Showing posts with label afflicted. Show all posts
Showing posts with label afflicted. Show all posts

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Test

2.16.20


Elizabeth Olsen 

Test
Thought
测试思想 
Cèshì sīxiǎng
テスト思考 
Tesuto shikō
ps94
Test thought

Creator of the forces of the universe
You have organized the elements against curse
to affirm the units that concur with what's incurred
with that which is benign in design as deserved
when by the management of labor it is earned
as a value for others discerned.

Help us to live in Your image
to perceive the wonders of Your visage.

Bless us with growth in Your likeness
for the discovery of that which is righteous.

Rise to shine for judgement with reason
to grant just deserts for good decisions in due season.

The third week for the second month is here.
Help us with resolutions made for the new year.

Help to correct errors incurred in opposition
to develop the resolution for a productive position.

When their charge of corruption was turned back on them
they told a story of greater corruption as though it were a diadem.

Their tale of great destruction
was followed by the threat of more of that induction.

They said, "The God of Jacob took no notice"
when it was against his votive.

Did you form a question in response to a crisis?
Submit it to prayer to see if align an answer to this.

Does the One who shaped the ear
not listen to hear?

Does he who formed the eye
not see what is or is not a lie?

Will he who admonishes the nations
not punish those of criminal or terrorist station?

Organize your thought to form a test for truth.
A good theory of nature will make you a sleuth.

Put your question in the form of a statement.
Test for credibility among those who will rate it.

Does he who teaches with the divine word
have no knowledge of how the human in nature is cured?

Human thought is tested for theory
that will bear weight as a mode of inquiry.

Happy are those who receive instruction from the Word.
The mystery of law in nature doesn't seem to be absurd.

They can find rest in the day of crisis.
They will make decisions that are incisive
to avoid policy that reaches for the heights of the divisive.

The goodness of the descendants
is a tower for ethical amendment.

The Maker will not forsake the promise.
He will not abandon those who are honest
in making a profit.

The true of heart will stand for justice
in judgment that doesn't bust us. 

Who had the military trained for defense?
Who organized perspective for the perception of sense?

I would have dwelt in the land of silence
had I not spoken against the threat of violence.

As often as my foot had slipped
I found myself with natural balance equipped. 

When many cares fill my mind
the consolation of relaxation I seek to find.

Is greater corruption the platform for the populist position?
Haven't they used  corruption as the tomb for the vision
of their mission?

Existential facts alone won't determine worth for youth.
Thought in theory can form tests of value for truth.


Good judgment 
provides defense 
against bad sense.

Good judgment won't condemn the innocent to death.
The Holy Spirit provides the breath for rest 
in experience.

The Father is the source of my strength.
The Son is the rock for truth at length.

Wickedness 
produces sickness 
as consequence.

Truth destroys falsehood in conception.
Without malice it exposes deception.
The Christ of Jesus gives perspective in perception. 

We were like infants to Christ. 
You were taught to live as victims to the poltergeist.

You were  immature with respect for the Spirit.
You so feared the One that you refused to draw near it.

Was there not quarrelling due to jealousy among you?
Were you not divided by the causes that you knew?

One planted. Another watered for growth in the field. 
Your community was cultivated for the spiritual yield.

Murder is a capital crime.
Punishment for it is defined for the rest of time.

A capital offense is not the only concern for law.
Were that the case any other degree would not be flaw.

Avoid causing offense as much as possible
so the definition of you as the cause stands as improbable.

Anger is not wrong in itself,
but physical harm leaves a welt.

Hatred of sin is only honorable
when anger is managed for the functionally operable.

The act of expiation with a gift at the altar
needs to reform the will that causes behavior to faulter.

 A priest can only receive the gift and pray for the reception.
It is not a promise to show indulgence to honor deception.

Each worked together for our beneficial yield
to build the temple for the word that we wield.

You can keep the commandments of the law if you choose.
When you don't choose to act faithfully you choose to lose.

Fire and water have been placed before you.
Stretch out your hand to one of the two.

Life and death are set before each person.
Whichever is chosen will make better or worsen.

Wisdom from the Source is great.
He is mighty in power for the weight of the state.

His eyes are on those who fear him.
He knows the actions that will draw near his win.

He has not commanded anyone to be wicked. 
No one was given permission to thicken sin for the afflicted.

-------------------

94 Deus ultionum
Light avenge

1 O Lord God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, show yourself.
2 Rise up, O Judge of the world;
give the arrogant their just deserts.
3 How long shall the wicked, O Lord,
how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They bluster in their insolence;
all evildoers are full of boasting.
5 They crush your people, O Lord,
and afflict your chosen nation.
6 They murder the widow and the stranger
and put the orphans to death.
7 Yet they say, "The Lord does not see,
the God of Jacob takes no notice."
8 Consider well, you dullards among the people;
when will you fools understand?
9 He that planted the ear, does he not hear?
he that formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who admonishes the nations, will he not punish?
he who teaches all the world, has he no knowledge?
11 The Lord knows our human thoughts;
how like a puff of wind they are.
12 Happy are they whom you instruct, O Lord!
whom you teach out of your law;
13 To give them rest in evil days,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not abandon his people,
nor will he forsake his own.
15 For judgment will again be just,
and all the true of heart will follow it.
16 Who rose up for me against the wicked?
who took my part against the evildoers?
17 If the Lord had not come to my help,
I should soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 As often as I said, "My foot has slipped,"
your love, O Lord, upheld me.
19 When many cares fill my mind,
your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can a corrupt tribunal have any part with you,
one which frames evil into law?
21 They conspire against the life of the just
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my trust.
23 He will turn their wickedness back upon them
and destroy them in their own malice;
the Lord our God will destroy them.

---------------------
================
---------------------

ps115
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
    he does whatever he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
    eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
    noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
    feet, but do not walk;
    they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
    so are all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
    He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
    he will bless the house of Israel;
    he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,
    both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase,
    both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
    but the earth he has given to human beings.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
    nor do any that go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
    from this time on and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!

--------------------

Psalm 94

Consolation



The first verse for psalm 94 in the New Revised Standard Version says:

O Lord, you God of vengeance,
    you God of vengeance, shine forth!

---------------------

The attribution of vengeance to deity or populism as an agency of natural selection is implied by the expression.

The first verse for the same selection in the King James Version reads:

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth;
O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

------------------------

Vengeance is attributed to deity or royalty by the translation.

The complications involved in this can be summarized. King James was from the House of Stuart in Scotland. He inherited the Acts of Royal Supremacy. One included Ireland.

Scotland and England had yet to be united in Great Britain. That wouldn't happen until the reign of Queen Anne in the early 18th century. Ireland had yet to be united with England and Scotland in the United Kingdom.

John Locke would open the door to the local institution of liberal power with his argument to civil government, but his argument contained partiality for Puritans as the non-professional representation of the Whig party. The implication was that Puritans could take the law into their own hands, but Anglicans and others could not.

The European struggle for imperial power was led by the King of Spain and the Pope. Spain had risen to the task of driving the Muslims out of their European territory, but they had agreed to host the Inquisition, indulgences for Spanish Catholicism and slavery in their colonization.

The attritubtion of vengeance to deity in this context was a request to reduce vigilante justice and the threat of rebellion to institute a different monarch for the throne of national sovereignty.

Administration for justice was royal and legislatively administrative. Magistrates had to answer disputes in the context of different loyalties. While the question of whether the complaint came from a Protestant or a Catholic had sectarian overtones even the higher loyaty according the sovereignty of the state was to the security of the land.

The Latin vulgate attributes the psalm to David. The attribution makes it royal or imperial. Royalty or the leadership of the Republic were allowed to report acts of vengeance as agents of divine justice in the context of the Christianity in Europe.

The Spanish had a claim to the defense of Europe insofar as the kingdom had been invaded by Muslims from North Africa. The Pope was concerned with the defense of Vatican city in terms of the new threat that Islam presented to Italy.

The polytheists had impugned papal authority until the office organized the college of cardinals and started to bless tribal chiefs as kings. A king of kings was the imperial authority based on the biblical record.

Charlemagne was the first polytheist king to convert to Christianity with the papal blessing. He became the king of kings for Europe implicitly by virtue of being first. 

Vengeance is defined as punishment inflicted for a wrong. Retribution for damage caused by the wrong has monetary or physical dimensions in the form of reparation for correction.

The spoils of war or spoils gained by indulgences created problems with respect for liability in overcorrection. National sovereignty evolved as the adminstrative standard for justice in the system of election that was developed with respect for opposing loyalties.

The US Constitution was one of the first political expressions for constitutional law in the world. Cicero had spoken of a constitution written on the hearts of Romans. There was a polytheistic system of festivals that helped households to adjust to adversity that was adapted by Christian monotheism.

The competiton between the Protestant and Roman Catholic sects contributed to the provision for freedom of religion in the US. The first Chief Justice for the US, John Jay, proposed that Christianity was for the security of national sovereignty. It wasn't as though he was against Roman Catholics. He was for Christians that were for national security.

The fledgling nation turned to alliance with Great Britain to help with the issue of establishing a navy to protect trade routes and an army for land based operations. Explicit legislation for the standing military has yet to be enacted. 

The Smith–Mundt Act of 1948 is the basic legislative authorization for propaganda activities conducted by the U.S. Department of State. This was implicitly for the maintenance of armed forces in the world after the second world war. There is difficulty with this implication.

Illegal immigration had been one problem that was left poorly defined. The war on terror however offered an opportunity to defend a professionally trained fighting force as a deterrant to terrorism foreign or domestic.

While illegal immigration stands as a criminal threat to the domestic population, it hasn't been defined as terrorist problem by the US State Department as yet.   

The official title for Smith-Mundt was the US Information and Educational Exchange Act. The long title declared that the purpose for the act was to promote the better understanding of the United States among the peoples of the world and to strengthen cooperative international relations.

The Act was modernized in 2012 with  the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987 in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013. A leading implication of this legislation is that a professionally trained fighting force is a deterrent to terrorism.

This was the legislature's effort to legitimize propaganda or the 'official story' as told by the US State Department.

Interpretation becomes an act in avoiding national level deception. There is the one distinct sense that the War Power article for Congress in the Constitution and the role of the President as the Commander in Chief have the task to justify the standing military as a representative force for national security. 

The NDAA has become the legislative tool that has ascribed authority for telling a story to justify military action as the basis for having a military force.

Psalm 94 is not used in the regular Christian liturgy. This was taken from the reading for Charles Todd Quintard, a doctor who converted to the chaplaincy for the South during the Civil War.

The concept of vengeance as an agency for correction has to be qualifed with respect for physical damage to the health of the body in the medical profession. An 'eye for an eye' was a metaphorical allusion to restitution at best.

Damage to someone's private property is another element of the same issue, but claims to restitution are worked through the civil court system.

-------------------

Choice


The Wisdom of Sirach is also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus or Ben Sira.
It  is a work of ethical teachings from approximately 200 to 175 BCE. It was written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem with inspiration from his father, Joshua.

The author was a Hellenistic Jewish scribe, sage and allegorist from Seleucid-controlled Jerusalem of the Second Temple period. The work was written in Hebrew.

The Seleucid Empire was established following the division of the Macedonian Empire that had been vastly expanded by Alexander the Great (d.323).

Seleucus I Nicator received Babylonia (321 BC) and from there expanded his dominions to include much of Alexander's near-eastern territories. The Empire included central Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia and what is now Kuwait and Afghanistan with parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan at the height of its power.

The Seleucid Empire became a major center of Hellenistic culture. It maintained the preeminence of Hellenist customs where a Greek political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas. The Greek population of the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by immigration from Greece.

The Macedonians most likely operated differently from the Athenians or Spartans. They were probably 'federal' in the sense that the leadership was allowed to chose something in between the democratically artistic culture of Athens and the militarily economic order of Sparta. Both cultures entertained the instruction of youth in gymnasiums.

Antiochus III  ruled over the region of Syria and large parts of the rest of western Asia towards the end of the 3rd century BCE. He rose to the throne at the age of eighteen in 222 BCE. His early campaigns against the Ptolemaic Kingdom were unsuccessful, but in the following years Antiochus gained several military victories and substantially expanded the empire's territory.

The Selucid king wrested Palestine away from Ptolemaic control in 198 BCE.

Antiochus declared himself the champion of Greek freedom against Roman domination. He waged a four-year war against the Roman Republic beginning in mainland Greece in the autumn of 192 BCE.

His force was decisively defeated at the Battle of Magnesia on the plains of Lydia in Asia Minor. He died 3 years later on a campaign in the east.

The Second Temple was originally a rather modest structure constructed by a number of Jewish exile groups returning to the Levant from Babylon under the Achaemenid-appointed governor Zerubbabel.

The structure was the religious identification of Jerusalem as the capital for Judea as a province in the Persian empire.

Language was the most prominent difference between the eastern and western forms of empire as different gods were often renamed to tell the story about their place in the calendar in the host language. Astrology told the story of the gods with respect for the implication of the science of astronomy as it related to the expression of time in the calendar. 

The clash between eastern and western polytheistic cultures was summarized as the 'fear of God' in the wisdom of Sirach. The author was looking to move Judaic culture forward in a transcendent view of polytheistic structures. The first two chapters share reflections on wisdom and the fear of God to provide the theological framework for the integration of 10 different themes.

He wrote about Simon the High Priest (reigned 219-196 BCE) in the past tense. He didn't mention anything about the insurrection of the high priesthood orchestrated by Jason, the youngest son of Simon.

This was a time of prosperity in Jerusalem. The world was changing. There were Jews who supported more Hellenization by the adoption of the Greek way of life insofar as it would bring more opportunities for trade and political interaction.

Simon was succeeded by his son, Onias, who reigned from 196-175 BCE. Onias was renowned for being observant of the Torah. Obedience to it was the priority of Jewish life.

When Antiochus IV took the throne in 175 BCE, he immediately replaced Onias with his brother, Jason. He had promised to promote more Hellenization. Jason had obtained his position by offering Antiochus a high price for the priesthood.

This was different from the normal course of succession. The difference was significant in that it increased the fissure among those Jews who believed in the sanctity of succession and those who wanted a more Hellenized city.

Ben Sira wrote his book of wisdom to encouage the Jewish youth to retain the study of the Torah in the face of the pressure to adopt Greek customs.

He was concerned with guiding the youth in how to make their way in the world with a happy and honorable life both domestically and professionally. He maintained that this could only happen if one adhered to the covenant with the God of Israel.

The stories of the gods in polytheism were characterized by violence in conflict and the destruction of opposition to control the government for the land. The threat of death was used as a tool to threaten compliance from the general population.

Sirach 14:20-15:10 expressed concern with the pursuit of wisdom and the blessings that accrue to those do so. The end of this section emphasized that wisdom is withheld from sinners (15:7-9). 

The search for wisdom or the concession to sin involve free will, so Sirach began to focus on this in part 2 (Sir 15:11-20). This section began by rejecting the idea that sin was caused by the Creator. It emphasized the power to choose good rather than evil.

The commandments in the Torah were presented as the way to life by contrast to the threat of death. 

Sirach 15:15-20

You can keep the commandments if you choose
to act faithfully as a matter of your own choice.

He has placed before you fire and water.
Stretch out your hand for whichever.

Life and death are before each person.
Whichever is chosen will be given.

The wisdom of the Lord is great.
He is mighty in power and sees everything.

His eyes are on those who fear him.
He knows every human action.

He has not commanded anyone to be wicked.
He has not given anyone permission to sin.

-------------------

You can keep the commandments of the law if you choose.
When you don't choose to act faithfully you choose to lose.

Fire and water have been placed before you.
Stretch out your hand to one of the two.

Life and death are set before each person.
Whichever is chosen will make better or worsen.

Wisdom from the Source is great.
He is mighty in power for the weight of the state.

His eyes are on those who fear him.
He knows the actions that will draw near his win.

He has not commanded anyone to be wicked.
No one was given permission to thicken sin for the afflicted.

==============

The book of Sirach is part of what is considered the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical scripture and appears in the Old Testament of Catholic Bible.

Sirach and other books of the Apocrypha do not appear in Protestant Bibles except in Anglican, Episcopalian and Lutheran bibles. Apocrypha means “hidden” and deuterocanonical means “second-listed.”

Books of the Apocrypha were generally written in the intertestimental period. This period was roughly 400 years between the composition of the books in the Old and New Testaments.

----------------------

Cultivating the Field of God


Paul addressed the challenge to his apostleship in the salutation to the letter. He had received his authority by a revelation from Christ.

His agreement with the apostolic community was qualified by his call to evangelize for the gospel by the message of the cross to the Gentiles.

The emphasis of this letter differs from that offered to the expostion against circumcison as a requirement in Galatians. He speaks against the excess of indulgence to the impulse to sin as presented in the stories about the gods in polytheistic culture. 

He offered a thanksgiving after the salutation that was typical of Hellenistic letters, but he thanked the one God for good health, a safe journey and deliverance from danger in his petition for good fortune.

Charismata (personal giftedness) and gnosis (knowledge) were introduced as topics for development later in the letter.

The second chapter explains division based on agreement with the sinfulness of human nature as the cause for error.

The third chapter started with a discription of the causes of divisions and includes the theological remedy for the division.

The temple to Aprhodite on the Acrocorinth was characterized by temple prostitution. Temple prostitution was defined as a form for fornication as a means to promote division from communion with the one God.

The initial argument against the causes for division was offered to suggest that unity was to be found in the community as the temple for the Spirit of God. The author compares the community of faith to a field, then a structure to prepare them for identification as the temple.

1 Corinthians 3:1-9

I could not speak to you as spiritual people brothers and sisters, but rather as people of the flesh who are infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food. You were not ready for anything solid. Even now you are still not ready. You are still of the flesh. Are you not immature as long as there is jealousy and quarrelling among you?

Are you not behaving with human inclinations? When one says, "I belong to Paul" and another, "I belong to Apollos" are you not merely human?

What is Apollos? What is Paul? We are servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord assigned to each. I planted. Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is as important as the God who gives the growth.

The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose. Each will receive wages according to the labor of each. We are God's servants working together. You are God's field, God's building.

-------------------

We were like infants to Christ.
You were taught to live as victims to the poltergeist.

You were  immature with respect for the Spirit.
You so feared the One that you refused to draw near it.

Was there not quarrelling due to jealousy among you?
Were you not divided by the causes that you knew?

One planted. Another watered for growth in the field.
Your community was cultivated for the spiritual yield.

Each worked together for our beneficial yield
to build the temple for the word that we wield.

==============

Gehenna

Jesus spoke to his disciples on the mountain about the commandments according to the gospel of Matthew. Much of the material is unique to Matthew. Rhetoric is used to warn against overconfidence in agreement.

The commandments warn against breaking the law. The author of the gospel is interested in deterring offense prior to the law being broken. The intent of the argument is justifiable in this sense. There are details in the expression however that are prone to error in the overstatement.

The argument is too concessionary to those who take offense at anything in order to coerce compliance from those who desire to keep the peace.

There is something to be said for apology when you have offended someone in a significant way. When you know in your heart that you did something that would have offended you had it been done to you by another in similar circumstances, there is cause to petition for reconciliation.

The rhetoric in Matthew's argument conveys the impression that you have to seek reconciliation with those who would have you apologize for your existence or if you felt angered by an offense that was done to you.

The larger sense of the truth for the gospel speaks against the will to cause harm or to do damage to another in an emotional state that precedes an offense that may qualify as a crime. 

Were you angry enough with someone for a petty misdeed to falsely accuse him of a capital crime? That kind of anger would require redirection with respect for the law.

It seems that the expression in the passage needs to have some qualification added. If you find yourself to be angry without due cause, then let go of your anger before you cause offense. The association of anger with sin however is not the basis for the conviction of crime.

When you insult someone to defend an offensive action, it compounds the error.

When an insult is expressed in defense against a barrage of insults, it isn't something that requires apology.

If the standards of this passage were applied to the Senate for not calling more witnesses, apology would be expressed for not conducting a fair trial when the trial itself was not fair in the first place.

There wasn't probable cause for investigation. There wasn't an impeachable offense.
Impeachment was won in the House based on partisan prejudice for the unfettered expression of unlettered power.

The majority in the house wanted to win the next election or obtain convictions in court based on opposition to the theoretical abuse of power by the president, his party or the majority of the general public.

If the traditional appeal to the authority figure to apologize for a theoretical offense were to have resulted in an apology, then the authority for the office would have been undermined for the sake of partiality to the partisan majority in the House of Representatives. 

Matthew 5:21-26

Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder' and 'Whoever murders will be liable for judgment.' I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister you will be liable to judgment. If you insult a brother or a sister you will be liable to the council.

If you remember that you have offended a brother or a sister when you are offering a gift at the altar, seek reconciliation first. Then offer your gift.

Come to terms with your accuser before you get to court when you are at fault. If you are wrong your accuser may hand you over to the judge, the judge to the guard and you will be thrown in jail. You will never get out of debt until you have paid the last penny.

-------------------

Murder is a capital crime.
Punishment is defined for the rest of time.

A capital offense is not the only concern for law.
Were that the case any other degree would not be flaw.

Avoid causing offense as much as possible
so the definition of you as the cause stands as improbable.

Anger is not wrong in itself,
but physical harm leaves a welt.

Hatred of sin is only honorable
when anger is managed for the functionally operable.

The act of expiation with a gift at the altar
needs to reform the will that causes behavior to faulter.

 A priest can only receive the gift and pray for the reception.
It is not a promise to show indulgence to honor deception.

==============

Oxford Movement

Make a Difference

Charles Todd Quintard
b. 12.22.1824 Stamford, CT.
d. 2.15.1898  Darien, GA

Charles Todd Quintard was an American physician and clergyman.

He became the second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee even though he wasn't born as an Episcopalian. He was  first Vice-Chancellor of the University of the South at Sewanee.

He was a religious leader who used his influence to build community in his area and the broader region with relations for alliance with the Church in the United Kingdom and France.

Charles was born to a family descended from the Huguenots in Stamford, Connecticut.

He was probably tutored in his youth. The Quintard line was wealthy and extended back in history to before the birth of the nation. Isaac was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was the son of a wealthy and respected citizen in Stamford (also named Isaac).

Congregationalism was the predominant religious trend in Connecticut.

The war veteran was the father to 3 sons, George William, Charles Todd and Edward Augustus. He often traveled abroad. His sons were home-schooled by tutors to avoid the conflicts in a public education.

Charles Todd attended school in New York City to become a physician.  His medical studies were conducted at University Medical College, New York University and Bellevue Hospital. He graduated in 1847.

He moved south to Athens, Georgia to take up a medical practice in 1848. He relocated to Memphis in 1851 to teach physiology and pathological anatomy at Memphis Medical College.

Dr. Quintard's 1854 report on Memphis mortality statistics was covered in The New York Times. It included his assessment of the city as being the first considerable place to be outside the range of yellow fever.

The condition of the city had changed by the 1870's when Memphis experienced several yellow fever epidemics.

Medical training allowed for the observation of the number of incidents of a particular disease. It didn't direct observation to the conditions that allowed for pathogens to reproduce.

Historical study suggests that the incidence for the fever is increased with poor sanitation. Even now there the evidence is epidemeological. Does the place where the epidemic occurs have sufficient sanitation treatment to eliminate the reproduction of the viral agent?

The incidence of the diseases has been eliminated in locations where human waste is treated in order to convert the waste to fertilizer for soil.

Quintard became friends with James Hervey Otey when he was in Memphis. Otey was the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee.

He gave up  the medical profession for the priesthood. He studied for holy orders in 1854, was ordained in 1856 and subsequently served as the rector of Calvary Church in Memphis and at the Church of the Advent in Nashville.

Quintard described himself as a "high churchman" and a "ritualist". This made him an adherent of the Oxford Movement (1833-1845). He was one of those Anglicans who were reviving ritual practices associated with Roman Catholicism in popular perception.

The ritualists were theoretical at the time. The Tractarians were engaged in an effort to revive practices that were reported as having existed in England prior to the Calvinist reformation.

Some liturgical practices associated with the Roman rite had been identified as based in superstition regarding the priesthood as a holy order.  A procession with a cross with clerics dressed in liturgical garments was regarded as Roman.

The consumption of the bread with wine in the Eucharist each Sunday wasn't Roman, but it was something that had been advocated by John Huss in terms of his agreement with John Wycliffe. This suggested that the celebration of the Eucharist was regular in England by the time of Wycliffe.

The Roman rite had reduced the consumption of the wine to the priest. The people were allowed to consume wafers of bread as the body of Christ.

The translation of the Bible into the venacular language was the major proposal in this effort to give the religion a meaning that people could understand. Prayer, bible study and fasting were encouraged to promote the personal dimension of religious convention.

Anglican practice after the Calvinist reform had stopped the celebration of the Eucharist for each Sunday. Some places celebrated on Christmas and Easter. Others were each month. It had also reduced the time spent on sermons about the readings from the Bible.

The reform had reduced symbolic expressions to contemporary conventions with respect for clothing, art and song. 

Priests were renamed ministers, but they were directed by convention to act as though they were not ministers to the community in the celebration of the liturgy.

The political reform of the Church of England was accomplished by rebellion against the king as the corrupt representative of absolute authority, but the investment of historical investigation was limited by Locke's agreement with Aristotle.

Monarchy was ruled out from the rule of the state as a corruption. The rule of the state was subordinated to the dictate determined by consensus in the House of Commons in the British Parliament or the House of Representatives in the US Congress. 

Sermons came to be characterized by the personal experience of biblical precepts as seen in family, but not extended to community participation in national politics.

The seperation of Church and State as a principle of freedom of religion was used to exclude the Christian religion, Protestants included, from explicit participation in national, state or local level debate.

Quintard joined the Southern branch of the old High Church. These were the Hobartian group of Episcopalians that were like Bishop Otey for the Tractarian view.

The leaders of the Oxford Movement were also called "Tractarians." They had published ninety Tracts for the Times. They rediscovered the Church of the Creed as more than an institution or an arm of civil power.

Quintard and his generation were deeply moved by the writings of faithful and brilliant Christian intellectuals. John Keble (d. 1866), Edward Pusey (d. 1882) and John Henry Newman (d. 1890) guided many Anglicans into a deeper appreciation of the Church as a God-made phenomenon. The Church was the Body mystical of Christ in this world.

Quintard's religion was "Catholic and Reformed" for the most solid of Anglicans. He assumed  a manner which did not transcend his culture, but the Church of England and her offspring were in fact the historic Catholic Church for English-speaking peoples.

He joined the Rock City Guards militia for Nashville as the chaplain after the outbreak of the American Civil War.

He was subsequently nominated by soldiers in the Confederate 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment to serve as their chaplain. He accepted this invitation despite his initial pro-Union stance. He  also served as a regimental surgeon.

He came to be known as the Chaplain for the Confederacy informally. He was the compiler of the Confederate Soldiers' Pocket Manual of Devotions (Charleston, 1863).

Bishop Otey died in 1863, but the Diocese of Tennessee was unable to elect a new leader until after the war. Quintard was selected as the second bishop on September 7, 1865. The bishops and lay leaders of the national Episcopal Church confirmed his election the next month at the General Convention in Philadelphia.

The subsequent consecration of the South's first post-war bishop was viewed as a sign of healing within the church. The service of consecration marked the first step toward that reunion in the Church that was consequent upon the rapid march of events.

It was hoped that the occasion would strengthen that harmony which prevailed in the convention for the production of beneficial results.

He received honorary doctorates from Columbia College (Doctor of Divinity, 1866) and Cambridge (Doctor of Laws, 1867). 

He launched rebuilding efforts in his diocese. The area had suffered physical and emotional distress during the war. He also led the efforts to ensure the post-war survival of the fledgling University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee.

The university is commonly known as Sewanee. It is  a private Episcopal liberal arts college that is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church. The School of Theology is an official seminary of the church.

Delegates from ten dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States were led up Monteagle Mountain by Bishop Leonidas Polk for the founding of their denominational college for the region on July 4, 1857. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas sent the delegates for the event.

Quintard's friend, Bishop James Otey of Tennessee, was one of the founders. He had stated that the new university would materially aid the South to resist and repel the "fanatical domination" that sought to rule over the region.

The university's first convocation was held on September 18, 1868, with nine students and four faculty members present. The Rt. Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, Vice Chancellor (chief academic officer) of the University, presided.

Quintard sponsored the establishment of a training school for clergy there in 1866. He laid the cornerstone for St. Augustine's Chapel in 1867. He traveled to northern U.S. dioceses to raise funds for the university. 

He attended the first Lambeth Conference in England in 1868. He went to England three times to request funds. He received financial support from clergy and laity of the Church of England to rebuild the school. He returned with a large sum of money to purchase many books for the school's library. Quintard came to be known as the "Re-Founder" for the University of the South.

The bishop  was presented with the first Episcopal cathedral in the South at the beginning of 1871. The parish of St. Mary in Memphis symbolically presented him with keys to the Church.

He continued to live in Sewanee with his family while he retained his ecclesiastical seat in Memphis. 

He ceded the "Bishop's House" on the close of the cathedral to the sisters of the Community of St. Mary for their educational and humanitarian missions.

Quintard believed that his mission was to make the Episcopal Church in Tennessee a refuge for all. The lame, halt and blind were offered social help in the hope to win converts.  He opposed parish pew rents and fostered a ministry on behalf of the disadvantaged.

He established a refuge for the poor in Memphis in 1869 to help with the industrialization of workers. He advocated for a plan to assist people lacking food, housing and education in 1873.

He started missions for the laborers at foundries in South Pittsburg (1876) and in Chattanooga (1880).

He opposed plans to segregate the black congregations of the denomination and assisted in the founding of Hoffman Hall, a seminary for African Americans adjacent to Fisk University in Nashville to expand evangelistic work among African Americans.

He got involved in the Gallican movement in France. This started with an 1875 trip. The trip was a gift of his friend Sam Noble to enroll his son George at a private school in Paris. The bishop was also commissioned to lead Sam's children Ned and Addie around England, France, Switzerland and Germany.

The Gallican Church had been the eccesiastical authority from the time of the Declaration of the Clergy of France in 1682 to that of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) during the French Revolution.

It held the belief that national sovereignty was more important than Roman Catholic regulation. National customs were given preference in ecclesiastical authority. The doctrine spread to the Low Countries, especially the Netherlands, in the 18th century.

Gallicanism favored the authority of the monarch, the bishops and the people's representatives in the state over the Pope's claim to supremacy. The application to republic favored the authority of the chief elected official and the others.

The French influence on the Irish is evident in the republic's independence from legislative dictates from the cardinals in the country. 

That Bishop Quintard had gotten involved in the movement in the 19th century meant that there was still a French form even after the Revolution.

Quintard had died in February 1898 in Meridian, Georgia. He had traveled to stay there in an effort to improve his health.

He had done what he could to develop the Episcopalian community as a paricipant in the Anglican communion. He developed social supports for the poor in the industiraliztion of labor for the benefit of his state, the region and the country.

Charles Quintard
S. 查尔斯·昆塔德
T. 查爾斯·昆塔德

查  Cha    check                  查  No Kanji                        Cha  ちゃ-    チャ-     Chal   찰   the       
尔  er        you                     爾  ji          you                     ru     る           ル        seu    스   s             
斯  si         this                     斯  shi       this                     zu     ず          ズ         Kwin 퀸  queen     
昆  Kun     Quinn                昆  kon      descendants       Kin    きん     キン      ta       타   ta         
塔  ta         tower                 塔  to         tower                  ta      た-       タ-         deu   드    de           
德  de        goodness           德  toku      ethics                do     ど           ド                                       

--------------------

The goodness of the descendants
was a tower for ethical amendment.

===============

wiki Charle Todd Quintard bio
Episcopal Church of America: CTQ bio
Text: Balm for the Wounded and Weary, Chaplain Quintard
Anglican History: Charles Todd Quintard
Anglican History: Memphis, TN

----------------------

Why does the US have a Constitution? Why is there a national government?

Federalist Paper #6 argued that dissension between the states would be dangerous to the security that could be formed by their union.

Dangers of Dissension


Alexander Hamilton suggested that the foremost danger of the dissension between the states was the division that would inhibit the security inherent in national unity in Federalist Paper # 6.

He supported a general criticism of utopian views with historical examples of cause for dissension. Duty compels disagreement with that which is wrong with dissent, but the security of the union insists on functional agreement.

Hamilton defined the Utopian speculation as that which believed that the states should either be wholly disunited or only united in partial confederacies.

Whether it was better that the subdivisions should have  frequent and violent contests with each other or a continuation of the 'rapacious' harmony between a number of independent, unconnected sovereignties in the same neighborhood was left as a matter for speculation.

The causes of hostility among nations were used to advocate for the unified effort to look for the mutual benefit through alliance for trade and security.

Hamilton's reference to Plutarch's Pericles was the most problematic of his examples. It admit that the declaration of Independence had identified the corruption of authority by the crown was the basis for declaing independence from Great Britain.

The taxation that was not sufficiently beneficial for the alliance of the American colonists in the British colonies had come from parliament. It was a case wherein the stories about the corruption of Pericles' duty as the king were used to institute the system of election in republic without a monarch.

The argument reduced to the claim that the greater corruption was better than the incumbent. The authors of the Federalist Papers judiciously sidestepped the argument in the declaration in order to favor trade and national security as the basis for re-establishing the alliance with the British government. 

The implication of Thomas More's Utopia lent itself to disagreement with Cardinal Wosley's effort to claim what Hamilton called the Triple Crown, authority over the monarchy, the Church and the legislature for England.

Belief in the principle of freedom of religion had been advocated by Roger Williams in Rhode Island. This principle was intended to deny any religious claim to authority over national sovereignty.

It wasn't just a question of the Roman Catholic claim to papal supremacy and the Anglican counter of royal supremacy over the Church of England, there was the issue of bigotry as an even greater corruption. 

Hamilton added the question of debt as a means to subordinate the petition for benefit by disagreement with error for the functional agreement for trade and security. 

He said that Shays would not have had reason to rebel had he not been put in the position of a desperate debtor by the government in Massachusetts. Hamilton argued for the means to remedy debt as the basis for reasonable financial policy in a different text.

He didn't rule out the use of debt to discourage pride for the expansion of power by the claims to supremacy.

He asked if it was not well known that determinations were often governed by a few individuals in whom confidence was placed. Wasn't the claim to power liable to be tinctured by the passions and views of those individuals? He expressed his disagreement with giving all the power to either a few people or to the many.

Had commerce done anything more than change the objects of war in commercial republics? Was the love of wealth the domineering and enterprising passion for power or glory?

Had there not been many wars founded upon commercial motives since that had become the prevailing system for nations? Were there more than when war was occasioned by the cupidity of territory or dominion over the land?

The Jeffersonian Republic view established a line of dissent as the basis for forming 'American' policy. It was an antecedent to socialist economics as the basis for populist political policy.

The dangers of dissension between the states particularly in the US House of Representatives is found in the division inhibits agreement for the security inherent in national unity.

The Utopian view, the cardinal claim to authority over national sovereignty, the claim that the greater corruption would be better and no mutual benefit represented disagreement with functional unity for security.

Disagreement with what is wrong is necessary, but dissent is not the purpose for government. There has to be agreement with commerical trade for mutual benefit but there also has to be a default to the need for professional military and law enforcement agency to represent the force against criminal or terrorist infraction.

He questioned the motives for the republics known to history with respect for the cause of war. Was it commerical enterprise or opposition to the expansion of power by virtue of the competition for imperial alliance?

The ambition of Venice was defeated by a league organized by Pope Julius II. The provinces of Holland had taken a leading role in the wars of Europe until they were overwhelmed with debts and taxes.

The representatives of the people composed one branch of the national legislature in the government of Britain. Commerce was the chief goal for the nation, but this didn't stop the country from participation in many wars. The wars in which that kingdom had engaged had in numerous instances proceeded from the government that claimed to represent the people.

The rival houses of Austria and Bourbon had long kept Europe in flame with royal wars that laid claim to the cries of the nation and the importunities of their representatives.

The antipathies of the English, the French and the Germans had in great measure grown out of commercial considerations that countered the desire of supplanting against the fear of being supplanted either in particular branches of traffic or in the general advantages of trade and navigation.

Did the Utopian view of confederacies not present inducement to greater dangers of dissension among the smaller states with the conflicts of larger nations, than the proposal for union with a Constitution?  Revolt had already transpired in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Menacing disturbances had occurred in Pennsylvania.

Neighboring nations were naturally enemies to each other unless the recognition of common weakness induced a league in a confederate Republic. The constitution of the union would prevent the differences that neighborhood occasioned and extinguish that secret jealousy which disposed all states to aggrandize themselves at the expense of their neighbors.

Unity against the threat of evil provided the recommendation for remedy.

The Utopian view, the cardinal claim to authority over national sovereignty, the claim that the greater story about corruption is better than the incumbent authority and opposition to mutual benefit represented dangers that would disagree with functional unity for security.

Disagreement with what is wrong is necessary, but dissent is not the purpose for government. There has to be agreement with commerical trade for mutual benefit but there also has to be a default to the need for professional military and law enforcement agency to represent the force against criminal or terrorist infraction.

-------------------

Value


William James
The Varieties of Religious Experience 5
Text: Varieties

When James looked at religious experience he asked two key questions. 'What are the propensities of religion?' and 'What is the significance for the variability for the propensities?'

There is a logical distinction between the two questions that warrants recognition. The logic for his time had arrived at the primary principles for the inquiry into anything. The first principle asks, 'What is the nature of the thing?' The second inquires, 'What is the meaning of the nature in terms of significance?'

The answer to the first question results in an existential judgment regarding the object being evaluated. A chief characteristic of the thing is drawn regarding its existence.

The answer to the other is a propostion of value. James called it a spiritual judgment, but the mental component of spirit is the cognitive element that is concerned with communication.

It is cognition that sells or persuades the audience that the value of the object is worthy of consideration, if not agreement. The word existential can be contrasted with mental. The judgment is less suspect for being thrown of court.

Neither judgment is immediately deduced from the other. The mental operations used in the formulation are different. The mind combines them only by making them first separately, then by adding them together.

The religion being considered is defined by contrast or comparison with other religions. Distinction is easily formed in the two orders of question in the matter of religions.

Christianity is the most prominent religion derived from the Roman tradition. Judaism was used by the Romans as a template of the first monotheistic form in order to convert the culture from polytheism to monotheism. 

A chief characteristic of this shift was to stop the use of animal sacrifice for expiation in the temple at the capital city. Scripture was instituted for the consideration of religious experience in a parish community associated with the Church as documented in the Judaic then the Christian traditions.

The Tanakh was the main collection of written works for Judaism. The Bible became the Book of books for Christianity. The Synagogue was the name for the community temple for Jewish people. The church became the constructed symbol for the body of Christ in any community.

The assembled body has been dedicated to finding the definition of goodness in relations.
The higher criticism of the Bible is the study of the scripture from an existential point of view. The literary parts which aren't exactly optimal in terms of narrative flow are identified according to probable sources.

The two names for the One deity made for two different sources. Elohim, the God of gods, was most likely first in terms of general application with cultural acceptance. Yahweh, of the Great I am whose true name can never be spoken, was a distinctively monotheistic entity. 

This name suggested the next stage in organizational development for the official religion of the culture. 

The consideration of the influence of worship in the course of political events was documented by the Deuteronomic historian. Deuteronomy stands for the second law or the next stage in the movement to monotheistic organization in the society for the culture.

The Priestly source was concerned with the customs and practices of worship in the temple. The first two sources are abbreviated as E for Elohim and J for Jehovah or Yahweh. These names pointed to God as the object for worship. The other two sources are abbreviated as D for Deuteronomic and P for Priestly.

The 4 sources represent perspectives that documented the experience of existence with faith in the historical frame for the documentation. These sources are used in literary analysis to draw out the meaning of the text with respect for repetition with variance. 

Biblical criticism is usually reserved for seminary instruction to prepare students for ministry in the priesthood, but it can be applied to bible study for personal edification.

The analysis of the text asks the question regarding the biographic conditions for the writers of the written works. The biographic conditions were defined in terms of political, social and personal roles as elements in human nature.

How was the faith of the writer shaped by the purpose for documentation with respect for the different social perspective?

While the E source was drawing out the importance of the One as drawn from the relative significance of the others, the J source made statements that indicated that the other gods were false.

The combined value of the two was to recommend a conversion of the calendar value for each god into some aspect of time and practice related to the worship of the One.

The consideration of the value for the worship of the Word was illustrated with reference to historical fact rather than the mythologically astrological reflections of astronomy in the formation of the calendar.

Detachment from human relations to determine scientific objectivity was modified to include the significance of human relations with faith in the context of reality.

What use should such a volume with its manner of coming into existence defined in historical fact be to us as a guide to revelation with respect for life? There must be some sort of a general theory as to what the peculiarities in a thing should be which give it value for the purpose of revelation.

This theory itself would be what was called a judgment. Combining it with our existential evaluation, we might indeed deduce another judgment as to the Bible's worth.

If the theory of revelation-value were to affirm that any book must have been composed automatically without the will of the writer in such a way that it must exhibit no scientific or historic error with regard for local or personal passion, the Bible would probably fare ill.

If our theory should allow that a book may well be a revelation despite the error and passion characteristic of deliberate human composition insofar as it is the record of the inner experience of the struggle with the crises of the call to destiny, then the verdict will be more favorable.
James wrote,

Those adept with higher criticism accordingly don't confound the existential with the mental problem.

Some take one view and some another of the Bible's value as a revelation according to their judgment as to the foundation of values differs. There is allowance for varity in non-essential considerations particularly with regard to certain customs.

The official religion for a state should allow variance for different faith traditions. It is conceivable that the Church of England allows official recognition for Judaism, Islam or other religions as legal.

Even though the Islam of Iran is younger with respect for the state as a republic, it can develop standards for the official recognition of Christianity, Judaism or other religions. 

Republics that have freedom of religion listed as a civil right have to have legislation that rules out crime, riot, terrorism, rebellion, revolution or war for religious as well as political causes.

---------------------

Existential facts alone don't determine worth.
Thought in theory can form tests of value for truth.

================

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Discern

11.10.19
Radha Mitchell

Discern
Reality
辨别现实
Biànbié xiànshí
現実を識別する 
Genjitsu o shikibetsu suru
ps17
In rebus exerceant

Help me to discern the truth of statements about reality.
Listen to the innocence of objectivity as the augur for actuality.

Let vindication come from your presence
that my eyes may see justice in relation to essence. 

Summon me to weigh my heart even at night.
Let false conceptions be melted down to form assertibles as right.

Marriage is not the sole consideration in the determination of leadership seen.
The children of the resurrection are like angels in political dealership preened. 

I don't make insulting statements to attack others for their existence.
I am working to shape my thought to discourage violent resistance.

Logic points to truth.
Science is the sleuth.

Number is a concept
that describes size inside the content.

Truth defines morality
with respect for health in reality.

My footsteps hold fast to the order of design as law.
My feet will not stumble in the avoidance of flaw.

I call upon you who will answer me.
Incline your ear to consider what is or is not to be.

Show me the wonder of kindness
as deliverance from misconception as blindness.

Keep me as an object for your affection
and an emblem of your resurrection.

I would that my words were engraved in stone
to serve as testimony for those who wish to atone.


Chrysanthemums

I know my Redeemer lives though I have been gravely afflicted.
Love is the reward that is given for faith for which thought is restricted.

The second coming of Christ will not occur until after the rebellion. 
The lawless one will be revealed when Mars is in the carnelian aphelion.

Protect me from those who would attack 
with the aggression to make me break or crack.

Their mouths speak proud things.
They have closed their heart to what the heart sings. 

They press me hard to cast me to the ground
with a roar of sound that bounces all around.



They acted like a young lion greedy for prey
lurking until leaping forth to cast stealth away. 

Arise to defend and bring them down.
Turn their smile of attack into a frown.

Let deliverance from those who add strife
be rendered to those with reverence for life.

Let those who compete to provide a service
be rewarded with surplus for the observance.

I will see the face of my vindication. 
I will be satisfied with your incorporation.

-------------------------

Psalm 17
Exaudi, Domine
Hear, Dominated

1 Hear my plea of innocence, O Lord;
give heed to my cry;
listen to my prayer, which does not come from lying lips.
2 Let my vindication come forth from your presence;
let your eyes be fixed on justice.
3 Weigh my heart, summon me by night,
melt me down; you will find no impurity in me.
4 I give no offense with my mouth as others do;
I have heeded the words of your lips.
5 My footsteps hold fast to the ways of your law;
in your paths my feet shall not stumble.
6 I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me;
incline your ear to me and hear my words.
7 Show me your marvelous loving-kindness,
O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand
from those who rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me under the shadow of your wings,
9 From the wicked who assault me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have closed their heart to pity,
and their mouth speaks proud things.
11 They press me hard,
now they surround me,
watching how they may cast me to the ground,
12 Like a lion, greedy for its prey,
and like a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O Lord; confront them and bring them down;
deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
14 Deliver me, O Lord, by your hand
from those whose portion in life is this world;
15 Whose bellies you fill with your treasure,
who are well supplied with children
and leave their wealth to their little ones.
16 But at my vindication I shall see your face;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied, beholding
your likeness.
------------------------
=================
------------------------

My Redeemer Lives


The book of Job is set in the land of Uz (Job 1:1). Lamentations 4:21 places Edom in the land of Uz. Edom was southeast of the Dead Sea, toward the upper reaches of the Sinai Peninsula, east of Egypt and just north of the Red Sea.

Uz would most likely fall inside the current state of Jordan.

One of Job’s false comforters was named Eliphaz (Job 4:1). He was a Temanite. Teman was a city in Edom not far from the city of Petra.

Job appears in the 6th-century BCE book of Ezekiel as a man of antiquity renowned for his righteousness.

The books of Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs belong to the genre of wisdom literature. The genre was common in the ancient Near East. This included ancient Iran, Egypt, Asia Minor and the territory in-between. The Babylonian empire accounted for a large amount of the in-between area.

Map 6th c. Near East


The kingdom of Judah had been conquered by the Babylonians in the 6th century. The Siege of Jerusalem had been carried out by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon in 597 BCE.

Wisdom referred to a way of thinking about the knowledge gained by the thought expressed in literature. Wisdom literature from Sumeria and Babylonia can be dated to the second millennium BCE. Several texts from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt offer parallels to Job.

The author of Job was the recipient of a long tradition of reflection on the existence of inexplicable suffering. The author was almost certainly an Israelite. He set his story outside Israel in southern Edom or northern Arabia. He made allusion to places as far apart as Mesopotamia and Egypt.

The language of Job stands out for the large number of words and forms not found elsewhere in the Bible.

Job is an investigation of divine justice. This problem is known in theology as the problem of evil. Why does God allow evil to harm the righteous? Human choices and actions have been found to be morally significant, but experience has demonstrated that suffering can be unmerited as retributive.

The Adversary raised the question of whether there is such a thing as disinterested righteousness. If righteousness is rewarded with prosperity, will people not act righteously from selfish motives? He asked God to test this by removing the prosperity of the most righteous of all, Job.

The book begins with the frame narrative. The reader is given a panopticon view that depicts Job as exemplary in piety and faith.

The 'fear of God' was a term used as a movement from the cause of piety as respect for any one of the gods and goddesses in the parthenon to the singularity of the divine nature. Faith had to reflect benefit for the world from the citizen's perspective in the state. Prosperity was viewed as a measure of success in piety in the imperial state.

Job's affliction was a description of the transition from polytheism. His piety would be rewarded by success in either the polytheistic or monotheistic cultural setting, but it was not motivated by selfishness or greed for the reward. He did not agree with the opinions expressed by his accusers. He carefully selected the best reasons for his faith to find his way back to prosperity. 

Satan took Job's family, possessions and health. Job praised God, yet lamented his suffering. His dialog with 3 associates demonstrates a shift from the objective view of consequence as accident to anger over the cruelty of the affliction as a punishment.

His associates were unyielding in the expression of the opinion that his suffering must have been retribution for offense. They berated him further for his refusal to agree with their judgement.

Job's argument against the presumption of divine retribution was expressed in angry opposition to the statements made by the associates who had become his accusers. Baldath made the statement that present adversities always arise because of past sins.

Job responded by saying that their punishment was much worse than any offense made by him. He felt that his accusers were assuming divine authority with their judgment. He wanted his words to be recorded as testimony against the ease with which his accusers shifted their perceptions to justify the cruelty of the affliction as though it were divine punishment.

Job 19:23-25

'O that my words were written down!
O that they were inscribed in a book!
O that with an iron pen and with lead
they were engraved on a rock for ever!
I know that my Redeemer lives.
At the last he will stand upon the earth.'

------------------------

I would that my words were engraved in stone
to serve as testimony for those who wish to atone.

I know my Redeemer lives though I have been gravely afflicted.
Love is the reward that is given for faith for which thought is restricted.

==================

Roman Influence in Thessalonica

Thessalonican Amphitheater


Cicero (106-43 BCE) was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer and philosopher. He had never been friendly towards the first triumvirate. He was specifically against Julius Caesar and his social reform. Caesar had always been fairly cordial to Cicero despite this.

Cicero’s political views became more conservative in contrast to the social reforms being proposed by Julius Caesar, Gaius Antonius and Catiline between 66 and 63 BCE.

Cicero received the consulship of 63-62 BCE at the minimum age (42).  He was consul prior, the consul who had won by the most votes. He was also a novus homo or the first man in his family to be elected to the office.

A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic (509 to 27 BCE). Ancient Romans considered the consulship the highest level of the 'cursus honorum.' The 'course of honor' was an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspired.

The citizens of Rome elected two consuls to serve jointly for a one-year term each year. The consuls alternated in holding imperium each day. A consul's imperium extended over Rome and all its provinces.

The consuls were not the highest office in Rome's republican heritage after the establishment of the Empire (27 BCE). The emperor was necessarily consul prior when elected to the office.

When the first triumvirate between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus was originally founded Caesar had made suggestions to Cicero with the possible view to include him in the alliance. It was Cicero’s principles regarding the constitution for the republic that averted any such eventuality.

Cicero stayed in Thessalonica during 58 BCE when he was exiled from Rome.

Thessaloniki's acropolis was built in 55 BCE for security reasons. It was situated in the northern hills following Thracian raids in the city's outskirts at the time. The 'high city' was a settlement in ancient Greece.

It was a citadel built upon an area of elevated ground. The elevation was frequently a hill with precipitous sides that was chosen for purposes of defense. An acropolis also had a function of a religious sanctuary. Sacred springs highlighted its religious significance.

The city contained a amphitheater where entertainment in the form of gladiatorial shows were held for the local citizens. A circus was also exhibited in the amphitheater for the amusement of the citizens. The games were held at the same time as the circus.

Cicero was under duty to govern the province of Cilicia from 51-50 BCE. When he arrived back at Rome the city was on the edge of civil war. When it finally toppled into that abyss Cicero left the city once more.

The Roman general Pompey the Great used Thessalonica as one of his chief bases during his civil war with Julius Caesar from 49-47 BCE. This put the city on the senatorial side of the war.

It was only in 47 BCE when Caesar and Pompey had finally settled their differences that he thought it safe to return to the city. Things did not exactly get better for him. This time it was for private, rather than public, reasons.

Cicero divorced his wife Terentia in 46 BCE. He had been married to her for almost thirty years. He married Publilia, who had been his ward, shortly afterwards.

The next year grief struck Cicero when his daughter Tullia died. The lack of sympathy that his second wife showed led to her also being divorced. Matters were made worse for Cicero by the fact that it was becoming ever more apparent that Caesar was not going to reinstitute the republican constitution.

Thessalonica proved loyal to the second triumvirate between Antony, Octavian and Lepidus after Caesar was murdered in 44 BCE. It was rewarded by receiving the status and privileges of a "civitas liberas" (Pliny, NH, iv.36).

The free city was granted certain tax exemptions.  It was a self-governed city during the Hellenistic and Roman Imperial eras. The status was given by the king or emperor, who supervised the city's affairs through his epistates or curator. The prosperity of Thessalonica in this period is attested by a prolific production of coinage.

Thessalonica was important, not only as a harbor with a large import and export trade, but also as the principal station on the great Via Egnatia, the highway from the Adriatic to the Hellespont.

The Roman province of Macedonia was controlled by the empire during the time of Paul's visit to Thessalonica. Each province was ruled by a Roman who was appointed as governor. Provinces were generally governed by politicians of senatorial rank, usually former consuls or former praetors.

The Latin word provincia originally meant any task or set of responsibilities assigned by the Roman Senate to an individual who held 'imperium.' The 'right of command' was often a military authority within a specified theater of operations.

Magistrates were elected to office for a period of one year under the Roman republic. Those serving outside the city of Rome such as consuls acting as generals on a military campaign, were assigned a particular provincia, the scope of authority within which they exercised their command.

The territory of a people who were defeated in war might be brought under various forms of treaty. Complete subjection (deditio) was applied in certain cases.

The formal annexation of a territory created a province in the modern sense of an administrative unit that is geographically defined. Republican-period provinces were administered in one-year terms by the consuls and praetors who had held office the previous year and who were invested with imperium.

The terms of provincial governors often had to be extended for multiple years (prorogatio), and on occasion the senate awarded imperium even to private citizens (privati). Pompey the Great was an example.

Prorogation undermined the republican constitutional principle of annual elected magistracies. The amassing of disproportionate wealth and military power by a few men through their provincial commands was a major factor in the transition from a republic to imperial autocracy.

Thessalonica was a free city which had a cosmopolitan population with a large Jewish community that was visited by the apostle Paul about 52 CE.

Paul's Second Missionary Journey


When Paul visited Thessalonica for the first time he had recently come from Philippi. He reported that he had “already suffered and been shamefully mistreated” (1 Thess. 2:2; Philppns. 1:30). It may reasonably be assumed that he had reached Macedonia by way of a journey through Galatia during which he would have founded the churches there.

Paul’s companions were Silas and Timothy. Paul’s preaching appears to have met with good success (1 Thess. 1:6-10; 2:1, 13). His message was received in spite of persecution (1 Thess. 1:6). The gentile makeup of the congregation is made evident by Paul’s recollection that they had turned from idols to serve the living and true God (1 Thess. 1:9).

Paul’s original preaching emphasized monotheism, the death and resurrection of Christ and his imminent Parousia [or coming again]. Paul presupposed in the letter their knowledge that salvation will come “through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us . . . ” (1 Thess. 5:9-10). Paul had probably informed them not only of the imminence of the Parousia but also of its unexpectedness (1 Thess. 5:2).

Paul probably discussed the resurrection of believers during his first visit, but neglected to explain the connection between resurrection and Parousia. He had stated the importance of the observance of moral standards and warned of persecution. He made it clear that he had delivered their moral instruction in no fewer than four places (1 Thess. 4:1, 2, 6, 11).

Paul had instructed them to be monogamous, monotheistic and to abstain from sexual immorality (1 Thess. 4:1-6). He had also charged them to be diligent in their work and to be a model of conduct to outsiders (1 Thess. 4:11-12).

Paul became removed from Thessalonica, but Silas and Timothy stayed nearby in Berea. He tried to re-visit but was stopped (1 Thes 2:18). He sent Timothy to Thessalonica (1 Thes 3:1). Timothy reported back regarding Thessalonica church health.

He wrote 1 Thessalonians shortly after his arrival in Corinth. It was not long after he left Thessalonica.

This portion of the second letter to the Thessalonians makes a reference to the rebellion as an antecedent to the parousia.

Parousia is an ancient Greek word meaning presence, arrival, or official visit. The term was used in the East as a technical expression to denote the arrival or visit of a king or emperor from the Ptolemaic period to the second century of the Common Era.

The word is mainly used in Christian theology to refer to the second coming of Christ. It is found in the New Testament 24 times. The word held a special signficance for the Thessalonians with respect for the use of the city by Pompey to rebel against the rule of Caesar.

2 Thess. 2:1-5

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for the day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

------------------------

The second coming of Christ will not occur until after the rebellion.
The lawless one will be revealed when Mars is in the carnelian aphelion.

==================

The Imperial Pontifex
of Constantine
Pontifex Maximus
The Highest Priest

The 'Pontifex Maximus' was the 'greatest priest' of the College of Pontiffs (Colleguim Pontificum) in Ancient Rome. The term in office for the priest was not for a fixed period. It was for life.

The College of Pontiffs was a body whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious. They attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety (pietas) in maintaining good relations with the gods.

The presence of Greeks on the Italian peninsula from the beginning of the historical period influenced Roman culture. Some religious practices were introduced that became as fundamental as the cult of Apollo.

The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks (interpretatio graeca). They adapted Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art.

The Etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury. Most of Rome's religious institutions could be traced to its founders according to legends. Numa Pompilius was the Sabine second king of Rome who negotiated directly with the gods.

This archaic religion was the foundation of the mos maiorum, "the way of the ancestors" or simply "tradition", viewed as central to Roman identity.

Roman religion was practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, "I give that you might give". Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice of prayer, ritual and sacrifice.

Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs, but theology was limited to the explanation of natural phenomena. The rites did not entertain a place for a sermon.

The College of Pontiffs consisted of the Pontifex Maximus and the other pontifices, the Rex Sacrorum, the fifteen flamens, and the Vestals. The Rex Sacorum was a senatorial priesthood reserved for Patricians.

A flamen was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important three were the flamines maiores (or "major priests"), who served the important Roman gods Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus.

Jupiter was the god of sky and administration. Mars was the god of war and the guardian of agriculture. He was the deity for the military.

The name Quirinus is derived from the Sabine word for 'spear.' He was most likely a Sabine god of war.

The Sabines had a settlement near the eventual site of Rome, and erected an altar to Quirinus on the Collis Quirinalis Quirinal Hill, one of the Seven hills of Rome. When the Romans settled in the area, the cult of Quirinus became part of their early belief system.

The Quirites were known as the men of the oaken spear. It is conceivable that they acted as a local militia or police force.

The Vestals were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being were regarded as fundamental to the continuance and security of Rome. They cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out.

The Vestals were freed of the usual social obligations to marry and bear children and took a 30-year vow of chastity in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were forbidden to the colleges of male priests

The College of Pontiffs was one of the four major priestly colleges; originally their responsibility was limited to supervising both public and private sacrifices, but as time passed their responsibilities increased.

The other colleges were the augurs (who read omens), the quindecimviri sacris faciundis ("fifteen men who carry out the rites"), and the Epulones (who set up feasts at festivals).

The title pontifex comes from the Latin for "bridge builder", a possible allusion to a very early role in placating the gods and spirits associated with the Tiber River, for instance.

The pontifex maximus was the most important member of the college. The pontifex maximus held the sole power in appointing members to the other priesthoods in the college until 104 BCE.

Religion was a part of daily life for ordinary Romans. Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and libations to the family's domestic deities were offered. Neighborhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city.

The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances. Women, slaves, and children all participated in a range of religious activities. Some public rituals could be conducted only by the Vestals.

The main task of the pontifices was to maintain the pax deorum, the 'peace with the gods'. They gave advice to the magistrates, interpreted the omens, controlled the calendar and oversaw funerals for this goal.

The pontifex maximus was responsible for a large collection of omens (annales maximi). He wrote down the celestial and other signs each year and added the events that had followed the omens, so future generation would be able to better understand the divine will.

The pontifex maximus was elected by the comitia tributa or election tribute. The people were divided into voting districts. The taxes collected determined the vote. The ordinary pontifices were also elected after 104 BCE. They had been coopted until then.

Julius Caesar was elected pontifex maximus in 63 BCE. He kept the office until his death. The house where he spent the night before he was killed was the domus publica. Marcus Aemilius Lepidus became pontifex maximus (44-12 BCE) after his death.

When he died, the emperor Augustus became responsible for the state cult. He also put an end to the election of the pontifices. A position in the college of pontifices was a sign of special imperial favor from that point.

The pontifex maximus was recognized in public affairs by the iron knife (secespita). He killed the animal that was offered in sacrifice.

The  derivative "pontiff" later became terms used for Catholic bishops including the bishop or Rome.

Kohen Gadol
The High Priest

The High Priest or Kohen Gadol in Judaism was the religious leader for the Jewish people. He stood at the top of the chain of command tasked with running the Temple’s operations.

His role extended from Aaron in ancient times until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
The Torah gives a detailed account of the inauguration of the first-ever High Priest. The Israelites were gathered at the Tabernacle.

Moses acted as interim Kohen Gadol. He brought a series of sacrifices, dressed Aaron and his sons in the priestly garments, anointed them with oil and smeared blood on their ears, fingers and toes. This represented the blood that the offering of animal sacrifice included.

Aaron and his sons also brought an inaugural flour offering that was to be boiled, baked and fried before being burnt on the altar.

The only parts of the ceremony that were included in subsequent High Priest inaugurations were the anointment with special oil (shemen hamishchah), being dressed with the eight garments of the High Priest and the inaugural flour offering (minchat chinuch).

The High Priest belonged to the Jewish priestly familes that traced their paternal line back to Aaron through Zadok, a leading priest in the time of David and Solomon. This tradition came to an end in the 2nd century BCE during the rule of the Hasmoneans. The position was then occupied by priestly families unrelated to Zadok.

It was the job of the High Priest to oversee the Temple service.  His most prominent responsibility was entering the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur.

The Yom Kippur service mirrored the typical holiday service with two sacrifices, daily incense burnt twice, special holiday offerings and the lighting of the menorah. Atonement offerings were brought for the High Priest, his family, the priests and the nation as a whole.

The High Priest was required to carry out all of the services himself on Yom Kippur. An additional incense offering was also brought. This was the unique service performed in the Holy of Holies.

The political authority of the Priest grew during the times of occupation by foreign powers. Messianic sovereignty was attributed to a member of the royal house, while religious affairs were reserved to the high-priesthood, represented in the Book of Zechariah by Joshua.

The high priest also became a political chief of the congregation as the Messianic hope or even the hope of autonomy under foreign (Persian, Greek, Egyptian or Syrian) suzerainty became weaker in the course of time.

The consideration shown him by the suzerain powers and their viceroys induced the effect of the increasingly thorough acceptance of the Levitical code by pious Judeans.

The assumption of the princely authority by the Maccabean high priests during the Hasmonean dynasty was merely the final link in this development. The ideals of the politico-Messianic and the religio-Levitical were combined in one office beginning with the death of Zerubbabel.

When the brief heyday of national independence had come to an inglorious close, the high-priesthood changed again in character insofar as it ceased to be a hereditary and a life office during the Herodian dynasty in the Roman occupation.

High priests were appointed and removed with great frequency. This may account for the otherwise strange use of the title in the plural (ἀρχιερεῖς) in the New Testament and in Josephus.

The high priest was looked upon as exercising authority in all things, political, legal, and sacerdotal in the post-Maccabean period.  The presidency of the Sanhedrin was almost certainly vested in the high priest.

The major distinction between the Pharisees and the Sadducees was belief in the Resurrection. The Pharisees were a social movement and a school of thought in the Holy Land during the time of Second Temple Judaism. They were associated with the development of synagogues in post-exilic Judean society. The Sadducees were aligned with temple worship.

Josephus (37 – c. 100 CE) is believed by many historians to be a Pharisee. He estimated the total Pharisee population before the fall of the Second Temple to be around 6,000.

Josephus claimed that Pharisees received the full support and goodwill of the common people in contrast to the Sadducees who were in the upper class.

Pharisees claimed Mosaic authority for their interpretation of Jewish Laws. Sadducees represented the authority of the priesthood established since the days of Solomon when Zadok, their ancestor, officiated as High Priest.

The phrase "common people" in Josephus' writings suggests that most Jews were distinguished from the main liturgical groups.

The letter to the Hebrews attributes the title of High Priest to Jesus, but there are gospel accounts that describe his activity as a judge who made statements about important religious controversies. The following account from the gospel of Luke relates how he made a statement about the resurrection to those who did not believe that such a thing existed.

Luke 20:27-35

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, 'Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married and died childless; then the second. The third married her. So it was in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Whose wife will the woman be in the resurrection? The seven had married her.'

Jesus said to them, 'Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.'

------------------------

Marriage is not the sole consideration in the determination of leadership.
The children of the resurrection are like angels in political delearship.

==================

Early analytic philosophy tended to avoid the study of philosophy of religion. It was grouped with the study of ethics by logical positivists as metaphysical and meaningless. The demise of logical positivism renewed interest in the philosophy of religion.

Philosophers like Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne and Antony Flew not only introduced new topics, but returned to classical issues such as the nature of miracles, theistic arguments, the problem of evil, the rationality of faith, concepts on the nature of God and many more.

Plantinga and Flew debated the logical validity of free will to defend the choice of good despite the problem of evil. Analytic epistemology and metaphysics has formed the basis for a number of philosophically-sophisticated theistic arguments.

The philosophy of language has established the analysis of the logic of statements about reality as the objective for the discernment of meaning in communication.

This modern form for wisdom has precedents in the concepts of the Word or Logos. Reason was viewed as the way to order thought for action. Duty was ordered as automated action for happiness.

The work of Plato shows that there was a movement in philosophy to convert religion from the stories about the immorality of the gods in polytheism to the morality of the moral code in monotheism. This concern for the monad was expressed even earlier in the Eleatic school.

Nature lies within the universe. The concept of God allows for contrast with that which is within the universe and the divine being which is posited as the Creator of it.

The paradox of Zeno removed that which was pragmatic from the logical description of reality in order to demonstrate the role that language plays in the description.

Logic is the general form for reason. It has to balance the ideal with pragmatic concern in order to describe things realistically.

Logic is the general form for reason.

Chn. 逻辑是理性的一般形式.
Luójí shì lǐxìng de yībān xíngshì.

Jpn. 論理は理性のための一般的な形式です.
Ronri wa risei no tame no ippantekina keishikidesu. 

Krn. 논리는 일반적인 이유입니다.
Nonlineun ilbanjeog-in iyuibnida.

Pre-Socratic Logic

Elea, Italy
Ruins

The pre-Socratics preceded the life of Socrates (470-399 BCE). They were the forerunners of what became natural philosophy in the West. Knowledge mined from the study of nature later developed into the natural sciences (such as physics, chemistry, geology and astronomy).

Their efforts were directed to the investigation of the ultimate basis and essential nature of the external world. They sought the material principle (archê) of things and the method of their origin or disappearance.

The study of rhetoric and logic was started.

Pythagoras of Samos (an Aegean island) arrived in Croton in southern Italy in the last quarter of the 6th century. He established a community of followers who adopted his political views, which favored rule by the “better people,” and also the way of life he recommended on what seem to have been more or less philosophical bases.

There were two traditions about Pythagoras. One meshed with the traditional view and associates Pythagoras with political tyrants. Another credited him with rejecting tyrannies for aristocracies that might not have been grounded in wealth. The latter case is more likely.

The early Pythagoreans conceived of nature as a structured system ordered by number. Post-Parmenidean Pythagoreans such as Philolaus lived more than a generation after Pythagoras' death. Archytas lived in the late 5th to early 4th century.

Either held more complicated views about the relation between mathematics and cosmology than it is reasonable to suppose Pythagoras himself could have advanced.

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) attributed the discovery of the art of dialectic to Zeno the Eleatic (495-422 BCE). Dialectic is the art of discussing the truth of opinions. Zeno was third among the leaders of the Eleatic school.

The Greek colony of Elea was in southern Italy. The colony was  south of Naples. It is now known as Velia.

The Eleatics emphasized the doctrine of the One. Xenophanes (570-470 BC) declared God to be the eternal unity. The One permeated the universe and governed it by his thought.

Parmenides (510-440 BC) affirmed the one unchanging existence to be alone true and capable of being conceived. Multitude and change were defined as appearance without reality.

His investigation explored the nature of philosophical inquiry. It concentrated less on knowledge or understanding than on what can be understood with the language.

He composed a poem in Homeric hexameters that narrated the story of a young man (kouros) who was taken to a goddess who promised to teach him all things. The goddess didn't give him knowledge of the things, she gave the kouros the tools to acquire that knowledge himself. 

The goddess showed him the paths of being or opinion. The right way of thinking was to think of what-is. The wrong way was to think of both what-is and what-is-not. 

Parmenides was the inventor of metaphysics as the inquiry into the nature of being or reality. While the tenets of his thought have their home in poetry, they are expressed with the force of logic. The Parmenidean logic of being thus sparked a long lineage of inquiry into the nature of thought.

The doctrine of the One doctrine was defended by his younger countryman Zeno of Elea (490-430 BC) in a polemic against the common opinion which sees in things multitude, becoming and change.

Zeno propounded a number of celebrated paradoxes, much debated by later philosophers, which try to show that supposing that there is any change or multiplicity leads to contradictions.

Zeno paid particular attention to the contrast between the requirements of logical argument and the evidence of the senses.

He is now and in antiquity best known for the four famous paradoxes of motion. He purported to show that despite the evidence all around us the ordinary motion of everyday experience is impossible.

The paradoxes claim that motions can never be begun (the Achilles), be completed (the Dichotomy), entail contradictions (the Moving Blocks) or are altogether impossible (the Arrow). Logical argument is explicated in the description of the paradoxes.

Socrates

Socrates was a stonemason who had served as a Hoplite in the Peloponnesian War. The conflict between Athens and Sparta stretched intermittently over a period spanning 431 to 404 BCE.

Socrates was active for Athens in the battles of Amphipolis (422), Delium (424) and Potidaea (432) according to his testimony in the Apology.

Athens was a democracy whereas Sparta had two monarchs who ruled as a military dictatorship. The more aristocratic Athenian families tended to favor the rigid and restricted hierarchy of power in Sparta instead of the more widespread democratic distribution of power with free speech for the citizens in Athens.

Plato placed praise for Sparta in the mouth of his character Socrates more than once. Such praise was expressed in Protagoras, Crito and Republic.

Sparta finally defeated Athens in 404 BCE. It was just five years before Socrates’ trial and execution. They installed as rulers a small group of Athenians who were loyal to Spartan interests.

These were called "The Thirty." It was reported that they executed a number of wealthy Athenians and confiscated their property. Others were arrested or exiled for democratic sympathies.

The Thirty were led by Critias, a known associate of Socrates and a member of his circle. The Thirty were overthrown in 403 BCE by a group of democratic exiles returning to the city. It was reported that Critias was killed. The Spartans brokered an accord and installed a different government.

Plato's Meno is set in 402 BCE. It imagines a dialog between Socrates and Anytus. Anytus argues that instruction in virtue is not limited to the elite or privileged few. Socrates argued that one should consult an expert in virtue to learn about it.

The Socrates portrayed in Apology, Crito, Phaedo and Symposium concurs with description provided in other sources. The Platonic Socrates as demonstrated in these dialogs is a representation of the actual Socrates as he lived in history.

Xenophon is more reliable as a source of historical information insofar as he wrote as a historian. Plato wrote as a dramatist. He was prone to use the character Socrates as a vehicle for his ideas.

Xenophon reports that because youths were not allowed to enter the Agora, the central open space for a Greek city state, they used to gather in workshops surrounding it. Socrates frequented these shops in order to converse with the merchants.

Socrates and his contemporaries lived in a polytheistic society. The stories of the gods recounted in Hesiod, Homer and the like describe a world that was not created by the gods. They themselves were created and intervened in the affairs of humans.

Aphrodite saving Paris from death at the hands of Menelaus in the Iliad. Zeus sent Apollo to rescue the corpse of Sarpedon after his death in battle in the same epic.

They were not defined as omniscient, omnibenevolent or eternal. They were constrained to respond to what they witnessed or reports about what had been witnessed.

The story about the experience of the oracle at Delphi is well known, but there are variants with an important distinction. Whereas in Plato’s Apology the oracle tells Chaerephon that no one is wiser than Socrates, in Xenophon’s Apology Socrates claims that the oracle stated that no one was more free, just or moderate than him.

Socrates was reputed to have said, "I know that I don't know." He used this statement to question the definitions of concepts presented by those who claimed certain knowledge about something.

Certainty in the claim to knowledge was diminished, but the essential definition of key terms was analyzed and clarified. Even when it seemed that certainty regarding a definition was destroyed, logical clarity was refined with proximity to the conception of definition.

The theology expressed by Plato's Socrates was more Eleatic than conventional. The blind acceptance of dictates from the gods was not promoted. Monotheism was posited as the basis for questioning cultural conventions regarding the perception of nature. Belief in the One was the reason for analytical philosophy.

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

Aristotle made it evident in his Organon (343) that the demand for a regulative art of scientific discourse was created by the logic of debate as influenced by the Eleatic school. The case paralleled the rise of the art of rhetoric.

Aristotle regarded Empedocles (495-435 BCE) as the originator of that art as he had referred the beginnings of dialectic to Zeno (495-425). The essential principles of logic and rhetoric were operative and effective in practice in lawsuits before Aristotle gave them their abstract formulation. The formulation of both arts in well-rounded systems came much later.

While the Pre-Socratics did not document a formal system of logic even in the Eleatic school, it is more significant that they either received from their predecessors or themselves developed the conceptions and the presuppositions on which Aristotelian logic is founded.

Bertrand Russell called Aristotle's principles of logic laws in 1912.

The identity principle is drawn from the verb 'to be'. When something exists, it is. This is expressed symbolically as p = p. If rain is heard, seen or felt, it means that it is raining. If a person exists, he or she is alive.

The non-contradiction principle says that logic can be used to distinguish one thing from another. Being alive is distinguished from not being alive. This is expressed as ~(p and ~p) where ~ means 'not.' It is not the case that a person is alive and not alive.

The principle of the excluded middle asserts that everything must either be or not be. This principle is particularly significant in that implies the logical abstraction of truth. To say that what is, is not, is false. It is also false to say that what is not, is. The truth then is p or ~p.

Some one or some thing is alive or it is not. These principles are logical operations of thought for a personal perspective, yet the principles propose there is a reality that is true. I think that is the reason the Russell called them laws of logic. The principles point to something larger in truth with respect for law.

Stoic Propositions

Stoic logic is the system of propositional logic developed by the Stoic philosophers in ancient Greece. The Stoic school was centered in Athens.

A stoa was a classical portico or roofed colonnade. It is conceivable that instruction was given in the public space under the protection of the roof over the corridor. The Athenian Agora had four, possibly five, stoas that lined the southern, western and northern sides of the public area.

The "Painted Stoa" was a building in Athens where Zeno of Citium met his followers and taught. Later adherents of this philosophical tradition were given the name "Stoic" from their association with this place.

Stoic logic was one of the two great systems that analyzed language in the classical world. It was largely built and shaped by Chrysippus (c.279-206 BCE), the third head of the Stoic school in the 3rd-century BCE.

Chrysippus's logic differed from Aristotle's  because it was based on the analysis of propositions rather than terms. The smallest unit in Stoic logic is an assertible. This was the Stoic equivalent for a proposition.

The assertible is the content of a statement such as "it is day". An assertible is “that which subsists in accordance with a rational impression.” Rational impressions are those alterations of the commanding faculty whose content can be exhibited in language.

The Stoics held that being (ὄντα) is material. Not all things (τινά) are. They accepted the distinction between abstract and concrete bodies, but rejected Aristotle's belief that purely incorporeal being exists as the Unmoved Mover.

The Stoics defined the Universe as a material, reasoning substance, known as God or Nature. This was divided into the active and passive classes.

They accepted the idea that if an object is hot, it is because some part of a universal heat body had entered the object.

Assertibles have a truth-value such that at any moment of time is either true or false. This looks like modern proposition theory, but propositions (axiômata) are one subspecies of Stoic assertibles.

It would be a mistake to assimilate this sub-class too closely to modern theories of propositions. Modern theories tend to treat propositions as untensed and time-indexed.

The statement “It’s warm  today” expresses the proposition that it is warm in a particular location at the time the statement is made. That’s different from the same statement with the use of those same words tomorrow.

If it is cold tomorrow and what is said by means of the words “It is warm today” is false, then the meaning of the proposition changed, not the truth content.

The sub-text that there is a temperature that indicates how warm or cold it is retains a constant relative value to the observation. The tenseless and time-indexed propositions allow variability in the measure of the truth value.

The modern proposition entertains the question, 'How warm is it?' or 'What is the temperature?' within the context of the statement.

Stoic axiômata are crucially different in this respect. The Stoic theory holds invariant the identity of the assertible corresponding to an utterance on different occasions, but allows its truth value to change.

Compound assertibles can be built up from simple ones through the use of logical connectives. The resulting syllogistic was grounded on five basic indemonstrable arguments to which all other syllogisms were claimed to be reducible.

Stoics outlined what we have control over categories of our own action, thoughts and reaction. The Enchiridion states that opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion and actions are under our control. Body, property, reputation, command and those actions that are not ours are not in our control.

The Stoics are especially known for teaching that "virtue is the only good" for human being. External things such as health, wealth and pleasure are not good or bad in themselves (adiaphora), but have value as "material for virtue to act upon".

Stoics such as Seneca and Epictetus emphasized that because "virtue is sufficient for happiness", a sage would be emotionally resilient to misfortune in a manner comparable to Job.

The belief that health and happiness were subordinate to virtue left the door open for excess in ascetic imposition. Seneca went so far as to recommend that parents cheer their children on for bravery when they were being beaten.

Seneca's position in the administration of Nero was suspect for the tolerance of the reports of assassination, violence and cruelty as something outside of our control even in terms of opinion.

Stoicism was esteemed more than the philosophy of Aristotle or Epicurus throughout the Roman world until the 3rd century CE. Emperor Marcus Aurelius was among its adherents. It experienced a decline after Christianity became the state religion in the 4th century. 

The Logic of Gottlob Frege

Gottlob Frege (1848—1925) played a crucial role in the emergence of modern logic and analytic philosophy. He was born on November 8, 1848 in the coastal city of Wismar in Northern Germany.

His father, Karl Alexander Frege, and his mother, Auguste (Bialloblotzsky) Frege, both worked at a girl's private school founded in part by Karl. Karl held the position until his death 1866, when Auguste took over until her death in 1878.

Gottlob studied at the Gymnasium in Wismar from 1864-1869.  He began studies at the University of Jena in the Spring of 1869. He studied chemistry, philosophy and mathematics. He transferred to the University of Göttingen after 4 semesters. He studied mathematics and physics, as well as philosophy of religion under Hermann Lotze.

Lotze’s main philosophical significance was as a contributor to an anti-Hegelian objectivist movement in German-speaking Europe. The publication of the first editions of his Metaphysics (1841) and Logic (1843) constituted the third wave of this movement.

Lotze advanced an objectivist philosophy that did not start from the subject-object opposition. He insisted that this opposition  is based on a metaphysical relation that is more fundamental. He promoted the “universal inner connection of all reality” by uniting all objects and terms in a comprehensive, ordered arrangement.

Humanity was the microcosm to the universe as the macrocosm. The fundamental metaphysical and logical problems of philosophy are to be discussed and answered through the lens of the microcosm. The specific perceptual and rational characteristics of human beings are the lens for wisdom.

Frege finished his doctoral dissertation, under the guidance of Ernst Schering in late 1873.  He received a lectureship at the University of Jena in 1874. He stayed there the rest of his intellectual life.

Concept Script (Begriffsschrift) was published as his first major work in logic in 1879. He presented his invention of a new method for the construction of a logical language.

The book was not well received. His contemporaries found its two-dimensional logical notation difficult to comprehend. They failed to see its advantages over previous approaches such as that of Boole.

The Foundations of Arithmetic was published in 1884. Frege refuted other theories of number and developed his own.


He wanted to show that all of the basic truths of arithmetic could be derived from purely logical axioms. He decided to describe his logicist views informally in ordinary language in argument against rival views on the advice of his colleague Carl Stumpf.

Frege objected to any account of mathematics based on psychologism. Math and numbers are not strictly relative to the subjective thoughts of the people who think of them. Psychological accounts appeal to what is subjective, while mathematics is objective.

Mathematical entities have objective properties regardless of whether or not they are recognized as such. He draws a fundamental distinction between logic and psychology. Logic explains things as they are. Psychology studies certain thought processes in individual minds.

He criticized Kant mainly on the grounds that numerical statements are not synthetic-a priori, but rather analytic. Kant claimed  that 7 + 5 = 12 is an unprovable synthetic statement. No matter how much the idea of 7 + 5 is analyzed, the idea of 12 will not be found. The idea of 12 is derived by application to objects in the intuition.

Frege argued that the truth of the equation can be derived without intuition. When 7 objects are added to 5, the total is 12. Mathematical calculation is consistent between smaller and larger numbers by way of analysis. Smaller sums are demonstrated with objects, until the pattern for addition is determined as a process that adds the numbers to obtain the sum.

The abstraction of addition moves from objects to units. A number line assists in the demonstration of the consistency between the two. Add 5 units to 7 on the number line and the addition results in 12. The capacity for mental math moves the abstraction further into the concept of numbers.

When this process is expressed in the general form, it means that any number of units added to a number of units results in the sum for the two numbers. That is to say a + b = c.

The truth of the equation 654,768 + 436,382 = 1,091,150 can be affirmed without the intuition of the numbers or the counting of objects.  Particular numerical statements such as 1 + 2 = 3 are distinct from general statements such as a + b = b + a, but the latter are as true as the former. The equation is the object for analysis in either case.

Frege criticized J. S. Mill's theory of number as too empirical. Mill's idea that numbers correspond to the various ways of splitting collections of objects into subcollections is inconsistent with confidence in calculations involving large numbers.

The operation of addition cannot be limited to physical quantities for the simple reason that large quantities won't be calculated if they can't be counted as physical objects. 

Frege agreed that geometry is synthetic a priori, but argued that arithmetic must be analytic. It is objective in between intuition and sense perception.

He argued that numbers are objects that assert something about a concept. Numbers are also the extensions of concepts. The number of F's' is defined as the extension of the concept G as a concept that is equinumerous to F. The concept in question leads to an equivalence class of all concepts that have the number F (including F).

The book can be considered the starting point in analytic philosophy, since it revolves mainly around the analysis of language with the goal of clarifying the concept of number.

Frege developed new and interesting theories regarding the nature of language, functions, concepts and philosophical logic in the late 1880's and early 1890's.  His views were published in influential articles such as "Funktion und Begriff" ("Function and Concept", 1891), "Über Sinn und Bedeutung" ("On Sense and Reference", 1892) and "Über Begriff und Gegenstand" ("On Concept and Object", 1892). 

Frege's logical ideas spread through the writings of his student Rudolf Carnap (1891–1970) and other admirers, particularly Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951).
He died on July 26, 1925 in Bad Kleinen, Germany.

Gottlob Frege
S. 哥德叶弗雷加
T. 哥德葉弗雷加

哥 Ge    older brother             哥 ka          big brother          Go   ごっ  ゴッ       Go 고 go                 
德 de    morality                     德 toku      morality                to     と      ト          teu 트 t                   
叶 xie   in harmony                葉  yo         leaf                       ro    ろ-   ロ-            lo  로 in               
弗 Fu    not                             弗  futsu     dollar                    bu    ぶ     ブ           beu브 bro       
雷 lei   terrific                        雷  rai         thunder                  Fu    ふ     フ           Peu프 f       
加 jia    add                             加  ka         add                        re     れ      レ           le  레  re
                                                                                                ga     が     ガ            ga 가   end

------------------------

Logic points to truth.
Science is the sleuth.

Number is a concept
that describes size inside the content.

Truth defines morality
with respect for health in reality.

=================


Peirce made extensive contributions to mathematical logic. He was an innovator in mathematics, statistics, philosophy, research methodology and various sciences, but he defined himself as a logician. He saw logic as the formal branch of semiotics or the study of signs.

The general study of signs that began in Latin with Augustine culminated with the 1632 Tractatus de Signis of John Poinsot. Peirce drew up a "new list of categories" in 1867. He aimed to base his list directly upon experience as constituted by the action of signs.

His list contrasted with the one in Aristotle's categories. Aristotle aimed to articulate within experience the dimension of being that is independent of experience and knowable as such through human comprehension. Peirce included animal life.

The estimative powers of animals interpret the environment as sensed to form a "meaningful world" of objects. The objects of this world are logically reduced to desirable (+), undesirable (--) or safe to ignore (0).

Peirce distinguished between the interpretant and the interpreter. The interpretant is the internal, mental representation that mediates between the object and its sign. The interpreter is the human who creates the interpretant.

The "interpretant" notion opened the way to understanding an action of signs beyond the realm of animal life. This was an advance over Latin Age semiotics.

The process of communication relies on the use of codes. A code may be the individual sounds or letters used to form words. Body movements are codified to show attitude or emotion. Clothing is also used to make a statement.

The community must agree on a simple meaning within the language. The word has to convey meaning within the grammatical structures and codes of the language. These codes regarding syntax in grammar, order in reason and the truth of opinion represent the values of the culture. They can add shades of connotation to any aspect of life.

Peirce wrote his paper "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" in 1878. The distinction between clear and obscure ideas is regarded as a property of modern logic.

"A clear idea is defined as one which is so apprehended that it will be recognized wherever it is met with, and so that no other will be mistaken for it. If it fails of this clearness, it is said to be obscure." (Text: How to Make Our Ideas Clear)

Clearness is qualifed as familiarity with an idea. A distinct idea is defined as one which contains nothing which is not clear. An idea is distinctly apprehended when a precise definition of it is applied in abstract terms.

Descartes challenged the practice of looking to established authority as the ultimate source of truth. The goddess had provided the young man with logic as the way to discern truth with the use of language in the poem of Parmenides of Elea. The young man had to explore things for himself.

Logic was a tool for investigation. The young man was given the ability to look at reality with his reason. He was not directed to form dependence upon the claims to authority in the statements that had been made by others.

Descartes made an error in the rejection of all that had been discovered by others. The test of dialectical examination allows for agreement with statements made by the authority of investigation.

He made the effort nonetheless to express agreement with the propositions made by others in terms of his personal expression.

Leibniz was more abstract in his logical reason. The clearness of his exposition lost something in general discerment of proximity to the personal perspective.

C.S. Peirce (1839-1914)
Popular Science: Logic