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Comment by dsubburam | Hacker News Reader

Am reading the book[1] slowly, two pages at a time, taking notes.

A recent note I took from Ch 7: Unrestraint and Pleasure

"...virtue keeps the source safe, while vice destroys it, and in actions the source is that for the sake of which one acts ... so neither there nor here is reason able to teach anyone the sources, but here it is virtue, either natural or habituated, that directs one to right opinion about the source."

Reminded me of Buddhist teachings that say that moral conduct is necessary and you can't just think/meditate your way to wisdom/enlightenment[2].

[1] Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle. tr. Joe Sachs [2] cf. https://puredhamma.net/living-dhamma/transition-to-noble-eig...

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Or the book of James from the bible. “Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by my works”

It would be hard to overstate the debt Christian philosophy in particular and classical theism in general owes to Aristotle.

The Judeans and Israelites who would become the first Christians were very much within the Greek cultural and intellectual sphere, so it’s not as if it was a medieval innovation by Aquinas that introduced Christians to Greek thought. Not to say that Aquinas didn’t make huge contributions of course.

Im really interested in one day studying better Gnosticism, as it seems like that is where the 3 (Hellenism, judaism, and Christianity) intersected. It was mostly wiped out by the emerging Catholic Church in the 4th century, but I get this sense from the gospels that there is this Greek vibe and I want to know more.

To me the Gnostic beliefs seem rather explicitly those of Jesus described in the remaining texts, despite thier efforts to wipe it away.

We are all the children of God according to the Bible, therefore Jesus was no more than the Son of God than any other man, he simply took on the mantle more fully than most.

Add in the Gospel of Judas and he quickly becomes an apparent Gnostic who engaged in a giant con with the specific intent of widescale social reform (he ordered Judas to "betray" him and take the money to put to the cults efforts, having recognized that any leader who survives -Loh- long enough just becomes another tyrant and only martyrs remain saints who he people use for guidance and example.)

> It would be hard to overstate the debt Christian philosophy in particular and classical theism in general owes to Aristotle.

I would replace "Aristotle" to "Ancient Greeks" or "Ancient Stoics" in your sentence. Example:

https://www.google.com/search?q=gold+christian+rule (results in some quote from the Bible)

https://www.google.com/search?q=golden+rule+of+plato (results in very similar quote which has been said way earlier).

Christian/Judeo (as well as ancient Greek) thought is probably indebted to the thought of places like Egypt and Ethiopia as well.

Interestingly, I think in both The Illiad and The Odyssey there is a mention of a god making a trip to Ethiopia.

Pythagoras studied Math in Egypt so I agree with you in this place.

The Illiad is the most ancient writing AFAIK but I do not understand what are you saying in this sentence.

My point is that Ethiopia is mentioned, and therefore there is probably some influence there.

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