Greetings

REMINDER: SUNDAY WEEKLY ZOOM - January 11, 2026 -12:30 PM EDT - Ancient text study and discussion: De Rerum Natura by Lucretius - Level 03 members and above -- Line 127 - read the new update.

    Nice to hear from you, Oscar!

    DeWitt's book "Epicurus & his Philosophy" is the most adequate to Epicurus' philosophy, detailed and comprehensive among the secondary literature I have read so far. Except for the exaggerated connections he makes to Christianism, he is usually convincing.

    Oscar maybe you will uncover some things in your research that will shed some light on DeWitt's views of Christianity. In many cases the connections that Martin point out are focused on "organization" issues (use of letters, missionary style, social arrangements perhaps....), and I don't think that he goes too far (at least most of the time) on trying to reconcile the inconsistencies. It seems to me that those who try to make Epicurus out to be a stoic go *much* further than DeWitt did in trying to make the Epicurean movement seem like a precursor to the Christian movement.

    Maybe in fact that's the way it seems to me that DeWitt draws the strongest analogies -- between them as "movements."

    Even in "St Paul and Epicurus" I don't recall that DeWitt said too much overtly in praise of Christianity or Christian ethics, and I don't recall DeWitt EVER stating open disagreement with Epicurus on something, certainly not in the way Cyril Bailey regularly did.

    It would be very interesting to know if DeWitt has anywhere ever publicly stated his own belief in Christianity or particular Christian doctrines, was a member of a church, or things like that. Seems unlikely that that level of detail is discoverable today, but if you happen upon anything that would be good to know.

    Great project, Oscar; and great to see you here again. Your sig line is ever-welcoming, and ever-welcome!

    Your 'pilgrimage' reminds me; there's a grave in the States that I am hoping to see one day. Frances Wright is interred in—of all places!—Cincinnati, OH.

    Journaling is an excellent use of time. One of my favorites kept a journal for over 20 years, that ran to 2 million words before he died; a treasure trove of thought and literature. He had much to say for it, but here's the passage I like best;

    Quote

    Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable. No day will have been wholly misspent, if one sincere, thoughtful page has been written. Let the daily tide leave some deposit on these pages, as it leaves sand and shells on the shore…this may be a calendar of the ebbs and flows of the soul; and on these sheets as a beach, the waves may cast up pearls and seaweed.” Henry Thoreau (journal entry, July 6, 1840)

    Yes, it's very tantalizing! If I had known about this 2 years ago I could have certainly made it through.

    I didn't see Darwin's grave when I was in London, but there's a fine statue of him at the head of the staircase in the Museum of Natural History.

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