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Comment by krapp | Hacker News Reader

>Slavery was accepted almost everywhere.

Jesus wasn't anti-slavery, because he was a Jew and slavery is directly supported by Jewish law and scripture, sometimes with quotes from God himself. Jesus even commands slaves to obey their masters.

>Women were very definitely second-class citizens.

Read the Pauline epistles, particularly 1st Timothy. "I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet."

>Giving charity" was not a central concept in the Greek moral universe.

What linguistic root is the word "philanthropy" from? It isn't Hebrew[0].

[0]https://sofii.org/article/philanthropy-in-ancient-times-some...

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So you haven't answered my question: what Greek philosopher said anything like what Jesus said (as you understand those sayings)?

Your other points are disingenuous at best. The eventual abolition of slavery in England was driven directly by Christian beliefs, however much they'd evolved in the ensuing time.

The bit about the Pauline epistles is also disingenuous. You picked one quote. Mary Magdalene was one of the disciples. Women were considered to be "in the image and likeness of God." They did not attend Mass in a separate section from the men (a separation which is still done at the Western Wall).

Lastly, who cares what the linguistic root was? And your link ignores one of the primary drivers of very early Christianity: the Romans didn't care how much you suffered. It was the Roman Empire where Christianity took off first.

"Philanthropy" seems to have been much like a lot of celebrities' "charitable foundations" nowadays: "Hey, everyone: Look at what a good person I am!"

> But the tendency for many donors to use such legal instruments for self-glorification, personally advantageous politicking, and the conservation of family wealth did little to help larger numbers of the destitute in growing Roman imperial cities.

> The eventual abolition of slavery in England was driven directly by Christian beliefs, however much they'd evolved in the ensuing time.

You do need to provide some evidence to support this claim. AFAIK slavery became unnecessary in the industrial era. So it morphed into Indentured servitude. Bible followers didn't hesitate from pillaging the world.

> Women were considered to be "in the image and likeness of God."

Could you quote something from Bible on this topic.

> the Romans didn't care how much you suffered. It was the Roman Empire where Christianity took off first.

Christianity tool off when Roman king understood it's political power and decided to use it. He then forced it down the throats of unorganised pagans who got eliminated brutally.

If that is the case then why GDP of Europe was declining?

You don't like Christianity. That's nice. You must have me mistaken for a Christian.

Instead of proselyzing you should present some references. Start with justification of a millennia dark age in Europe.

we are done here. I'm not responding to you anymore.

Apollonius of Tyana?

What linguistic root is the word "philanthropy" from? It isn't Hebrew[0].

Likewise, what linguistic root is the word "television" from? it's not American or British. *

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* the main claimants as inventors of television are British and US.

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