Books general

Thinking about it reading really is the thing that separates you from being a dull mass. You won't find enough food for thought in tv/series, etc. In order to get to the truth you have to read.

I've been reading Edward Feser's Intro to Aquinas and The Last Superstition.

Shafarevich's book The Socialist Phenomenon.


Shafarevich's book The Socialist Phenomenon,[6] which was published in the US by Harper & Row in 1980, analyzed numerous examples of socialism, from ancient times, through various medieval heresies, to a variety of modern thinkers and socialist states. From these examples he claimed that all the basic principles of socialist ideology derive from the urge to suppress individuality. The Socialist Phenomenon consists of three major parts:[7]

Chiliastic Socialism: Identifies socialist ideas amongst the ancient Greeks, especially Plato, and in numerous medieval heretic groups such as the Cathars, Brethren of the Free Spirit, Taborites, Anabaptists, and various religious groups in the English Civil War, and modern writers such as Thomas More, Campanella, and numerous Enlightenment writers in 18th-century France.[8]
State Socialism: Describes the socialism of the Incas, the Jesuit state in Paraguay, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China.[9]
Analysis: Identifies three persistent abolition themes in socialism – the abolition of private property, the abolition of the family, and the abolition of religion (mainly, but not exclusively Christianity)[10]

Shafarevich argued that ancient socialism (such as Mesopotamia and Egypt) was not ideological, as an ideology socialism was a reaction to the emergence of individualism in the Axial Age. He compared Thomas More's (Utopia) and Campanella's (City of the Sun) visions with what is known about the Inca Empire, and concluded that there are striking similarities. He claimed that we become persons through our relationship with God, and argued that socialism is essentially nihilistic, unconsciously motivated by a death instinct. He concluded that we have the choice of either pursuing death or life.

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can find it here:

robertlstephens.com/essays/shafarevich/001SocialistPhenomenon.html

Self-bumping my own question. I know it might sound ridiculous, but I genuinely want to be sure.

Ecclesiastes 12:11-12 King James Version (KJV)


It's the OT version of what St. Paul said in Colossians 2:8:

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So basically just a warning against modernism, secularism, and atheism/nihilism?

Yes, pretty much. Another way to think about it:
Anyone publish a book and make themselves look like a 200+ IQ individual, but there is only one Word of God.

Anyone read this?
Dreher - Benedict's option
Is it worth reading?

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"A Textual History of the King James Bible" (written by Norton..who also did the Paragraph KJV). It's kind of interesting how many odd variations there are of the KJV.. even after the advent of the printing press (or zealous printers/Protestants mangling things).