Jeff Ragan > Recent Status Updates

"...in either case, her action (1) must have been deliberate, (2) must be understood to bring shame on her 'head,' and (3) probably had inherent in it a breakdown in the distinction between the sexes. Thus Paul wants her to return to what is customary, and will so argue in what follows" (563).

"The overweening conceit which the greater part of men have of their own abilities is an ancient evil remarked by the philosophers and moralists of all ages. Their absurd presumption in their own good fortune has been less taken notice of. It is, however, if possible, still more universal" (45).

"The rampant immorality, the prominence of pagan religion, and the economic, social, and ethnic diversity of the city of Corinth help explain many of the unique challenges Paul faced there. These factors provide helpful insights that guide the interpretation of the Corinthian letters" (550).

"...the natives of...Africa catch the wild baboons by exposing vessels with strong beer, by which they are made drunk...& he gives a laughable account of their behaviour & strange grimaces. On the following morning they were very cross...they held their aching heads with both hands, & wore a most pitiable expression; when beer...was offered them, they turned away with disgust, but relished the juice of lemons" (256).

"Just as a palmyra tree, the top of which has been cut off, can never sprout again, so a priest who, with evil intent and for sake of gain, untruly and falsely has laid claim to more than human perfection, ceases to be a priest, or to be a son of Sakya. This is to be avoided so long as life shall last" (166).

"When the larger force concentrates its combat power on a narrow front to break through enemy defenses, the air assault task force may bypass main defenses to destroy artillery positions, command posts, logistics and communications facilities and to secure key terrain in the enemy's rear" (263).

"Pensez-vous que je prenne le moindre plaisir a voir mourir le mechant? demade le Seigneur, l'Eternel. Mon desir n'est-il pas plutot qu'il abandonne sa mauvaise conduit et qu'il vive?" - Ezechiel 18;23

"This corrupt and incompetent democracy is at least a school: the voter in the Assembly listens to the cleverest men in Athens, the juror in the courts has his wits sharpened by the taking and sifting of evidence, the holder of office is molded by executive responsibility and experience into a deeper maturity of understanding and judgment; 'the city,' says Simonides, 'is the teacher of the man'" (266-7).

"It is...difficult to understand Paul's answer unless their 'spiritualized' eschatology...involved some kind of breakdown in the distinction between the sexes...they were perhaps...already acting as those who would be 'like the angels,' among whom sexual distinctions do not exist...they were...disregarding some very customary distinctions between men & women, which would...have been regarded as disgraceful" (549-50).

"'You wanted to know the name of that other man? The man I slept with? The man who had me first? It was Francisco d'Anconia!' She saw the force of the blow by seeing his face swept blank. She knew that if justice was her purpose, she had achieved it - because this slap was worse than the one he had dealt" (590).

"At the Second Coming, the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven. The accompanying shout of the Messiah...will raise the dead. The voice of the archangel...serve as signals to the angels to gather God's people, both dead & alive, for final transformation. The newly resurrected believers & the believers who had not experienced death will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (529-30).

"In a country too, where, though the rich...enjoy a good deal of security, the poor...enjoy scarce any, but are liable, under the pretence of justice, to be pillaged and plundered at any time by the inferior mandarins, the quantity of stock employed in all the different branches of business transacted within it can never be equal to what the nature and extent of that business might admit" (40).

"This last perfection makes us see Reality as it is. It abolishes the formidable superstitions in existence and non-existence, it liberates us from the philosophical systems of realism and mentalism (usually confused with and presented as idealism), and leads us beyond monism and pluralism" (150).

"Ils jetteront dehors leur argent, dans les rues, et considereront leur or comme souille, car ni l'argent ni l'or ne pourront les sauver au jour de la colere de l'Ertenel, ni apaiser leur faim, ils ne satisferont aucun de leurs desirs, car c'est l'argent et l'or qui les ont fait tomber dans le peche." - Ezechiel 7:19

"No, we can't quit now. We have to find a way out of this before daylight. I have an idea...Mizogouchi, Cowper, and I will move forward to higher ground and try to establish radio contact. If we can reach someone on the radio, maybe we an get help" (255).

"...'freedom' does not mean that one does whatever one wishes with no regard for others; nor do the limits on freedom suggested here mean that another's conscience dictates conduct. To the contrary, everything is for God's glory and for the sake of the gospel, that is, for the good of all, which from Paul's point of view means that others might be saved" (539).

"First Thessalonians was written to (1) encourage the church during a time of persecution; (2) defend the purity of Paul's motives behind his mission to the Thessalonians; (3) urge the church to live holy lives characterized by sexual purity; (4) define a Christian work ethic; (5) correct confusion about the return of Christ; and (6) prompt the church to respect its leaders" (521).

"The good government & cultural patronage that had adorned Athens in the age of Peisistratus were continued now with equal unity & decisiveness ...but also with the full...consent of a free citizenship. History through [Pericles] illustrated again the principle that liberal reforms are most ably executed & most permanently secured by the cautious & moderate leadership of an aristocrat enjoying popular support" (249).

"And the Exalted One said:...what, bhikkhus, is the Aryan Truth concerning the Way that leads to the Cessation of Ill? This is that Aryan Eightfold Path, to wit, right view, right aspiration, right speech, right doing, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right rapture" (133).

"They're holding us by our love of it, and we'll go on paying so long as there's still one chance left to keep one single wheel alive and moving in token of human intelligence. We'll go on holding it afloat, like our drowning child, and when the flood swallows it, we'll go down with the last wheel and the last syllogism" (582).

"Mais voici la pensee que je me rappelle a moi-meme, la raison pour laquelle j'aurai de l'esperance: car les bontes de l'Eternel ne sont pas a leur terme et ses tendresses ne sont pas epuisees. Chaque matin, elles se renouvellent. Oui, ta fidelite est grande! J'ai dit: L'Eternel est mon bien, c'est pourquoi je compte sur lui." - Lamentations 3:21-24

"A half-starved Highland woman frequently bears more than twenty children, while a pampered fine lady is often incapable of bearing any, & is generally exhausted by two or three. Barrenness, so frequent among women of fashion, is very rare among those of inferior station. Luxury in the fair sex...seems always to weaken, & frequently to destroy altogether, the powers of generation" (33).

"They were arguing for the right to attend pagan feasts & were trying to 'build up' others by having them attend as well. Paul says No. Not only is the latter action totally unloving...but the action itself is totally incompatible with life in Christ as it is celebrated at the Lord's Table. Thus he appeals, exhorts, & finally warns that such attendance is absolutely forbidden" (523).

"There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved" (243).

(The closing lines of Origin of Species)

"Scholars such as W. Wrede have argued that the vocabulary of 2 Thessalonians is so similar to that of 1 Thessalonians that it must be a forgery based on the earlier letter" (510).

There are some ideas so dumb that only an academic could believe them.

"It makes little difference how clearly the circumstances say that the fault was not one's own. The shock which comes of seeing one's own men...killed & of pondering one's own hand in the making of their fate leads almost inevitably to a mood of self-accusation & bitterness - the tokens of moral defeat. The more able & conscientious the commander, the more likely it becomes that he will react in this way" (246).

"To this ideal of a lifeless Nirvana and an extinct Buddha some schools [e.g. Theravada] alone remained faithful. A tendency to convert Buddha into a superhuman, eternally living, principle manifested itself early among his followers and led to a schism" (122).

"As my birthday is in February it would be difficult to celebrate my eightieth north of the Arctic Circle...steeply rising costs & waning strength had already inclined me to call a halt, & now with the boat lying at Reykjavik, together with the frightening possibility that one might again be stuck with a similar crew, the decision is no longer in doubt" (947).

"The Greco-Persian War was the most momentous conflict in European history, for it made Europe possible. It won for Western civilization the opportunity to develop its own economic life - unburdened with alien tribute or taxation - and its own political institutions, free from the dictation of Oriental kings. It won for Greece a clear road for the first great experiment in liberty..." (242).