13 OCT 2013 by ideonexus
History of the Weekdays
By the third century the seven-day week had become common in private
life throughout the Roman Empire. Each day was dedicated to one of the
seven planets. Those seven, according to the current astronomy, included
the sun and the moon, but not the earth. The order in which planets
governed the days of the week was: sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus, and Saturn. This order was not that of their then supposed distance
from the earth, which was the "normal" order in which Dante, for exampl...From astronomy and astrology to religion, complete with superstitions.
12 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Mystery is a Cover for Absurdity
A pleasant morning. Saw my classmates Gardner, and Wheeler. Wheeler dined, spent the afternoon, and drank Tea with me. Supped at Major Gardiners, and ingag'd to keep School at Bristol, provided Worcester People, at their insuing March meeting, should change this into a moving School, not otherwise. Major Greene this Evening fell into some conversation with me about the Divinity and Satisfaction of Jesus Christ. All the Argument he advanced was, "that a mere creature, or finite Being, could no...John Adams comment on a debate he had with a a Major concerning the Divinity.
12 APR 2011 by ideonexus
Defects in Christ's Teachings
I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels, taking the Gospel narrative as it stands, and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, he certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come." Then he says, "There ar...There are some serious flaws in the teachings of Jesus Christ that clearly indicate he thought he would return in the lifetimes of those he was preaching to.