rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (10/15/84)
In "Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek (and no proof)", Yirmiyahu BenDavid alludes to possible & large-scale destruction of scriptures in the early centuries C.E. To underscore the possibility of violent intolerance in the early Christian church, at least one classics scholar (Don Liles of San Francisco State) believes much of ancient Greek & Roman literature was lost not through the ravages of barbarians, final collapse of empire, decline in culture, etc., but by deliberate & systematic destruction by Christian zealots, often acting "officially". In support, he cites such mysterious facts as the com- plete loss of the entire corpus of very prolific, highly-regarded, and wide- ly read authors such as the poet Sappho (only quotations of individual verses from her poems in other people's writings survive). Liles has written a book-length work on the subject, but I don't remember whether it's an un- published dissertation or a commercially available book. For a credible picture of a highly intolerant early church, see Gore Vidal's historical novel, JULIAN, available in paperback. Maybe Bertrand's Russell's basic objection to Christianity (in WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN), that Christ himself was utterly intolerant, rings true. Cheers, Ron Rizzo
lab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (10/17/84)
> Ron Rizzo > In "Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek (and no proof)", Yirmiyahu BenDavid alludes > to possible & large-scale destruction of scriptures in the early centuries > C.E. To underscore the possibility of violent intolerance in the early > Christian church, at least one classics scholar (Don Liles of San Francisco > State) believes much of ancient Greek & Roman literature was lost not through > the ravages of barbarians, final collapse of empire, decline in culture, > etc., but by deliberate & systematic destruction by Christian zealots, often > acting "officially". In support, he cites such mysterious facts as the com- > plete loss of the entire corpus of very prolific, highly-regarded, and wide- > ly read authors such as the poet Sappho (only quotations of individual > verses from her poems in other people's writings survive). Let us not overlook the Roman emperor's (Diocletian?) attempt to destroy all Christian writings. God has a sense of humor - about 50 years later, Constantine ordered the making of 50 copies of the New Testament. (Sorta like Voltaire proclaiming that Christianity would be dead in 100 years - 100 years later the Geneva Bible Society was using *his* house and *his* printing press to produce Bibles!) -- The Ice Floe of Larry Bickford {amd,decwrl,sun,idi,ittvax}!qubix!lab You can't settle the issue until you've settled how to settle the issue.