Posted by Basil on April 17, 2002 at 19:55:47:
In Reply to: Christianity and Ancient Greek Culture a contradiction? posted by Panos on April 14, 2002 at 07:09:49:
RE:
: Greece is still in between their medieval byzantin theocracy and the hellenistic culture. From my point of view orthodox religion destroyed more than it constructed.
: And further to all the posting concerning to muslims:
: If Arabs wouldn't have been, we would have lost Aristoteles, Hipokrates etc. PLease be aware that reading especially Aristotleles means that you read arabic translations!
: Panos
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Clearly the individuals who have made these statements are evidently WHOLELY ignorant of the single-handed role that the church had in preserving the writings of the ancient Hellenes through the route of the Christian (especially the Eastern: ie. Orthodox) church. Read your Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory, St. Gregory Palamas and thousands of other brilliant Orthodox scholars and one will see the vibrant respect that they had for the virtuous thoughts of their earlier (but pagan) ancestors. The fact that Arabs continued this tradition during the 7th through 10th centuries comes from their contact with the purely Eastern Orthodox middle east region. It is because of the Church having preserved so much of the ancients (that which the Romans hadn't destroyed) that the Arabs knew so much. By the way, there was a brief period of extremism in the Church (during the period of Iconclasts) when a strict fundamentalism prevailed; however, proof that the majority of Orthodox rejected this movement came with the "Anastilosis" of the icons years later. In brief, please study the texts of these great individuals before making your ignorant statements.
With all my love, in Christ,
Basil (a lay Christian).