Yesterday was the anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, for which apparently there is now a Muslim debate about whether it fulfilled Muhammad's charge for Muslims to conquer that city. I can't say I have any opinion in that particular matter. But something I do find interesting is that, in describing the event, … Continue reading When did the Roman Empire actually fall?
Tag: History
When were the earliest parts of the Bible written?
The NY Times has an interesting article about a study which purports to show that literacy may have been far more prevalent in pre-Babylonian exile Judah than many had thought. The implication, it's believed, is that Biblical minimalist scholars who thought that no part of the Bible was composed until after the exile, are wrong. But … Continue reading When were the earliest parts of the Bible written?
Time to change how we refer to American Civil War events and institutions?
Historian Michael Todd Landis has a proposal at the Historical News Network advocating that we should change the names we use to refer to American Civil War related events and institutions. The old labels and terms handed down to us from the conservative scholars of the early to mid-twentieth century no longer reflect the best … Continue reading Time to change how we refer to American Civil War events and institutions?
Sex laws over the millenia
Last week I listened to an episode of Fresh Air on NPR, where Terry Gross interviewed Eric Berkowitz on his new book, 'The Boundaries of Desire', about sex laws over the last century. But what interested me more in the interview was the brief introductory discussion of sex laws in ancient societies, which led me to read … Continue reading Sex laws over the millenia
The danger of thinking we know best
Click through for full sized version, and to see the red-button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. I often wish I could draw comics. You can say a lot in a brief and humorous cartoon. I think one of the dangers we always have to be on guard against is the trap of thinking that we know … Continue reading The danger of thinking we know best
Religion, the Axial Age, and theoretic culture
I recently read the late Robert Bellah's 'Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age.' Although the title of the book seems to narrow it to just religion, in ancient societies, religion was just about everything, so the book ended up being about the development of cultures, which isn't too surprising given … Continue reading Religion, the Axial Age, and theoretic culture
Steven Weinberg’s new book on the history of science
Jerry Coyne has a post up discussing Steven Weinberg's new book on the history of science, including an exclusive excerpt: Steven Weinberg’s new book on the history of science (with excerpts) « Why Evolution Is True. The portion of the excerpt that spoke most clearly to me was this passage near the end: Science is not now … Continue reading Steven Weinberg’s new book on the history of science
The rise of the west and civilization collapses
Phil Plait recently announced that he was starting a new series of Crash Course videos on astronomy. After watching it, I noticed the really cool Youtube channel that it's on. I suspect that I'm going to end up wasting dedicating a lot of time on this channel. One series that caught my attention, because it's close to … Continue reading The rise of the west and civilization collapses
Confucianism and the definition of religion
I've noted before that defining religion is difficult. Simple definitions (such as belief in gods) tend to either exclude some religions (such as Buddhism), or include things that most people don't consider to be a religion (such as constitutional law or science). Definitions that get the scope about right tend to be hopelessly vague or unwieldy. … Continue reading Confucianism and the definition of religion
Wealth may have driven the rise of moralizing religions
One of the things that a lot of people are often surprised to hear, is that most scholars don't believe that religion was always concerned with morality, that moralizing religion didn't exist to any significant extent before the 'Axial Age' circa 500 BC. Psychologist Nicolas Baumard has a theory about what may have led to moralizing … Continue reading Wealth may have driven the rise of moralizing religions
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