In what is shaping up to be a five-part book analysis series, here in Part 4 of my look at Candida Moss’s book, The Myth of Persecution, I will be looking at her Chapter 5 (“Why Did the Romans Dislike Christians?”) and Chapter 6 (“The Myth of Martyrs”). Warning…I get a bit snarky in this…
This week in Arkansas, we’ve had a bit of a few cold, wintry days, which means school has been canceled. And that means I have a few extra days to cover Candida Moss’s book, The Myth of Persecution. Today, I’m going to be looking at Chapter 4: “How Persecuted Were the Early Christians?” Chapter 4:…
Here in Part 2 of my look at Candida Moss’s The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom, I’m going to try to look at chapters 2-3. Let’s dive right in… Chapter 2: Christians Borrowing of Jewish and Pagan Martyrdom TraditionsMoss’s basic argument in chapter 2 is that early Christians invented…
A few months ago, an online friend of mine asked if I had read The Myth of Persecution by Candida Moss. I had not, although I had heard of the book and actually had it on my “wishlist” on Amazon. A few years ago I saw an article about how some conservative Christian groups were…
Here in my final installment of my trip through Winesburg, Ohio, I’m going to cover the last two stories in the book: “Sophistication” and “Departure.” In both stories, the main character is George Willard. There are at least ten stories that I have not included in this literary series, but hopefully you are intrigued enough…
There are only a couple more stories from Winesburg, Ohio that I want to share in this literary series. There are other stories in the book, and hopefully this simple look at my favorite ones will inspire you to buy the book and read the entire thing. The story I want to cover in this…
Here in my next installment of my look at Winesburg, Ohio, I’m going to cover two short stories. As you’ll see, they are intimately connected. And that is one of the things I love about Winesburg, Ohio—so many of the stories within the book turn out, in the end, to be connected in a way…
Respectability: An OverviewIn Winesburg, Ohio, the character of Wash Williams is both revolting and immensely pitiable. At the very beginning of the story, Wash is compared to an ugly, dirty, grotesque monkey in a cage. He was the telegraph operator of Winesburg, and “the ugliest thing in town.” We are told that everything about him…
In this next look at the characters in Winesburg, Ohio, I’m going to look at two different stories. The first story is titled, “Nobody Knows,” and it is about George Willard. The second story is titled, “Adventure,” and it is about a woman named Alice Hindman. Nobody Knows: Overview“Nobody Knows” is a very short story…
The next citizen of Winesburg, Ohio is a man named Doctor Parcival. Unlike the other characters we’ve encountered, Doctor Parcival is not a pitiable character like Wing Biddlebaum, or a tender and sweet character like Doctor Reefy, or a sad character like Elizabeth Willard. Doctor Parcival is not really likable at all. The Philosopher: An…