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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 12:23pm | IP Logged | 1
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It also sounds like Erhman might be "erring" to the side of almost cutesy style over substance. The name of Kepha in Aramaic goes back to the 5th century BCE Jewish Elephantine colony. And by the time of Augustus, the epithet Petros had developed into a proper name for Greeks and cognomen for Romans.•• But "Peter's" name was SImon. In something that used to confuse me terribly as a child, Jesus just DECIDED to call him "Peter", as in "Petros". Thus, a nickname.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 12:25pm | IP Logged | 2
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For my part, I'm currently wrapping up Sir Winston Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples. •• Speaking of LORD OF THE RINGS. . . ! I was enchanted by how the first volume of that history read like "missing chapters" from Tolkien, even in the phrasing used.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 12:29pm | IP Logged | 3
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The Fountainhead is itself the best introduction into Objectivism. I think it's a much better novel than ATLAS SHRUGGED (though, in terms of outlining the Rand's philosophy, AS is more thorough).•• When I finally read ATLAS SHRUGGED -- I resisted for year, believing no book could ever live up to the promise of what I consider possibly one of the greatest titles in literature -- I came away convinced Ayn Rand had written it in two passes, with a lot of time between. The Objectivist attitudes are there from the start, but they become more heavy handed -- in the way a sledge hammer is heavy handed -- in the second half of the book. I think the first half was written in the 1930s, and left unfinished for a long time. The "feel" of the book is very much of that earlier part of the century -- and, of course, there is that part when Dagny is flying her private plane over the America west, and Rand describes it as a "monoplane", a very odd usage for a book written in the 1950s!
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Tom French
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4154
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 1:16pm | IP Logged | 4
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Just finished the first book in the GAME OF THRONES series yesterday, on to the second, A STORM OF SWORDS by George R.R. Martin (On Kindle, which still kind of feels like cheating.)
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12768
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 1:36pm | IP Logged | 5
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But "Peter's" name was SImon. In something that used to confuse me terribly as a child, Jesus just DECIDED to call him "Peter", as in "Petros". Thus, a nickname.
****
Scholars are not certain. In the Gospel of Matthew, Simon was called "Peter" (by the "narrator") four times before Jesus said that was his name. And Jesus did not in the episode in question say that only after Simon's statement that Jesus was the Christ would Simon be newly called Peter. The text does not show that Jesus bestowed this nickname at that moment (it says "su ei Petros," you are Peter, and not you shall be called Peter) and the original Greek in particular shows much more clearly that when Jesus thereafter speaks of "this rock" (taute te petra, feminine dative declension) he is not referring at all to Peter. It makes more sense that Simon, who hailed from the edge of the Jewish world, might have already been called Peter, which was an extant name in the Greek and Roman world and was by no means a special nickname that Jesus created to pun on the "petra" that the remainder of the verse speaks of, the "rock" upon which the church would be built.
By this reading, Simon Peter is not the rock, as Catholics have long asserted. Instead, the rock of the church is Simon Peter's divinely inspired confession: "You are the Christ, the son of the Living God." By this reading, Matthew 16:18 is properly understood thus: "As sure as you are [called] Petros, on this rock of what you have just said I will build my church."
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 2:07pm | IP Logged | 6
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Just finished the first book in the GAME OF THRONES series yesterday, on to the second, A STORM OF SWORDS by George R.R. Martin•• I wonder why I find these so utterly impenetrable? Perhaps Tolkien just set the bar WAY too high in my (then) young mind. The only fantasy series that has really drawn me in, since LotR, was Zelazny's AMBER series -- and I drifted away from that before the end!
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Michael Tortorice
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Joined: 15 November 2008
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | 7
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and I drifted away from that before the end!
You're not alone. I read it through many, many times and I can assure you Zelazny drifted away from the story before the end as well!
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Ryan Maxwell
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 3:36pm | IP Logged | 8
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Just finished Storm of Swords and am downloading the Kindle version of A Feast for Crows now.
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Mark McKay
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 4:12pm | IP Logged | 9
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Myself, I just finished THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand this week. It's
basically a 700 page book about a bunch of architects standing around
and talking. It should be boring. I found it absolutely mesmerizing!
One of my favorites! I would recommend someone familiarize yourself a
bit with Objectivism before diving into the book though.
++++
Nonsense! The Fountainhead is itself the best introduction into
Objectivism. I think it's a much better novel than ATLAS SHRUGGED
(though, in terms of outlining the Rand's philosophy, AS is more
thorough). The Fountainhead is more relevant for people who have
artistic inclinations, I feel...a lot of it revolves around aesthetics. Toohey is one of the all-time best villains EVER created! Perfect!!! The movie is not half-bad either.
----------
I agree. I read ATLAS SHRUGGED prior to THE FOUNTAINHEAD, and found
myself wishing I'd read THE FOUNTAINHEAD first, because it was a more
streamlined and entertaining story of Objectivism. And Toohey really is a
great villain.
Just watched the movie this week, and liked it too.
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David Allen Perrin
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Joined: 15 April 2009
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 7:24pm | IP Logged | 10
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Just cracked open A Dance With Dragons! I'll be up all night!
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Thom Price
Byrne Robotics Member
L’Homme Diabolique
Joined: 29 April 2004
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| Posted: 13 July 2011 at 9:17pm | IP Logged | 11
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Like many others, I'm making my way through the GAME OF THRONES series. I only discovered the books thanks to the TV show, but I am enjoying the novels immensely. I'm well into book two, and figure I should be onto book three by the weekend.
These are the first books I've read on my Blackberry tablet. I was slow to make the switch to digital books; even my mom, who I often chide for being a borderline Luddite, switched before I did. I think I'm a full convert now.
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Steve D Swanson
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Joined: 04 May 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 1374
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| Posted: 14 July 2011 at 6:13am | IP Logged | 12
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I'm reading The Life a biography of John Lennon by Phillip Norman. It seems incredibly well researched and authoritative and I'm enjoying it very much. Does anyone know if it actually is as definitive as it seems? Is there a better Lennon biography out there? One strange thing when reading the book, everytime a song is discussed I can hear the song almost in its entirety in my head. Almost like it comes with its own soundtrack.
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