tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post8450336011809238405..comments2024-03-10T00:44:49.280-05:00Comments on This & That: Thoughts on Pagans, Christians, Constantine, Julian, Polytheism and MonotheismSusannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-36183409710878755862012-01-16T08:16:30.830-05:002012-01-16T08:16:30.830-05:00Thank you! Looks like an interesting website. I...Thank you! Looks like an interesting website. I'll be sure to take some time to look and read some of the articles. I appreciate your sharing it with me.Susannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-55271980963357243182012-01-15T23:29:59.801-05:002012-01-15T23:29:59.801-05:00Okay, I tried to put this website on one of your p...Okay, I tried to put this website on one of your post that correctly matched it. This is the closest I found. Anyway I thought you would like this website on the Old Testament and Women. The invention of Adam and Eve and why. Thought you might find it interesting.<br /><br />http://witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/6womenevil.htmlbigstickhttp://voicesofthefaceless.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-59696735393466572742011-09-14T13:43:55.193-05:002011-09-14T13:43:55.193-05:00Sanil, I love reading your critiques! :) Thanks f...Sanil, I love reading your critiques! :) Thanks for all that you shared. (And I'm sorry you are not allowed to critique the current book you are reading for your school paper...saw you were frustrated about that on Facebook of course. :))<br /><br />You always have such interesting stuff to share and I learn A LOT from you!<br /><br /><br /><br />Amber, similar title, but no I've not read him before. The one I read was Charlotte Gordon's "The Woman Who Named God." Ha...good memories that one! I remember you and Achelois gnawing furniture. :D<br /><br /><br />Thanks for your feedback on this post!Susannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03115294023069458287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-68263984751180764192011-09-13T09:53:31.441-05:002011-09-13T09:53:31.441-05:00I hate doing this, but:
What sanil said. :D
Wow...I hate doing this, but: <br /><br />What sanil said. :D<br /><br />Wow. He really is heavily biased from what you've shared. *totters off to google him*<br /><br />Hey! He wrote that other book you read, The Women Who Laughed At God. You did read that, right? Or am I hallucinating?Amberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09002997517784638068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-740924465958245224.post-78486070019093538832011-09-12T20:14:01.691-05:002011-09-12T20:14:01.691-05:00"The question of whether God and Jesus were m...<i>"The question of whether God and Jesus were made of the same stuff or different stuff was and is ultimately unanswerable - indeed, that was what church authorities meant when they characterized the Trinity as a mystery - but that did not stop ordinary men and women throughout the Christian community from literally brawling with one another over an iota."</i><br /><br />Umm....*headdesk* Ok, I get his point, but that's a terrible argument. One letter can make a huge difference in a word. He should have stopped at the first half of this quote. Now part of me wants to disagree with him just on that principle. :D But I'll move on instead.<br /><br />Ok, I'll want to read more when I get a chance, but my first impressions of Kirsch's portrayal of monotheism as less tolerant - definitely biased, or at least missing some important aspects. I'd actually argue that without the standard already set by pre-Christian Greco-Roman society, Christianity wouldn't have been so exclusive. The problem is cultural, not specifically religious. <br /><br />Religion in the Greco-Roman world was social, and following it was necessary for the society to succeed. If someone didn't honor the gods, that was troublesome. It caused conflict and uncertainty within the group, and might draw the anger of the gods onto the community. For awhile, Jews were allowed to maintain their religion because it was ancient and the Greeks and Romans respected that, and so allowed them their rules (including monotheism). When Christianity started defining itself as a new faith and separating from Judaism, it no longer had that protection, no longer seen as an ancient religion. From there, Christians became a target.<br /><br />When you're using religion to control people, though, like emperors have been known to do, a monotheistic faith has some definite advantages. For one thing, sub-cults focusing on only or primarily one god were becoming increasingly popular (mystery cults), so it could have eventually become a conflict as several of these different but similar gods were all claimed by followers to be the most important god. Drawing everyone under one religious flag would help to maintain that unity and cultural identity that was so important to the Greco-Roman worldview. Furthermore, adopting a new faith that didn't have the interpretations and long-standing tradition of the "pagan" mystery cults meant that Constantine's influence was more likely to take effect. He was able to build not just the religion he wanted, but the accepted, orthodox interpretation of the religion. He couldn't have asked for a better tool in gaining and maintaining control. <br /><br />On paganism and it's open-mindedness...*headdesk* He's making me do that a lot. More gods doesn't mean more options, it means more responsibilities, as they all have to be satisfied. That doesn't mean one individual has to worship all of them, some of them didn't even have a public cult. But many did, and it was very very important to Greco-Roman society that the gods all received their due. That's why when they encountered other societies they adopted their gods, found commonalities with their own, and started to worship them as well. It has little to do with acceptance, and everything to do with maintaining social order.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07382787889525110718noreply@blogger.com