Zach > Recent Status Updates

One of the more interesting topics in here so far has been the Normans. I knew they invaded England, but didn't realize until learning about the Crusades that they also took over Sicily? The politics and conquests from this era are just so foreign to my Medieval-novice brain.

One of the more interesting topics in here so far has been the Normans. I knew they invaded England, but didn't realize until learning about the Crusades that they also took over Sicily? The politics and conquests from this era are just so foreign to my Medieval-novice brain.

Louis IX. What a guy.

I'm taking this one very slowly. It's interesting, but it's not a fast mover.

"Chaeronean Plutarch, to thy deathless praise
Does martial Rome this grateful statue raise,
Because both Greece and she thy fame have shared,
(Their heroes written, and their lives compared).
But thou thyself couldst never write thy own;
Their lives have parallels, but thine has none."

- Agathias

Like the Third Crusade, I'm going to have to stop short of my goal for the time being. Saladin...I mean Spotify's monthly audiobook time limit...has forced me to slow my pace. Unlike the Third Crusade, I expect to complete the conquest.

It's taking my 21st century, Western nation-state brain some time to get used to principalities, cities, empires, sultanates, and regional caliphates going to war with each other.

This is another one I failed to finish. Better luck next December.

Fell off the wagon and didn't come close to finishing this one, unfortunately. I'll have to revisit this one next year.

Apparently Jesus was actually probably born inside someone's house and not a stable or cave. Very interesting. Strobel makes a clear, convincing case for that.

Apparently Jesus was actually probably born inside someone's house and not a stable or cave. Very interesting. Strobel makes a clear, convincing case for that.

Entertaining. Fairly suspenseful. The author seems to have a good understanding of how archaeology is done. The budding romance is a little odd.

What a rollercoaster

Absolutely brutal...that hurts a little bit. But so it goes. It be like that sometimes.


RIP L&J

"...John and the others had seen the resurrected Jesus innumerable times...Why would these men - and innumerable other men and women - go to their deaths for a preposterous lie?"

This is one of the most convincing arguments for the Resurrection for me, personally. Elsewhere, Gary Habermas and Michael Licona show how the Apostles' belief was genuine and how hallucinations are implausible explanations for it.

still excellent

I'm pretty sure this book shows up when you look up "wholesome" in the dictionary.

Beth is definitely my favorite character so far. What a sweet person she is.

The scientific probabilities for the universe randomly developing in a way that can sustain life are unimaginably small. The numbers are ridiculous.

"The fool says in his heart 'there is no God.'"