It is true that the past, especially the ancient past, is utterly remote from our own hyper-technological and post-modern culture. But part of the point of scholarship is to imaginatively try to inhabit those other worlds. Actually one of the Pali scholars I read talked of the 'Pali imaginaire' - that being the imagined world of the ancient Indian Buddhists, with its gods and daemons, heavens and hells, morality tales and stories. If you immerse yourself in those studies, you can learn something of those worlds, even if of course you remain grounded, or stuck, in your own time. — Wayfarer
We can't read texts with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd century eyes. I know ancient texts mean much to many people in various spiritual traditions. I'm saying though that it seems reasonable to say that the living only truly know their own time — Gregory
it seems reasonable to say that the living only truly know their own time — Gregory
The point is that no historical period was ever embraced in its totality by anyone, contemporaries included. — Olivier5
I'm saying though that it seems reasonable to say that the living only truly know their own time — Gregory
I'm not saying someone can't have a certain type of certainty about the Bible or Shakespeare, but ones person's certainty is another person's doubt — Gregory
The only way to really appreciate and ancient language is to first embody their way of life because that is the focus Or central point around which their linguistics revolve. — Benj96
The point is that no historical period was ever embraced in its totality by anyone, contemporaries included. — Olivier5
Any definition of irony—though hundreds might be given, and very few of them would be accepted—must include this, that the surface meaning and the underlying meaning of what is said are not the same. — Henry Watson Fowler
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