classics digests, reflections and reviews
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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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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The Sacrificial Death of Marcus Curtius That same year, whether owing to an earthquake or to some other violent force, it is said that the ground gave way, at about the middle of the Forum, and, sinking to an immeasurable depth, left a prodigious chasm. This gulf could not be filled with the earth which everyone brought and cast into it, until admonished by the gods, they began to inquire […]
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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, […]
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