cato the Younger, a Stoic, would rather die as a free […]
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