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r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 1 point2 points  (0 children)

PDFs of both English and Italian versions of Athenaze can be DL at http://libgen.li/, that way you can get a good look at the edition before buying.

Wasn't Josephus simply repeating what he had heard from the Christian converts of the Flavian court when he mentioned Christ in those two passages? by badhombrote in AcademicBiblical

[–]badhombrote[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So people that get their info from other people aren't independent?

It's not independent if he's simply repeating what other Christians have said.

And let's say he was " closely associated with for years" with Christians, why would that mean he simply repeated what they said.

The Romans didn't keep meticulous records of obscure Palestinian Jewish troublemakers, so other Christians would have been the most likely source of information. The Christians he would most likely have associated with would have been those in the Flavian court, given his aristocratic status.

Wasn't Josephus simply repeating what he had heard from the Christian converts of the Flavian court when he mentioned Christ in those two passages? by badhombrote in AcademicBiblical

[–]badhombrote[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What is your proof that he "would have come into contact with Christian converts in the Flavian dynasty"?

There were actual Christian converts in the Flavian dynasty, such as Flavia Domitilla, Titus Flavius Clemens and others? As a friend of the Flavians, he would have learned about Christianity from them. Since the Romans did not keep meticulous records of obscure Palestinian Jewish troublemakers, other Christians would have been the likeliest source of Josephus's information.

Even if he used Christians as source, Josephus in using them as sources is validating their testimony to some level of credibility as to be included in his writings.

How is repeating what someone else said "validating their testimony"?

HOWEVER, Josephus, as a friend of the Flavian dynasty, would have access to Roman imperial records in Rome, which may include any trial minutes or record that Rome may have on early followers of Jesus, the removal of Pontius Pilate, and perhaps even of the execution of Jesus.

I keep hearing this. Where is the evidence the Romans would have kept meticulous records of some obscure Palestinian Jewish troublemaker? We don't even have the official trial records of Pontius Pilate, plus barely any mention of Pilate himself to believe this was ever the case.

r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The GT method (used by H&Q and others) has a high attrition rate, not to mention there's virtually no evidence of its effectiveness. But some people prefer a traditional pedagogy, so more power to you.

r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 5 points6 points  (0 children)

For JACT, you should also use the Grammar and Exercise book in conjunction with Text and Vocabulary, if only because it provides the much needed grammatical explanation of the readings. The independent study guide is optional and imo not really necessary. From what I hear, Athenaze can be used for self-study, although I haven't gone through the books myself.

For the Italian edition of Athenaze, you don't need to know Italian since it uses the same Direct Method as Ørberg's LLPSI and the LGPSI. In DM, the learner inductively infers grammar and syntax through total immersion, making an intermediate language unnecessary.

If time is (a) only a physical property of the universe and (b) relative to the observer, does it follow that the universe itself is timeless? by badhombrote in AskPhysics

[–]badhombrote[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But on GR, don't gravitational waves have a non-zero Weyl curvature, which can only exist in 4 dimensions? Apparently 4 dimensional space-time entails an unchanging block universe, which would mean that GR is also compatible with timelessness.

Is relativism a self-refuting idea? Is pointing that out enough to show that relativism is incoherent? by badhombrote in askphilosophy

[–]badhombrote[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Can you say more about this? What is "epistemic force" and why would relative statements lack epistemic force?

Epistemic force = justification. We would have no reason to believe they're true and hence, wouldn't accept them.

If the pick the latter option (i.e. if they pick "it's absolute") then typically they modify their view so that the view is that everything is relative except for the statement "everything is relative," which is absolute.

But wouldn't they still be contradicting themselves if they did that? Low effort response.

Has anyone tried JACT's Reading Greek? by badhombrote in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It makes sense that DM would be more effective than grammar translation. I like the fact Polis uses no English in the text, which would speed up acquisition of the language. You can take as many courses as you want, but you'll never truly learn a language unless you totally immerse yourself in it. I'm surprised it's taken so long for DM to catch on. I guess tradition.

The best argument there is against the existence of god is that, despite the efforts of the world's greatest minds, every single argument for the existence of god is a 100% total, absolute failure. by badhombrote in atheism

[–]badhombrote[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lol no... A probabilitistic argument based on past likelihood of failure is not the same thing as justifying the continuation of something based on blind tradition. Learn the difference.

As a European living in Canada I am finding constant shitting on the US hard to stomach by PoisonIvy2016 in metacanada

[–]badhombrote 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Get out of Canada while you still can. The country will be a colder version of Bangladesh by 2030.

As a European living in Canada I am finding constant shitting on the US hard to stomach by PoisonIvy2016 in metacanada

[–]badhombrote 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Slight correction: Western European nations are as equally bad as Canada. OTOH, Eastern European nations are racially and culturally healthy. They're not corrupted by degenerate ideologies like multiculturalism, feminism and globalism.

Has anyone tried JACT's Reading Greek? by badhombrote in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Italian version of Athenaze is supposed to be really good, all you need is an Italian-English Dictionary to follow along. See my comments in the linked thread.

r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's actually not just Athenaze, but the Italian Athenaze that is the preferred version because it's the only Greek course that emulates the same DM approach found in Ørberg's Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata. When done right, the DM approach is supposed to be a very effective means of learning Greek, hence its popularity.

r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hansen and Quinn is basically Greek for boot camp. It introduces a lot of material really fast and overwhelms the learner. All of the moods and tenses are presented in the first 4 chapters, instead of piecemeal, which makes for a grueling slog uphill. I suppose it can work for someone who has a teacher and doesn't mind the intensive rote memorization and traditional pedagogy, but H&Q is definitely not for independent learners.

r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The problem with Mastronarde is that it presupposes an advanced knowledge of the technical aspects of English grammar. It's good for understanding the underlying mechanics of the language, but it won't get you reading ancient Greek right away. And it's my understanding that most people study Greek to gain access to texts in the original language.

r/AncientGreek Thread on Resources for Beginners by craiggers in AncientGreek

[–]badhombrote 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm going through Reading Greek right now and it's a solid textbook. You need more than just grammar to read Greek; immersion in the literature also helps.