How do you interpret the Roman encounter with monotheism? Did it challenge the logic of empire, or, paradoxically, help prepare the world for Christianity’s imperial turn later on?
To what extent did demographic shifts particularly the influx and integration of peoples from conquered territories contribute to the weakening or eventual collapse of the Roman Empire and is there a parallel in todays mass migration with the lack of assimilation.
Hi Barry, after the actual collapse of an empire, ie power vacuum and no currency, how long does it take to get back to some kind of "normal" is it years, generations or more like centuries - and will it always be the men with the guns that take charge by force or have there been situations in history where it all worked out amicably?
Please could Barry provide some insight as to the Roman relationship with Judaism prior to the imperial era. When did the first Jews arrive in the city of Rome itself and what did the Romans think of them?
Theres a theory, particularly among pro-palestinians, that the people we know today as Palestinians are in large part descendants of jews who converted to Islam after the arab conquest of the area. Is this supported by actual evidence? If so, can you detail that evidence please
Did the Roman empires expansion into the Middle East, begin a cascade towards the current instabilities of the region? Or where the tensions already present?
Do you think, wrong or right, that the Palestinians are still considered as the remnants of the Peleset and invaders of the Ancient Middle East by Syria Egypt and Jordan?
Was the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans really due to geography and gunpowder or a consequence to the visceral disunity of churches by Orthodox clergy -"better a Turkish turban than a popist mitre"?
I grew up as a small town southern Baptist in America's Bible belt, where women knitted in the pews. I never in a million years would have guessed anything like the Gnostics would have been a part of Christianity, because they have all the trappings of a desert. Was Gnostic Christianity an attempt to fuse Platonism with with old testament Judaism? Or was it an attempt to make the belief in Christ like one of the many mystery cults that were around at the same time?
How do you interpret the Roman encounter with monotheism? Did it challenge the logic of empire, or, paradoxically, help prepare the world for Christianity’s imperial turn later on?
To what extent did demographic shifts particularly the influx and integration of peoples from conquered territories contribute to the weakening or eventual collapse of the Roman Empire and is there a parallel in todays mass migration with the lack of assimilation.
How is it that both Christianity and Islam recognize that Jews were given the land of Israel by God, but then deny their indigenous claims?
Thats easy lol. They just deny that today's jews are actually jews...
Let's talk about something that really matters. Did you go The Nines on College Ave. before they closed? :)
how exactly does it matter
Hi Barry, after the actual collapse of an empire, ie power vacuum and no currency, how long does it take to get back to some kind of "normal" is it years, generations or more like centuries - and will it always be the men with the guns that take charge by force or have there been situations in history where it all worked out amicably?
Please could Barry provide some insight as to the Roman relationship with Judaism prior to the imperial era. When did the first Jews arrive in the city of Rome itself and what did the Romans think of them?
Theres a theory, particularly among pro-palestinians, that the people we know today as Palestinians are in large part descendants of jews who converted to Islam after the arab conquest of the area. Is this supported by actual evidence? If so, can you detail that evidence please
Did the Roman empires expansion into the Middle East, begin a cascade towards the current instabilities of the region? Or where the tensions already present?
What is the most enduring legacy of the Romans in the Middle East today?
Do you think, wrong or right, that the Palestinians are still considered as the remnants of the Peleset and invaders of the Ancient Middle East by Syria Egypt and Jordan?
Was the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans really due to geography and gunpowder or a consequence to the visceral disunity of churches by Orthodox clergy -"better a Turkish turban than a popist mitre"?
Best interview! Super questions and remarks. Love these two guys soooo much.
I grew up as a small town southern Baptist in America's Bible belt, where women knitted in the pews. I never in a million years would have guessed anything like the Gnostics would have been a part of Christianity, because they have all the trappings of a desert. Was Gnostic Christianity an attempt to fuse Platonism with with old testament Judaism? Or was it an attempt to make the belief in Christ like one of the many mystery cults that were around at the same time?
***all the trappings of a desert cult