classics digests, reflections and reviews
In his Confessions, Augustine writes that he studied Platonism before converting to Christianity. Of all philosophies, Platonism most approximates Christianity, so the former serves to prepare his mind for the latter. But perhaps more importantly, familiarity with both enables him to discern the preeminence of Christianity over philosophy. Augustine devotes the last three books of Part I of City of God, Books VIII to X, to a discussion of Platonism. […]
Read moreChrist is Mediator, not because He is the Word, for as the Word He is supremely blessed and supremely immortal, and therefore far from miserable mortals; but He is Mediator as He is man, for by His humanity He shows us that, … the blessed and beatific God, having Himself become a partaker of our humanity, has afforded us ready access to the participation of His divinity. For in delivering […]
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Socrates The first who directed the entire effort of philosophy to ethics, all who went before him having expended their greatest efforts in the investigation of nature. However, it cannot be certainly discovered whether Socrates did this because he was wearied of obscure and uncertain things, and so wished to direct his mind to the discovery of something manifest and certain, which was necessary in order to the obtaining of […]
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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16 It seems fitting to spend some time during this Easter weekend to look at the textual history of one of the most famous verses in the entire Bible, John 3:16. A verse that captures the essence of Christianity. For this exercise, I wrote a […]
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The Back Story There is a Chinese saying, “You never regret how little knowledge you have until the time comes to use it”. Many times in the past two years, I was painfully reminded of that truth. When I started writing this “Exploring LDAB” series last year, I ventured into fields that were totally strange to me, and was forced to learn many things I had never thought of learning […]
Read moreThe ancient Greeks and Romans were very religious. Religion permeated every aspect of social and political life. For almost everything in human existence, from childbirth to marriage to death, there is a pagan deity in charge of it. It is as though they believed that every aspect of human life is so dignified, mysterious and wonderful that it is worthy of the special care of a god. Augustine, while critiquing […]
Read moreHaving read many classical pagan and Christian authors, many of whom I admire for their eloquence, erudition, courage and wisdom, I have great difficulty understanding why pagans were hostile towards Christianity, because I don’t see anything in their writings that suggests an enmity of ideals. This must be what it feels like to have two good friends who don’t get along. Perhaps a common problem in our time. So it […]
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