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brooklyn museum: jewish mosaics, photos

Finally got a few photos of the exhibit, see brooklyn museum: jewish mosaics from the roman empire and more.

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Photos © Dave Kush

gibbon on his 'vindication' (gibbon & christianity cont'd)

The Autobiographies of Edward Gibbon, continued

From Memoir E,  completed March 1791  My Own Life  (as titled in the print edition, 'typos' and spelling as in the original)  E-text from Gutenberg.  

1779. Feb.8.  [see also Bingley's  Gibbon and christianity below]

Had I believed that the majority of English readers were so fondly attached even to the name and shadow of Christianity; had I foreseen that the pious, the timid, and the prudent, would feel, or affect to feel, with such exquisite sensibility; I might, perhaps, have softened the two invidious chapters, which would create many enemies, and conciliate few friends. But the shaft was shot, the alarm was sounded, and I could only rejoice,  that if the voice of our priests was clamorous and bitter, their hands were disarmed from the powers of persecution.  I adhered to the wise resolution of trusting myself and my writings to the  candour of the public, till Mr. Davies of Oxford presumed to attack, not the faith, but the fidelity, of the historian.  My Vindication, expressive of less anger than contempt, amused for a moment  the busy and idle metropolis; and the most rational part of the laity, and even of the clergy, appear to have been satisfied of my innocence and accuracy. I would not print this Vindication in quarto, lest it should be bound and preserved with the history itself.  At the distance of twelve  years, I calmly affirm my judgment of Davies, Chelsum, &c.  A victory over such antagonists was a sufficient humiliation. They, however, were rewarded in this world.  Poor Chelsum was indeed neglected; and I dare not boast the making Dr. Watson a bishop; he is a prelate of a large mind and liberal spirit: but I enjoyed the pleasure of giving a Royal pension to Mr. Davies, and of collating Dr. Apthorpe to an archiepiscopal living. Their success encouraged the zeal of Taylor the Arian, [Note: The stupendous title, Thoughts on the Causes of the grand Apostacy, at first agitated my nerves, till I discovered that it was the apostacy of the whole church, since the Council of Nice, from Mr. Taylor's private religion. His book is a thorough mixture of high enthusiasm and low buffoonery, and the Millennium is a fundamental article of his creed.] and Milner the Methodist, [Note: From his grammar-school at Kingston upon Hull, Mr. Joseph Milner pronounces an anathema against all rational religion. His faith is a divine taste, a spiritual inspiration; his church is a mystic and invisible body: the natural Christians, such as Mr. Locke, who believe and interpret the Scriptures, are, in his judgment, no better than profane infidels.] with many others, whom it would be difficult to remember, and tedious to rehearse. The list of my adversaries, however, was graced with the more respectable names of Dr. Priestley, Sir David Dalrymple, and Dr. White; and every polemic, of either university, discharged his sermon or pamphlet against the impenetrable silence of the Roman historian.  In his History of the Corruptions of Christianity, Dr. Priestley threw down his two gauntlets to Bishop Hurd and Mr. Gibbon.   I declined the challenge in a letter, exhorting my opponent to enlighten the world by his philosophical discoveries, and to remember that the merit of his predecessor Servetus is now reduced to a single passage, which indicates the smaller circulation of the blood through the lungs, from and to the heart.  Instead of listening to this friendly advice, the dauntless philosopher of Birmingham continued to fire away his double battery against those who believed  too little, and those who believed too much. From my replies he has nothing to hope or fear: but his Socinian shield has repeatedly been pierced by the spear of Horsley, and his trumpet of sedition may at length awaken the magistrates of a free country.  The profession and rank of Sir David Dalrymple (now a Lord of Session) has given a more decent colour to his style.  But he scrutinized each separate passage of the two chapters with the dry minuteness of a special pleader; and as he was always solicitous to make, he may have succeeded sometimes in finding, a flaw. In his Annals of Scotland, he has shewn himself a diligent collector and an accurate critic. I have praised, and I still praise, the eloquent sermons which were preached in St. Mary's pulpit at Oxford by Dr. White.  If he assaulted me with some degree of illiberal acrimony, in such a place, and before such an audience, he was obliged to speak the language of the country.  I smiled at a passage in one of his private letters to Mr. Badcock;  "The part where we encounter Gibbon must be brilliant and striking." I n a sermon preached before the university of Cambridge, Dr. Edwards complimented a work, "which can only perish with the language itself;"  and esteems the author a formidable enemy.  He is, indeed, astonished that more learning and ingenuity has not been shewn in the defence of Israel; that the prelates and dignitaries of the church (alas, good man!) did not vie with each other, whose stone should sink the deepest in the forehead of this Goliath.

"But the force of truth will oblige us to confess, that in the attacks which have been levelled against our sceptical historian, we can discover but slender traces of profound and exquisite erudition, of solid criticism and accurate investigation; but we are too frequently disgusted by vague and inconclusive reasoning; by unseasonable banter and senseless witticisms; by imbittered bigotry and enthusiastic jargon; by futile cavils and illiberal invectives. Proud and elated by the weakness of his antagonists, he condescends not to handle the sword of controversy."--Monthly Review, Oct. 1790.

 Let me frankly own that I was startled at the first discharge of ecclesiastical ordnance; but as soon as I found that this empty noise was mischievous only in the intention, my fear was converted into indignation; and every feeling of indignation or curiosity has long since subsided in  pure and placid indifference.

Gibbon and christianity

A vindication of some passages in chapters XV & XVI, and online pages of  'vindication'.

by Bingley

On the publication of Volume 1 of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire many people were outraged by chapters XV and XVI, and a number of rebuttals appeared. As Gibbon himself puts it in his "A Vindication of some passages in the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire" (A VINDICATION &c. &c. by Edward Gibbon, Introduction):

When I delivered to the world the First Volume of an important History, in which I had been obliged to connect the progress of Christianity with the civil state and revolutions of the Roman Empire, I could not be ignorant that the result of my inquiries might offend the interest of some and the opinions of others. If the whole work was favourably received by the Public, I had the more reason to expect that this obnoxious part would provoke the zeal of those who consider themselves as the Watchmen of the  Holy City. These expectations were not disappointed; and a fruitful crop of Answers, Apologies, Remarks, Examinations &c. sprung up with all convenient speed.

Ever since there have been Christians eager to criticise Gibbon, and atheists and agnostics eager to enrol him in their cause:

Cardinal Newman's mid 19th century characterisation of Gibbon is often quoted: It is melancholy to say it, but the chief, perhaps the only English writer who has any claim to be considered an ecclesiastical historian, is the unbeliever Gibbon.

Gibbon is included in this list of  "people who have made important contributions to atheism, skepticism, agnosticism and religious critique through history": Famous Atheists, Skeptics and Freethinkers, at Agnosticism / Atheism at About.com.

The following two articles, however, argue that Gibbon was in fact a believing Christian despite his criticism of the disparity between Christian belief and Christian practice:

Edward Gibbon & the Enlightenment
Gibbon Misconstrued

Postscript from Irene: Vicki pointed out earlier today that the Vindication is not included in some print editions. Here is the full online version.

brooklyn museum: jewish mosaics from the roman empire and more

Today, we went to the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, N.Y., and among other things, saw the exhibit Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire (obsolete link removed 7/13), from a sanctuary floor of the synagogue in Hammam Lif, Tunisia.  This was of particular interest to me because I had seen a Tunesian mosaic exhibit in Cologne, Germany, a few years back.  There was a similarity in color selections.

Unfortunately, today was the last day, so the preceding link may not be up for long.   But here is an excellent write-up and background by Kris Hirst at Archaeology at About.com.  She includes illustrations, Scenes from Paradise, so I need not repeat a descripition.  Twenty-one pieces of the mosaics have been in possession of  the Brooklyn Museum since 1905.

I found the exhibit a little disjointed, with a lot of Egyptian Jewish material joined in, but the history of the mosaics, their discovery by French army captain Ernest de Prudhomme in 1883, the drawings of them by one of his soldiers which prove extremely valuable today, is fascinating and was well presented.  Emphasis was put on the fact that the patron/donor of the mosaic was a woman, the first known of this kind.  Analogies of religious symbolism between Judaism and Christianity were noted and a good general historic background given.

This discovery of the mosaics is termed "the birth of synagogue archaeology."

Some photos may be forthcoming.  Here  (8/14)

I spent a good deal of the remainder of the day in the renowned Egyptian collection, which is freshly introduced with Egypt Reborn.  At the bottom of that page are links to the rest of the collection. And there was also Egypt Through Other Eyes.  At the end of it, I was mentally exhausted...not being helped by us getting stuck in Sunday afternoon traffic... Unfortunately, the Brooklyn Museum is not as easily accessible to us as the Met, and other museums, in Manhattan.