The 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 […]
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Augustine’s City of God: Pagan Theology (1)
Having 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 […]
Read moreBeauty and the Ontological Argument
Exploring LDAB: IX. Manuscript Coverage of the New Testament (2)
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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Livy’s History of Rome: Human Self-Sacrifices
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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Exploring LDAB: IX. Manuscript Coverage of the New Testament
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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Preface 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. […]
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