Did Bishop Theophilus burn down the ancient library of Alexandria?

[QuillInkHistory]

Hi I have made a video were I argue against the thesis that the ancient library of Alexandria was burnt down by a Christian mob in 391.

I you could watch the video and give feedback and criticisms to the arguments that I am presenting(or point out litterature that I have missed) I would be very greatfull.

God Bless!

youtube.com/watch?v=ut5bTDTYtMg

 

[jcrichton]

Hi I have made a video were I argue against the thesis that the ancient library of Alexandria was burnt down by a Christian mob in 391.

I you could watch the video and give feedback and criticisms to the arguments that I am presenting(or point out litterature that I have missed) I would be very greatfull.

God Bless!

youtube.com/watch?v=ut5bTDTYtMg

Hi, Quill!

…I’m mostly illiterate when it comes to… well, everything… but history is quite at the top, if not the top… here’s the best I can offer (though you’ve probably already browsed through it):

The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world.[1] Famous for having been burned, thus resulting in the loss of many scrolls and books, it has become a symbol of “knowledge and culture destroyed.” Although there is a tradition of the burning of the Library at Alexandria, the library may have suffered several fires or acts of destruction, of varying degrees, over many years. Different cultures may have blamed each other throughout history, or distanced their ancestors from responsibility, and therefore leaving conflicting and inconclusive fragments from ancient sources on the exact details of the destruction. There is little consensus on when books in the actual library were destroyed. Manuscripts were probably burned in stages over eight centuries (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_the_Library_of_Alexandria

)
…as I understand it, it was the norm for conquering/invading forces to raze their targeted peoples to its lowest capacity (to instill fear and dishearten their next targets and to create workers and drones); one of the, I would suggest, universal means was to kill the educated and burn down any fountain of knowledge and lineage… these depositories (inclusive of steward, curator, librarian… and the actual contents and building/s) were brutally and mercilessly attacked.

Such huge targets would no doubt have several incursions from many different armies/barbarians throughout time.

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[QuillInkHistory]

Hi, Quill!

…I’m mostly illiterate when it comes to… well, everything… but history is quite at the top, if not the top… here’s the best I can offer (though you’ve probably already browsed through it):

…as I understand it, it was the norm for conquering/invading forces to raze their targeted peoples to its lowest capacity (to instill fear and dishearten their next targets and to create workers and drones); one of the, I would suggest, universal means was to kill the educated and burn down any fountain of knowledge and lineage… these depositories (inclusive of steward, curator, librarian… and the actual contents and building/s) were brutally and mercilessly attacked.

Such huge targets would no doubt have several incursions from many different armies/barbarians throughout time.

Maran atha!

Angel

Hi! Thx for the response, Im open to the idea that the libraries was destroyed gradually by conquering armies though it´s also possible that the daughter library was moved by the roman emperor sometime in the fourth century.

The main point that I am arguing for is that the library was not destroyed by Christians in 391.

See: James Hannams articles on the library of Alexandria.

Hope you liked my video!

 

[jcrichton]

Hi! Thx for the response, Im open to the idea that the libraries was destroyed gradually by conquering armies though it´s also possible that the daughter library was moved by the roman emperor sometime in the fourth century.

The main point that I am arguing for is that the library was not destroyed by Christians in 391.

See: James Hannams articles on the library of Alexandria.

Hope you liked my video!

Hi, Quill!

…I read through the essay and viewed the video… I enjoyed both; since I don’t subscribe to anything I could not give you a:

…while watching the video some questions came up:

• Are you an actual Historian?
• Did you catch the EWTN airing of “The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization?”
• When describing the division of states and referencing Egypt an icon of what I perceived to be an eagle popped up and was superimposed on the map, do you know when did the eagle become the standard for Egypt?

The reason for my queries… if you are a historian, have you (done/considered) working with other Catholic historian to dispel the myths that hold the Church as anti-progress (anti: science, development, art, literature, humanity…)?

I’m awful with names so I don’t remember the name of the author and host of “The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization;” it seems to me that you (and others) and him could very well develop a masterpiece series that would expand on both the literary and videography of what now is passed as “Church history.”

…my interest with Egypt is that in Scriptures (Apocalypse 12) we have the rendering of the Spiritual Battle that ensues in Heaven and finalizes on earth, but that makes a distinct layover in Egypt as the “woman” is taken up on the wings of an eagle and brought to safety into the desert. Though I tried searching the web for connections, I could not find any references to Egypt and eagle earlier than the 20th century. It would be interesting to know that the connection existed far more into the past.

…I also enjoyed the fact that you did not hold back as you depicted at least two, somewhat familiar, faces from the science/history networks–networks that have consistently promoted themselves to being devoted to fact while using very generous brushstrokes when asserting their “findings” against Christianity (the Catholic Church in particular).

…as the British would say: “Cheerio, chap!” :clapping::clapping::clapping:

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[QuillInkHistory]

Hi, Quill!

…I read through the essay and viewed the video… I enjoyed both; since I don’t subscribe to anything I could not give you a:

…while watching the video some questions came up:

• Are you an actual Historian?
• Did you catch the EWTN airing of “The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization?”
• When describing the division of states and referencing Egypt an icon of what I perceived to be an eagle popped up and was superimposed on the map, do you know when did the eagle become the standard for Egypt?

The reason for my queries… if you are a historian, have you (done/considered) working with other Catholic historian to dispel the myths that hold the Church as anti-progress (anti: science, development, art, literature, humanity…)?

I’m awful with names so I don’t remember the name of the author and host of “The Catholic Church: Builder of Civilization;” it seems to me that you (and others) and him could very well develop a masterpiece series that would expand on both the literary and videography of what now is passed as “Church history.”

…my interest with Egypt is that in Scriptures (Apocalypse 12) we have the rendering of the Spiritual Battle that ensues in Heaven and finalizes on earth, but that makes a distinct layover in Egypt as the “woman” is taken up on the wings of an eagle and brought to safety into the desert. Though I tried searching the web for connections, I could not find any references to Egypt and eagle earlier than the 20th century. It would be interesting to know that the connection existed far more into the past.

…I also enjoyed the fact that you did not hold back as you depicted at least two, somewhat familiar, faces from the science/history networks–networks that have consistently promoted themselves to being devoted to fact while using very generous brushstrokes when asserting their “findings” against Christianity (the Catholic Church in particular).

…as the British would say: “Cheerio, chap!” :clapping::clapping::clapping:

Maran atha!

Angel

Thx for the nice comment! I makes me very happy that other people find value in my videos.

I am not an historian. I am a lay person who would like to become an historian in the future. I am 21 and I am right now studying to become a society planner though I am planning to study history when I have taken my exam in society planning.

I have heard of the book that you are reffering to but I haven´t had the time to pick it up and read it.

The eagel symbol that is shown on the map is taken from the game “Total war: Rome 2” and I am not sure if it historicaly has been used as a symbol of the kingdom of Egypt during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty. I did not put much thought into the symbol since the breakup of Alexanders empire was not the main point that I wanted to make in the video.

As for the history popularicers that I showed, I feel no regret for exposing them since several of the claims that they make in their documentaries is in the realm of
psuedo-history and the things they say about the destruction of the library is flat out nonsense and you don´t need a Phd to know that.

If you are interessted in the subject of the historical relationship between science and Christianity I strongly recommend you to pick up the book “Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion”. It is the number one book when it comes to busting historical myths about the relationship between science and religion and I think every Christian should have one.

Best wishes and hope you get a good weekend!

 

[jcrichton]

Thx for the nice comment! I makes me very happy that other people find value in my videos.

I am not an historian. I am a lay person who would like to become an historian in the future. I am 21 and I am right now studying to become a society planner though I am planning to study history when I have taken my exam in society planning.

I have heard of the book that you are reffering to but I haven´t had the time to pick it up and read it.

The eagel symbol that is shown on the map is taken from the game “Total war: Rome 2” and I am not sure if it historicaly has been used as a symbol of the kingdom of Egypt during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty. I did not put much thought into the symbol since the breakup of Alexanders empire was not the main point that I wanted to make in the video.

As for the history popularicers that I showed, I feel no regret for exposing them since several of the claims that they make in their documentaries is in the realm of
psuedo-history and the things they say about the destruction of the library is flat out nonsense and you don´t need a Phd to know that.

If you are interessted in the subject of the historical relationship between science and Christianity I strongly recommend you to pick up the book “Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion”. It is the number one book when it comes to busting historical myths about the relationship between science and religion and I think every Christian should have one.

Best wishes and hope you get a good weekend!

Hi, Quill!

Tanks for the response.

I pray that you are successful in your career planning… that you in deed be able to disseminate historical facts as they evolved/unfolded and so dispel so many convoluted mythical stories that have been passing for historical accounts.

…I understand your frustration with the pseudo-scholastics… people with biases are quick to not only believe in lies but to believe their own lies as they pretend to be “honest,” “unbiased,” and “open-minded” while accepting only what agrees with their preconceptions.

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[Juliannarose]

I’m interested in seeing the video. I see you took it down. Did you republish it? If not, any chance you will?

 

[MountCarmel]

Well, it seems that libraries have throughout history been subject to small scale and large scale assaults, by hostile individuals, groups, and nations, and in more modern times, even to just save on the cost of running them. It appears that the great Library at Alexandria was just another victim of a series of assaults. There is an interesting list on ‘wiki’ of ‘List of destroyed libraries’.

 

[jcrichton]

Hi!

What I find fascinating is how much was rescued by the Church’s efforts and how severely she is chastised for being against “the enlightenment.”

The best the Church is given is “the Church burnt all the books, including the Bible.”

Maran atha!

Angel