Making the Distant Past Relevant to the Present Day
Most people have heard about the religions that were practiced in ancient times in places like Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia, and Scandinavia. Some people have wondered things like, “What happened to those religions? Would it be possible to revive them today in the countries where they were once practiced? What would it be like if … Continue reading “Could Countries Today Restore the Religions They Had in Antiquity?”
There seems to be a lot of people who think that, because we do not have the original manuscripts of ancient texts, that is somehow deeply suspicious. While it is certainly true that there are some places in some texts where we are not completely sure what the original text said, in the vast majority … Continue reading “How Do We Know Ancient Texts Are Really Ancient?”
People who have been reading my website for a while are probably aware that, at the end of 2019, I wrote a list of my articles that were most popular over the course of that year. At that time, I only had 185 article published. As of today, 25 April 2020, I now have 247 … Continue reading “My Most Controversial Articles So Far, As of April 2020”
The idea that evil, liberal, atheist professors are forcing their students to renounce their faith is an extremely longstanding and pervasive fear among conservative evangelical Christians here in the United States. Right-wing evangelicals have been blaming universities and their supposedly evil, liberal, atheist professors for increasing secularization in society since at least the late nineteenth … Continue reading “No, Public Universities Aren’t Dominated by Evil Atheist Professors Seeking to Destroy Students’ Faith”
In popular culture, Rameses II (ruled 1279 – 1213 BC) is almost always portrayed as the pharaoh of the Exodus. He is most famously portrayed as such in the 1956 epic film The Ten Commandments, but he has also appeared in this role more recently in the 1998 DreamWorks animated musical drama film The Prince … Continue reading “Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus Really?”
The transition from traditional Greco-Roman religion to Christianity in late antiquity has often been portrayed in terms of the so-called “triumph of Christianity over paganism.” This is an idea that originates from Christian triumphalist accounts of the era that portray Christianity as having eradicated “paganism” within a single generation. Anti-Christian writers, especially in recent years, … Continue reading “What Was the Conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity Really Like?”
Around this time of year it is common to see people sharing memes claiming that Easter is really an ancient pre-Christian pagan holiday that was hijacked by Christians. I wrote an article all the way back in April 2017 debunking some of the more general claims that you often hear about various Easter traditions such … Continue reading “No, Easter Is Not Named after Ishtar”
It is no secret that I spend a lot of time debunking popular misconceptions about the Library of Alexandria. I do this because modern people are absolutely obsessed with the Library of Alexandria and all the amazing documents they believe it must have contained. Today I’m going to revisit the Library of Alexandria yet again … Continue reading “What Was Really in the Library of Alexandria?”
Over the years, Christianity has often been compared to the mystery religions of ancient Greece and Rome, both by Christians wishing to emphasize the esoteric nature of their religion and by opponents of Christianity who claim that the resemblance between Christianity and mystery religions of antiquity proves that Christianity is not of divine origin. Christianity … Continue reading “Is Christianity a Mystery Cult?”
I have never played any of the games in the video game series God of War. I don’t really have any interest in video games and, even if I did have an interest in them, I would never have time to play them. Nonetheless, as a Hellenist, I like to pay attention to how Greek … Continue reading “Yes, Kratos Is a Real Deity in Greek Mythology”
