To hate Jews is to hate God

Shirina, just what planet are you on, it certainly is not this one.

The fact that their has been loss of life is in no way relative to the state the world is in at this time.

There has never ever been the potential for the destruction of mankind and the earth

I can give many, by the click of the mouse all the previous wars and all manner of loss of life which is TOTTALLY IRRELEVANT.

History is just that, history.

And I could quote history all day and it would not change the present state of the world.

I do not know how you work out and on what basis you think forrests were created.

Not much there about the Diaspora, Tosh.

http://www.evidenceforchristianity.org/were-people-literate-in-the-time-of-jesus-r/

Assessing the literacy rate in modern society is very easily accomplished
but the answer to this question in antiquity is the other way around.
Nonetheless, this percentage is reflected in one of the rules in Soferim
11:2 (ed. Higger, p. 218):
A town in which there is only one who reads; he stands up, reads (the
Torah), and sits down, he stands up, reads and sits down, even seven
times.

I never understood why no contemporary historian wrote about Jesus during his lifetime and ministry if he was such the big deal?

Moss, professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame, challenges some of the most hallowed legends of the religion when she questions what she calls “the Sunday school narrative of a church of martyrs, of Christians huddled in catacombs out of fear, meeting in secret to avoid arrest and mercilessly thrown to lions merely for their religious beliefs.” None of that, she maintains, is true. In the 300 years between the death of Jesus and the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, there were maybe 10 or 12 scattered years during which Christians were singled out for supression by Rome’s imperial authorities, and even then the enforcement of such initiatives was haphazard — lackadaisical in many regions, although harsh in others. “Christians were never,” Moss writes, “the victims of sustained, targeted persecution.”

Moss also examines surviving Roman records. She notes that during the only concerted anti-Christian Roman campaign, under the emperor Diocletian between 303 and 306, Christians were expelled from public offices. Their churches, such as the one in Nicomedia, across the street from the imperial palace, were destroyed. Yet, as Moss points out, if the Christians were holding high offices in the first place and had built their church “in the emperor’s own front yard,” they could hardly have been in hiding away in catacombs before Diocletian issued his edicts against them.

Shirina wrote:
Between the years 1348 and 1350, bubonic plague, 200 million dead. (This number doesn't count the untold thousands who were murdered in a religious panic)

Shirina wrote:
Explain to me, please, how people "misused" the bubonic plague in 1348 that caused the Black Death.

Some of the views expressed on this thread have been copyright since the 14th. Century.

snowyflake wrote:Black Death and Bubonic plague were caused by the same bacteria, Yersinia pestis. They were just different manifestations of the same disease.

One source states between 75-200 million dead from plague between 1348-1350. I suppose it depends on where you get your facts from DN.

Tosh. What isn’t ‘cool’ is putting the future of this forum, not to mention the bank balances of its administrators, at risk by seriously flouting the copyright laws. Quotations of 36 and 31 lines respectively represent a serious breach of our ‘safety’ guidelines, which can be found on both of the following threads:-

Bubonic plague
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bubonic plague is a zoonotic disease, circulating mainly among small rodents and their fleas,[1] and is one of three types of bacterial infections caused by Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis), which belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae. Without treatment, the bubonic plague kills about two thirds of infected humans within 4 days.

The term bubonic plague is derived from the Greek word βουβών, meaning "groin." Swollen lymph nodes (buboes) especially occur in the armpit and groin in persons suffering from bubonic plague. Bubonic plague was often used synonymously for plague, but it does in fact refer specifically to an infection that enters through the skin and travels through the lymphatics, as is often seen in flea-borne infections.

Bubonic plague—along with the septicemic plague and the pneumonic plague, which are the two other manifestations of Y. pestis—is generally believed to be the cause of the Black Death that swept through Europe in [u]the 14th century ^b and killed an estimated 25 million people^a, or 30–60% of the European population. ^a[2] Because the plague killed so many of the working population, wages rose and some historians have seen this as a turning point in European economic development.^[3][4]

Early outbreaks

The first recorded epidemic ravaged the Byzantine Empire during the sixth century, and was named the Plague of Justinian after emperor Justinian I, who was infected but survived through extensive treatment.^[11][12] The epidemic is estimated to have killed approximately 50 million people in the Roman Empire alone.^[13] The historian Procopius wrote, in Volume II of History of the Wars, his encounter with the plague and the effect it had on the rising empire. In the spring of 542, the plague arrived in Constantinople, working its way from port city to port city and spreading through the Mediterranean, later migrating inland eastward into Asia Minor and west into Greece and Italy. Because the infectious disease spread inland by the transferring of merchandise through Justinian’s efforts in acquiring luxurious goods of the time and exporting supplies, his capital became the leading exporter of the Bubonic plague. Procopius, in his work Secret History, declared that Justinian was a demon of an emperor who either created the plague himself or was being punished for his sinfulness.^[13]

Black Death

In the Late Middle Ages (1340-1400)^b Europe experienced the most deadly disease outbreak in Western history when the Black Death, the infamous pandemic of bubonic plague, hit in 1347,^b killing a third of the human population.^a It is commonly believed that society subsequently became more violent as the mass mortality rate cheapened life and thus increased warfare, crime, popular revolt, waves of flagellants, and persecution.^[14] The Black Death originated in or near China and spread from Italy and then throughout other European countries. Research published in 2002 suggests that it began in the spring of 1346 in the steppe region, where a plague reservoir stretches from the north-western shore of the Caspian Sea into southern Russia. The Mongols had cut off the trade route, the Silk Road, between China and Europe which halted the spread of the Black Death from eastern Russia to Western Europe. The epidemic began with an attack that Mongols launched on the Italian merchant's last trading station in the region, Caffa in the Crimea.^[9] In the autumn of 1346, plague broke out among the besiegers and from them penetrated into the town. When spring arrived, the Italian merchants fled on their ships, unknowingly carrying the Black Death. Carried by the fleas on rats, the plague initially spread to humans near the Black Sea and then outwards to the rest of Europe as a result of people fleeing from one area to another.

There were many ethno-medical beliefs of prevention methods for avoiding the Black Death. One of the most famous ideas was that by walking around with flowers in or around their nose people would be able to "ward off the stench and perhaps the evil that afflicted them." There were also many religious prevention methods. One such method used was to carve the symbol of the cross onto the front door of a house with the words "Lord have mercy on us" near it.^[15]

Pistoia, a city in Italy, even went as far as enacting rules and regulations on the city and its inhabitants to keep it safe from the Black Death. The rules stated that no one was allowed to visit any plague-infected area and if they did they were not allowed back into the city. Some other rules were that no linen or woollen goods were to be imported into the city and no corpses were to be buried in the city. However, despite strict enforcement of the rules, the city eventually became infected.^[16]

While Europe was devastated by the disease, the rest of the world fared much better. In India, populations rose from a population of 91 million in 1300, to 97 million in 1400, to 105 million in 1500. Also sub-Saharan Africa remained largely unaffected by the plagues.^[17]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague

Shirina wrote:
Between the years 1348 and 1350, bubonic plague, 200 million dead. (This number doesn't count the untold thousands who were murdered in a religious panic)

According to data extracted from the above-quoted Wikipedia article, retrieved 27 April 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague, the population of Europe circa 1340-1400 was 41,666,667 to 83,333,333 or 75,000,000.

Estimated death toll for this period is between 25 - 50 million not 200 million as you have stated Shirina.

Shirina wrote:

According to data extracted from the above-quoted Wikipedia article, retrieved 27 April 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague, the population of Europe circa 1340-1400 was 41,666,667 to 83,333,333 or 75,000,000.

You forgot that the plague started in the Far East, probably in China. Therefore, the 200 million figure also includes Asia, not just Europeans.

Shirina wrote:
I never said anything about semantics.

Bubonic plague
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There were many ethno-medical beliefs of prevention methods for avoiding the Black Death. One of the most famous ideas was that by walking around with flowers in or around their nose people would be able to "ward off the stench and perhaps the evil that afflicted them." There were also many religious prevention methods. One such method used was to carve the symbol of the cross onto the front door of a house with the words "Lord have mercy on us" near it.^[15]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague

Sally Go 'Round the Roses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Sally Go 'Round the Roses" is the name of a 1963 hit by The Jaynetts, a Bronx-based one-hit wonder girl group, released by J&S Records on the Tuff label.

In the summer of 1963, Spector asked J&S owner, Zelma "Zell" Sanders, to assemble a vocal ensemble to record a girl group style record to which end Sanders wrote the song "Sally Go 'Round the Roses," with Spector's wife Lona Stevens, drawing inspiration from the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie." The songwriting copyright for "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" is now in the name Abner Spector who died in 2010; Zell Sanders died in 1976.^[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Go_%27Round_the_Roses

Ring a Ring o' Roses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Ring a Ring o' Roses" or "Ring Around the Rosie" is a nursery rhyme or folksong and playground singing game. It first appeared in print in 1881, but it is reported that a version was already being sung to the current tune in the 1790s and similar rhymes are known from across Europe. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7925. Urban legend says the song originally described the plague, but folklorists reject this idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o%27_Roses

I doubt that “25 million people”, “30–60% of the European population”, “a third of the human population”, “the 14th century”, “1340-1400”, or “1347” could be identified, described, or characterized as “semantics.”

Just reading the religion board for the first time (kind of pining for the bygone days when I didn't have to!). But wondering how any of the recent posts are even tangentially related to the thread title? Or have we, by common consent, agreed to let this one run where it will?

But wondering how any of the recent posts are even tangentially related to the thread title? Or have we, by common consent, agreed to let this one run where it will?

transmorgrify

I think this is an issue which the staff should discuss, while the rest of you continue enjoying your exchanges.

In my book, serious breaches of copyright are far more important and will not be tolerated, whether anyone chooses to ignore me or not. Messages which contain quotations exceeding the 14-15 line limit will be deleted and may well result in sanctions against the poster.

Ohhh Kayyy then. How about an amalgamation of the various Hissy-fits being conducted between esteemed contributors on various very similar threads?

For the record, I am extremely tired, even irritated, at this "push" to keep everyone straitjacketed by thread titles and these complaints that similar (but not IDENTICAL) discussions are going on parallel in different threads. WHO CARES? What difference does it make? Moreoever, this "push" only seems to occur in the religion category and nowhere else on this forum. Now, why is THAT, I wonder?

we are all humans here (I would hope)

On no previous occasions has my content been “semantics.”

On no previous occasions has my content been “semantics.”

My exposition of YHWH and Jehovah is not “semantics”; my exposition of YHWH and Jehovah is exposition

Semantics (from Ancient Greek: σημαντικός sēmantikós)[1][2] is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, like words, phrases, signs, and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotation.
Linguistic semantics is the study of meaning that is used for understanding human expression through language. Other forms of semantics include the semantics of programming languages, formal logics, and semiotics.
The word semantics itself denotes a range of ideas, from the popular to the highly technical. It is often used in ordinary language for denoting a problem of understanding that comes down to word selection or connotation. This problem of understanding has been the subject of many formal enquiries, over a long period of time, most notably in the field of formal semantics. In linguistics, it is the study of interpretation of signs or symbols used in agents or communities within particular circumstances and contexts.[3] Within this view, sounds, facial expressions, body language, and proxemics have semantic (meaningful) content, and each comprises several branches of study. In written language, things like paragraph structure and punctuation bear semantic content; other forms of language bear other semantic content.[3]
The formal study of semantics intersects with many other fields of inquiry, including lexicology, syntax, pragmatics, etymology and others, although semantics is a well-defined field in its own right, often with synthetic properties.[4] In philosophy of language, semantics and reference are closely connected. Further related fields include philology, communication, and semiotics. The formal study of semantics is therefore complex.
Semantics contrasts with syntax, the study of the combinatorics of units of a language (without reference to their meaning), and pragmatics, the study of the relationships between the symbols of a language, their meaning, and the users of the language.[5]