Talk:Apology of Aristides

Translation Issues
"Though they see their gods of ten by others and by men" almost certainly should read "... eaten by others and by men" or possibly " ... gotten by others and by men" (where "gotten" means "begotten" in the lovely early 20th-century language of the encyclopedia). Someone should fix all the scanning errors in this article.

66.135.106.50 21:56, 1 July 2007 (UTC) Cy

"... and the of eat fast" probably reads "and the great fast" in the pre-scanned text.

66.135.106.50 22:00, 1 July 2007 (UTC) Cy
 * That might make sense, the current wording is obviously wrong. I'll ask some people who know about Judaism.  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  06:02, 10 April 2016 (UTC)
 * Can you clarify your question or query? I'm trying to understand but I am having trouble. Thanks. Sir Joseph (talk) 16:57, 3 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Hi the article currently contains the phrase "and the of eat fast" and I'm wondering what that means. The IP has suggested it is a typo and perhaps means "and the great fast". I have no clue as to what that phrase means other than it being some reference to a religious fast. Could it be an odd translation of an otherwise well known fast?  Ϣere  Spiel  Chequers  05:17, 19 May 2016 (UTC)
 * WereSpielChequersSince I presume it is not referring to Lent, which is sometimes called a great fast, the only thing I can think of in Judaism is Yom Kippur it is one of the mandated fasts in the Jewish calendar, but it's the only one to actually supersede the Sabbath. Of the other fasts, it is much easier to break and not follow the rules, but for Yom Kippur it is a much higher threshold to break the fast according to the law. It is the holiest day in the calendar and it is the day of atonement. Sir Joseph (talk) 13:41, 19 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Well if we can find a source that says that the Great Fast is or better was then a synonym for Yom Kippur that would be interesting. But does that mean you agree with the IP that it should read "and the Great Fast"  Ϣere Spiel  Chequers  14:03, 19 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I can't answer if it should read one way or the other, but this site: http://www.betemunah.org/kippur.html has a table where it shows Yom Kippur called Great Fast. I found another site, but it was a Jews for Jesus site so not sure if that will work, and I couldn't find the source they cited in the Bible. But I do think "great fast" makes more sense than "of the eat fast." Sir Joseph (talk) 14:12, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

Last line does not read like an encyclopedia article, but like an apology
"Its merits are its recognition of the helplessness of the old Athenism to satisfy human aspiration after the divine..."

This is a bizarre assertion for an encyclopedia article. It sounds as if assuming a "human aspiration after the divine", supposedly identified by some psychological examination of the human soul. What is the source or the documentarty evidence of such an assertion? Who has identified this "human aspiration"? Or is it a Christian projection?

And what about "the helplessness of the old Athenism"? What does that mean? What is the "old Athenism"? There were dozens of philosophical schools and doctrines in Athens. Religious rituals and beliefs had existed in hundreds of variations for more than a thousand years by then. So where is the "helplessness...to satisfy"? The Greeks had been doing well with their gods for a long time, and had satisfied the various cities over hundreds of years of changes. They never had a religious war, had no religious dogma, and no central administration of their beliefs.

It seems that this "human aspiration after the divine" was not a Greek sentiment, but the projection of a Christian belief in the psychology of the "soul". This should be made explicit in the comment to this sentence in the body of the article. It must be possible to find a published commentary on this line or sentiment, and include it here, as a secondary comment.

As written, this sentence reads like an endorsement of Christian apologetics. --ROO BOOKAROO (talk) 13:02, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi there, I'm new to wikipedia so still finding my editing legs, but I would agree with you on this point, and I took out the last paragraph. I also took out another paragraph for the same reasons, that it is not a neutral pov (do we write: W:NPOV?)
 * Any feedback welcome, this is my first major edit and I don't want to get it wrong!
 * Many thanks ~ Bookish14 (talk) 18:15, 18 January 2023 (UTC)