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From: za56@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU (Brian McNeill)
Newsgroups: net.religion,talk.religion
Subject: Re: More History
Message-ID: <3563@sdcc3.ucsd.EDU>
Date: Fri, 5-Sep-86 12:01:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcc3.3563
Posted: Fri Sep  5 12:01:59 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Sep-86 10:27:08 EDT
References: <15499@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <1639@ames.UUCP> <15546@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <1642@ames.UUCP> <15566@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: za56@sdcc3.UUCP (Brian McNeill)
Followup-To: talk.religion
Distribution: na
Organization: U.C. San Diego, Academic Computer Center
Lines: 40
Keywords: I got carried away
Summary: Sorry for the Non-History

In article <15566@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> gsmith@brahms.UUCP (Gene Ward Smith) writes:
>>>Read what he wrote.
>
>>	I did. He makes the effort to suppress heresy sound more organized
>>and consistent than it was, but I think he's basically on the mark. What
>>do *you* see as the claim you need documented, Gene? I tried to make
>>clear that McNeill exaggerated the knownothingism of the Middle Ages,
>>but religious history is the topic, and heresy was suppressed by the
>>Church. So was paganism, but not quite as completely.
>
>   I took Brian (putting together what he said in two articles) to be
>claiming that the Church destroyed almost *all* documents of any kind
>from the first millennium, and that as a consequence our knowledge of
>1-1000 AD is very slight. On re-reading, I am not sure what he meant.
>

Sorry for the misconceptions....as the line said, I got carried
away.  What I meant basically was the Church took active steps to
remove opposing doctrines (if you read my first posting carefully,
this is the basic thread I was talking about), by
destroying/suppressing heretical/pagan works, as well as changing
(by Xianizing) many nonheretical works (see "Beowulf").  Thus,
our knowledge of the religious state (and religious
confirmation/denial of Xianity) in the 1st coupla centuries is
limited, since the Church had supressed all heretical works (which
would include any accounts contrary to the OFFICIAL history of Jesus
given in the Bible)...

>
>ucbvax!brahms!gsmith    Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720
>ucbvax!weyl!gsmith                  Dazed Dupe of the Damager

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| Brian McNeill        ARPA :           za56@sdcc3.ucsd.edu |
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| Quote of the minute: "I was born a heretic.  I always     |
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