Depending on who you believe, the Library of Alexandria was destroyed in three stages: first by Julius Caesar, next by Roman emperor Aurelian, and finally by a horde of fervent Christian iconoclasts. Author D.M. Murdock summarizes: Although according to Plutarch (
I thought I might be pushing my luck! But you have a wonderful mind, so I couldn't resist the temptation.
The ancient aliens hypothesis doesn't cut it for me either, much as I try to keep an open mind.
Brien Foerster's work is a good place to start for people who want to learn more about this. He's not an engineer either, but he often talks to experts who explain in lay terms just how amazing these megalithic structures are. As I understand it, we could not build them today.
I’m fairly familiar with the New Testament, having regularly attended mass and Catholic schools in my youth. While I still resonate with some aspects of Christianity, I have not identified as a Christian in the modern sense of the word for some time.
I have long suspected Jesus Christ was not so much a historical figure as a mythical one – and it makes sense to me that the myth predates the time we’re told Christ walked the earth as a man.
Furthermore, while I don’t really consider the NT an historical document, and while I don’t identify as a Christian, there are passages in the Gospels that resonate very strongly with me. I’m often impressed by how the meaning of certain verses has evolved and deepened for me over the course of my own spiritual growth.
So, it completely makes sense to me that the Bible as we know it could be a plagiarized version of some legitimate, older spiritual/religious tradition – that is, that it contains truthful elements, but within the context of a kind of “hidden” agenda. I would further suggest that as “Christianity” migrated from the Middle East and became the dominant religion of Europe, it underwent another evolution as it was adapted to the “geist” of European Paganism.
Just some random ideas. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on all of this in response to my earlier query.
(I should add that I’ve just changed my Substack “handle” from Anne C to Anna Cordelia… see how easy it is to change history?)
That essay was so good I’m feeling lucky. So, I’m going to put another question to the Gay Troll Oracle: what do you make of all those incredible megaliths that pre-date our modern, “advanced” age?
And here I thought you were "Antsy". Thanks for another great question but expect a longer turnaround on that one. My basic answer is that megalithic architecture is evidence of lost and probably deliberately destroyed history. I am a literary analyst and not an engineer. I can expose false history as literature, but I can't readily explain ancient feats of engineering.
Fwiw, "ancient aliens" are at the bottom of my list of hypotheses. But maybe that's exactly how they like it.
Also I appreciate your personal experience with Christianity and it is not so different from my own. I was raised agnostic/atheist but was exposed to Church service by some neighbors. One of the greatest strengths of Christianity is its mythic grandeur. I was impressed even if I wasn't a true believer. And the morals of Christianity became the basic blueprint for my young life. I approached spiritual reality from a scientific perspective. I therefore experimented with living according to the question, WWJD? I asked God to prove itself to me. I knocked, and the door was opened. Conventional wisdom is always indispensable, but one of its true gems is that truth is stranger than fiction. And a rose by any name will smell as sweet.
I thought I might be pushing my luck! But you have a wonderful mind, so I couldn't resist the temptation.
The ancient aliens hypothesis doesn't cut it for me either, much as I try to keep an open mind.
Brien Foerster's work is a good place to start for people who want to learn more about this. He's not an engineer either, but he often talks to experts who explain in lay terms just how amazing these megalithic structures are. As I understand it, we could not build them today.
That was a fascinating read.
I’m fairly familiar with the New Testament, having regularly attended mass and Catholic schools in my youth. While I still resonate with some aspects of Christianity, I have not identified as a Christian in the modern sense of the word for some time.
I have long suspected Jesus Christ was not so much a historical figure as a mythical one – and it makes sense to me that the myth predates the time we’re told Christ walked the earth as a man.
Furthermore, while I don’t really consider the NT an historical document, and while I don’t identify as a Christian, there are passages in the Gospels that resonate very strongly with me. I’m often impressed by how the meaning of certain verses has evolved and deepened for me over the course of my own spiritual growth.
So, it completely makes sense to me that the Bible as we know it could be a plagiarized version of some legitimate, older spiritual/religious tradition – that is, that it contains truthful elements, but within the context of a kind of “hidden” agenda. I would further suggest that as “Christianity” migrated from the Middle East and became the dominant religion of Europe, it underwent another evolution as it was adapted to the “geist” of European Paganism.
Just some random ideas. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on all of this in response to my earlier query.
(I should add that I’ve just changed my Substack “handle” from Anne C to Anna Cordelia… see how easy it is to change history?)
That essay was so good I’m feeling lucky. So, I’m going to put another question to the Gay Troll Oracle: what do you make of all those incredible megaliths that pre-date our modern, “advanced” age?
And here I thought you were "Antsy". Thanks for another great question but expect a longer turnaround on that one. My basic answer is that megalithic architecture is evidence of lost and probably deliberately destroyed history. I am a literary analyst and not an engineer. I can expose false history as literature, but I can't readily explain ancient feats of engineering.
Fwiw, "ancient aliens" are at the bottom of my list of hypotheses. But maybe that's exactly how they like it.
Also I appreciate your personal experience with Christianity and it is not so different from my own. I was raised agnostic/atheist but was exposed to Church service by some neighbors. One of the greatest strengths of Christianity is its mythic grandeur. I was impressed even if I wasn't a true believer. And the morals of Christianity became the basic blueprint for my young life. I approached spiritual reality from a scientific perspective. I therefore experimented with living according to the question, WWJD? I asked God to prove itself to me. I knocked, and the door was opened. Conventional wisdom is always indispensable, but one of its true gems is that truth is stranger than fiction. And a rose by any name will smell as sweet.