A Fascinating Look At The Origin Of Easter

The origin of Easter is based on ancient pagan celebrations before the emergence of Christianity. When western religions became recognized  by state laws in the first century CE, Easter celebrations were transferred to Christian holidays and the commercialization by non-Christian traditions like the Easter bunny, Easter parades, and Easter egg  hunting. Although, the ideas of commercial enterprise can be traced back to ancient times along with religious beliefs.

Originally, the celebration of Easter began in the gardens of Adonis, a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite in Greek mythology. Seeds were sown on the grave of Adonis in early spring. The seed symbolized the dead and risen god. In later centuries at the approach of Easter , Christian women would sow wheat, lentils, and canary seed in plates, which they kept in the dark and watered every two days. Once the plants began to grow, the stalks were tied together with red ribbons and the plates containing them were placed on a monument  with the effigies of the dead Christ that were displayed in Catholic and Greek churches on Good Friday, just as the gardens of Adonis were placed on the grave of the dead god.

The Easter rites of Adonis may have been adapted for the sake of winning souls to Christ. The adaptation probably took place in the Greek-speaking rather than in Latin-speaking parts of the ancient world. The worship of Adonis and The Great Mother, while it flourished among the Greeks, appears to have made little impression  on Rome and the West.

Nevertheless, the death and resurrection of Attis (god of vegetation, in his self-mutilation, death and resurrection) were officially celebrated at Rome on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of March. Accordingly, some Christians regularly celebrated the crucifixion on that day without any regard to the state of the moon.

The tradition which placed Easter and the death of Christ on the twenty-fifth of March was ancient and deeply rooted. The inference appears to be inevitable. The passion of Christ must have been arbitrarily referred to planting seeds during the spring, harvest in fall, and death of the sun during winter only to be resurrected again in the following spring. This would have harmonized with an older festival of the spring equinox.  

Socrates, Plato and connection to religion

Socrates, was persecuted by the Athenians for his religious beliefs. When he was over seventy years old he was brought to a public trial and condemned to death. He was accused of looking into the great mysteries of heaven and earth, and corruption of the youth. He did not believe in worshipping the gods of the city because he believed that they were not real. He was accused of introducing new deities.

The last part of this accusation was due to his offering more rational perceptions of the deity than were allowed by the established beliefs of his country. He argued against the corruptions and superstitions that were universally practiced by the Greeks. His opinions were called corrupting the youth who were his students.

Socrates wisdom created many enemies among the general public. The spreading of reports concerning him led to his disadvantage. He was prejudicing himself in the mind of his judges. When he was brought to trial several of his accusers were not named, which led him to complain that it was like fighting a shadow.  Not knowing who his accusers were made it impossible for any such person to answer his questions.  However, he maintained his innocence and said that he did believe in a God. As proof of his belief, he bravely spoke to his judges. I will obey God rather than you, and teach my philosophy as long as I live.

After being condemned for impiety and atheism, he drank a draught of poison rather than allowing the authorities to execute him.

The judges and the accusers were not priests. They were the laity; members of the public. The priests had no share in the accusations, condemnation, and death of Socrates. Nor was there any need of the priesthood in this affair. Religion was written in the constitution of the Athenian Government. It was part of the laws in the civil communities. One such law stated: Let it be a perpetual law and binding at all times, to worship our national gods and heroes publicly, according to the laws of our ancestors. No new gods or doctrines could be introduced without incurring the penalty of death.

When Socrates, pleaded in the Grand Council of Athens in 399 B.C., it reminded the council of the customs and practice of their ancestors. 

The civil establishment of religion in Athens was exclusive. No toleration was allowed to those who differ in beliefs. On this account, the philosophers, by public decree, were banished from Athens for teaching how to think and to give opinions. It was considered to be corrupting the minds of youth in matters of religion. According to the Athenian Constitution, Socrates was condemned for not believing in the gods of his country and presuming to have better understanding of the deities than his superiors.

Socrates was the first great Athenian philosopher. He taught that the key to the good life lay in moral worth and the practice of virtue. He believed it was his duty to make other citizens aware of their ignorance of the true good. He wrote nothing down, and all knowledge of his teaching comes from the philosophy of his pupil, Plato, who was 29 years old when Socrates died. All Plato's major works are in dialogue form, and the foremost speaker was usually Socrates. It is assumed that in the earlier dialogues the real historical speaker was Socrates, while the later dialogues represents Plato's mature development of the teachings of Socrates.

Throughout his career Plato remained convinced by the teachings of Socrates, and continued to identify virtue with knowledge. However, the corresponding belief - that evil is inevitably done by the ignorant - was probably the reason for Plato's distrust of democracy, because he believed democracy had convicted Socrates at the time. However, in Plato's The Republic, he doesn't  mention  the state laws that persecuted  Socrates were based on state laws and pagan religion.

Socrates's thoughts survived through the writings of his pupil, Plato

Surrounded by his pupils, Socrates prepares to take hemlock. He had been condemned for allegedly corrupting the young through his teachings.

The first supersonic airplane was built in Canada

It is no stretch of the imagination to say that the first supersonic airplane was built in Canada. It is one of the most fascinating stories in all of the annals of Canadian Aviation.

The first Arrow took only 28 months from the release of the first drawings in June of 1955 to roll out in October 1957. The cost for the construction of the first aircraft was in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 labour hours per pound, whereas 25 to 40 labour hours were normal under previous methods. When this saving in labour is multiplied by the aircraft airframe weight (20 tons), the saving results was spectacularly effective compared to the old construction methods.

One of the best features of the Arrow was the ease of converting it to a number of different roles, due to its large and easily exchanged armament bay. The bay was three feet high, eight feet wide and eighteen feet long, larger than the bomb bay of the B-29 Bomber. An armament pack could be hoisted up into the belly of the aircraft and attached at four points. It was also possible to put into three packs a variety of equipment including extra fuel tanks, and possibly bombs. It made the Arrow a very neat and tidy aircraft, compared with the large array of equipment hanging underneath the wings of most modern aircraft, assigned to carry out the same role.

The unveiling ceremonies of the Arrow culminated what had begun six years earlier as the germ of an idea in the minds of a small group of creative Canadian civilian and military engineers. The supersonic delta concept was not new, but these people felt it was possible for Canada, through engineering and production facilities of Avro, to design and produce in quantity an advanced aircraft type to meet the threat of future developments of potential enemy bombers.

About 12,000 people viewed the roll out of the plane, including representatives of Military, Government and industry from NATO countries.

The Honorable George R. Pearkes V.C., Minister of National Defence at the time, unveiled the Arrow with these words: “I now have the pleasure of unveiling the AVRO ARROW – Canada’s first supersonic aircraft – a symbol of a new era for Canada in the air.”  He continues,“this event today marks another milestone – the production of the first Canadian supersonic airplane. I am sure that the historian of tomorrow will regard this event as being equally significant in the annals of Canadian aviation."

The whole objective of the Arrow’s development was a flying weapons system capable of intercepting and destroying a high speed bomber invading Canada.

The aircraft was the delivery system, and the electronic system and weapons were the search and destroy arms. However, this total weapons system that was to be developed for the arrow lacked political will to continue. The system and missile the Canadian Air Staff insisted be developed, were far in advance of anything contemplated at that time and therefore, the projected price tag was enormous. The magnitude of these costs, when projected into production, and squadron service, exceeded the total cost of the aircraft development and procurement program. The combined programs of the aircraft and its weapons quickly became too expensive for the Canadian Government to fund.

Four years later on February 20, 1959, at about 11:00 a.m., the Prime Minister of Canada announced in the House of Commons termination of Arrow.

Following the cancellation of the Arrow Program, a further decision was made to dispose of all the aircraft, spares, etc. Five Arrow 1 aircraft with Pratt and Whitney J-75 engines installed, had already flown a total of 70 hours 30 minutes. One completed Arrow 2 aircraft, partly fitted with Iroquois engines, was almost ready to fly, and other Arrow 2’s in various stages of final assembly were available.

General Electric had announced that they would like to use the Arrows and were prepared to pay a substancial price for them, including purchase of spares, in a straight commercial deal, but the Canadian Government turned them down.

The United Kingdom also offered to buy a few of the Arrows for research and understanding the aero-dynamics. Two Arrows could be used in the various test programs, with the third being held as a spare. It was believed that they would be able to save a great amount of money and thus speed up the development time of the Anglo-Franco aircraft that became “The Concorde.”

The U.K. approached the Canadian Government about acquiring the Arrows. They were told not to pursue the matter, for if they did, the Canadian Government would be in the embarrassing position of having to say an official “No!”… no Arrows would ever leave Canada.!

A short time later the government scrapped all the Arrows.

The Aftermath of Rape

The emotional impact of rape can be profound from the first moments of the attack and for years afterward. The survivor reacts initially with a sense of isolation, helplessness, and a total loss of self. How the survivor handles the severe stress of this crisis usually falls into a recognizable pattern.

The acute reaction phase usually lasts for a few days to a few weeks. Typically,  there is a reaction of shock, fear, disbelief, and emotional turmoil. Guilt, shame, anger, and outrage are commonly seen in those survivors who are able to talk about their feelings. Others adopt a more controlled style, they have an apparent calmness that may indicate that they are forcing an attitude of control or are denying the reality or impact of the experience.. 

This phase is usually followed by a post-traumatic episode  which can last weeks or months. The survivor undergoes a limited degree of coming to grips him/herself and their situation. Superficially, the experience may seem over. They try to relate to their family and friends, return to everyday activities and tries to be relaxed cheerful. But deep down inside the fears, self-doubts, and feelings about the experience are still there. 

The final phase, a long-term regrowth and recovery process, varies considerably depending upon the survivor's age, personality, available support systems, the treatment by others. Frightening  flashbacks and nightmares are common. For women, fears about being alone, suspicious men and fear of sexual activity surface with distressing frequency. Proper therapy may be needed to deal with these fears and the depression that often occurs.

One study showed that 22 months after being raped almost half the women reported some form of fear, anxiety, or symptoms of depression; many also had trouble sleeping, feeling of vulnerability, and fear of walking alone, even during the day. 

The most common symptom almost 2 years after the rape was generalized suspicion of others.  Notably, acquaintance rape is just as emotionally devastating as rape by a stranger.

Based on my own research in an isolated community, out of 100 women I interviewed, 90% had been sexually abused by a family member and 75% were under the age of twelve.  

The biggest challenge in all cases is to recognize that it is an act of violence and power over women and children. It has nothing to do with sex.  

The Sex Researchers (Henry Havelock Ellis)

                 

                                         Henry Havelock Ellis (Feb.2, 1859 – July 8, 1938)

Havelock Ellis was an English physician, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality.

He devoted many decades mastering most of what had been learned about human sexuality since the days of the ancient Greeks. As a counsellor and healer, he studied the sex lives of his contemporaries and recorded his findings in a series of volumes, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, which he published and periodically revised between 1896 and 1928.

His research can be summed up in one brief sentence: everybody is not like you, and your loved ones, and your friends and your neighbors. The first chapter he developed called “The evolution of Modesty” enabled men and women to transcend the limitations of the sexual perspective of the Victorian era. It remains today the best introduction to the scientific study of sex. 

As an English Victorian, he accordingly opened his essay on modesty with the generally accepted Victorian belief that virtue consists essentially in keeping the human body, and especially the female human body, adequately clothed. Further, he demonstrated, from a review of the literature of anthropology, that the relations of clothing to modesty, and to modesty to sexual desire, are far more complex than what is supposed. He goes on to cite some examples from his research. For example, in one African tribe women once wore a small triangle of animal skin suspended between their thighs; yet they were so modest that they never removed it. Even during sexual relations they merely raised it. 

Another tribe in the Amazon valley, the men were naked while the women wore a short petticoat. Studying a tribe in North America, Ellis cites in an 1892 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics, some of the females of the tribe were prostitutes, yet they were so modest that one of them, near death during childbirth, refused to let any man –native or white physician or lover-attend her. When a British anthropologist remarked on the nudity of the women in the Congo, a chief replied that “concealment is food for the inquisitive.” Another British anthropologist commented that the more naked the people, the more moral and strict they are in the matter of sexual relations. Ellis’s modesty was concerned primarily with covering the male and female genitals and the female breasts.

He respected his Victorian prejudices by concentrating on non-Europeans. The Victorian attitude was that lesser breeds didn’t really count; they were for the most part neither civilized, nor Christian, nor white. But Ellis even went further. He demonstrated from historical sources that modesty taboos have varied widely from century to century among all tribes and all ancestors.

Ellis knew that he lived in the midst of a pathologically modest society. It was a society where ankles must be shielded from view, and in which guests having chicken for dinner asked for a helping of white meat or dark meat in order to avoid mentioning the chicken’s breast or legs.

Ellis could have brought his account closer to his own time and place. Written documents made as late as 1817 show men and women bathing nude together at English beaches. In 1856, letters to the editor of the London Times complained that the men still bathed nude at Margate. "The exhibition is truly disgusting," one correspondent wrote, "but what is more disgusting still is the fact that these exhibitions are watched daily by large numbers of ladies who spend their mornings in close proximity to scores of naked men." 

The following year a physician visiting another English seaside resort named Brighten, reported that when he opened his bedroom window, "the first sight that greeted me, immediately in front of the hotel, was half-a-dozen men, perfectly naked, wading about with the water not much higher than their knees." 

Additionally, in 1857, Lord Westmeath introduced in the House Lordsa bill which would have prohibited nude bathing. "It is the practice," he told his fellow peers, "for women to go down to the sea-bathing places and dance in the water without any covering whatever, to the great disgust of the respectable inhabitants and visitors." His knowledge of these scenes, he added, came from reports of local magistrates at Margate, Ramsgate, and other coastal resorts. Women also continued to appeared nude in poses plastiques on the London stage during the early years of Victoria's reign.

After about 1860, however, the memory of this earlier Victorian freedom was erased.  Even Havelock Ellis, who was born just as it was vanishing, seems never to have heard of it.

Sexuality and Old Age

In North America sex is generally regarded as something for the young healthy and attractive people. Thinking of an elderly couple engaging in sexual relations usually provoke discomfort in young adults who think the elderly are too old and incapable. Despite these cultural myths, the psychological need for intimacy, excitement, and pleasure does not disappear in old age. There is also nothing in the biology of aging that automatically shuts down sexual function.

Female aging

Aging alone does not diminish female sexual interest or the potential of the woman to be sexually responsive if she is in good health. Specific physiological changes do occur in the sexual response cycle of postmenopausal women but the changes do not appear abruptly or in exactly the same fashion in each woman. 

Male aging

The normal pattern of reproductive aging in men is different from that in women because there is no end to male fertility. Although sperm production slows down after age 40, it continues into the eighties and nineties. Similarly, while testosterone production declines gradually from age 55 or 60 onward, there is usually no major drop in sex hormone levels in men as there is in women. 

Sexology research shows that about 5% of men over 60 experience a condition called the male climacteric,  which resembles the female menopause in some ways. (Using the term "male menopause" to describe the male climacteric is incorrect since men do not have menstrual periods.) The male climacteric is marked by some or all of the following features: weakness, tiredness, poor appetite, decreased sexual desire, reduced or loss of virility, irritability, and impaired ability to concentrate. These changes occur because of low testosterone production which can be reversed or improved with medical help. It should be stressed that most men do not have this condition as they age.  The physiology of male sexual response  is affected by aging in a number of ways. 

In North America, our cultural attitudes about sex and romance in the geriatric years is a reflection of an attitude called ageism, a prejudice against people because they are old, that is similar to the more familiar prejudices of racism and sexism. According to sexologists, "ageism sees older people in sterotypes being rigid, boring, talkative, senile, old-fashioned in morality, lacking in skills, useless, and little social value. Ageism in relation to sexuality is the ultimate form of desexualization: "if you are getting old, you're finished."

Facts about human sexuality
1. Young adults are more sexually active today than they were two or three decades ago, although there has been a general trend toward marriage at a later age. This has been accompanied by the relative disappearance of the double standard regarding premarital sexual experience and a marked upsurge in the number of cohabiting couples.
2. Young adults are not completely free of sexual problems despite this shift in attitudes and behaviour. Sexual dysfunctions and low sexual desire are common, sexual pressures abound, and there are signs  of a growing disillusionment with casual sex.
3. Marriage tends to complicate sexual behaviour in some ways (while simplifying it in others) and requires an integration of sex with other aspects of life. However, the climbing divorce rate in our society, with divorces occurring primarily among young adults, suggests that marriage is no longer regarded as a life-long commitment. And while most divorced people remarry, they often find problems in their second marriage that are similar to those they had experienced before.
4. Middle adulthood is often initiated by a midlife crisis in which the male is particularly vulnerable in sexual terms. In some cases, the female's midlife crisis may coincide with her children leaving home and the onset of menopause. But for other women, mid-adulthood is a time of sexual self-discovery.
5. Although many psychological problems have been attributed to the menopause, current research
finds no evidence of an increased rate of emotional problems in the postmenopausal years.
6.About 5 percent of men over 40 have a male climacteric, marked by symptoms such as decreased sexual desire, weakness, tiredness, and poor appetite. This condition is the result of a testosterone deficiency that can be corrected.
7. In late adulthood, there are a number of biological changes in the sexual response cycle of both sexes. However, these changes do not generally prevent sexual functioning.
8. Sexuality in late adulthood is profoundly influenced by ageism and other cultural stereotypes that deny normal sexual feelings and capacities at this stage of the life cycle. While health problems and lack of a partner may complicate sexual functioning, there is no inherent reason why most elderly persons must stop enjoying sexual relations.
  

Who Were The First Christians?

The history of early Christianity has been told mostly by Christian writings only. However, newly discovered documents such as the Gnostic manuscripts discovered in Egypt, have expanded the collection of sources. These works, written by Christians who were not part of the mainstream, have given us new insight into the history and character of the early Christian movement. The Gnostic writings, though declared deviant and heretical by the leaders of the Mother Church, were still written by Christians. There is however, another body of material that comes from the observation of pagan observers of Christianity. They were Roman and Greek writers whose works were seldom made available to the public.

The first mention of the Christian movement  was by Pliny, a Roman governor at the beginning of the second century. He called Christianity  a "superstition." Later in the century, Celsus, a Greek philosopher, wrote that Jesus was a magician and sorcerer. 

What do comments of this sort mean in the world in which Christianity was struggling to become noticed? Most of the comments by outsiders about Christianity have come down to us in fragmentary form. They appear in letters, essays, or histories dealing with some other topic. In some cases information came from other books attacking Christianity which were destroyed.

When Christianity gained control of the Roman Empire it suppressed the writings of its critics and cast them into the flames. Yet, the number of fragments that survive were written by Christians. Ironically, they refute Christianity, and they offer a vivid portrait.

The use of the term "superstition" was used to refer to the Christians by a couple of Roman writers who were living in that era.

In the first century C.E., Tacitus, a close friend and colleague of Pliny, mentioned the Christians in his account of the burning of Rome under Nero. Although, the writer had no interest in the new Christian movement, he wanted to make a point about the extent of Nero's vanity and the magnitude of his vices, and to expose the crimes he committed against the Roman people.

Toward the end of the first century of the Common Era, a Greek philosopher, and contemporary of Pliny and Tacitus, wrote a little treatise on superstition. The work is usually attributed to Plutarch (50 - 120 C.E.), a native of Greece. A pious and devote adherent of the ancient religion of Greece, he also served as priest at Delphi, a great religious shrine in central Greece. His book On Superstition, is interesting as a reflection of spirituality, which is sensitive to Greek thinkers on superstition and piety. However, there is no mention of Christianity.
According to Plutarch, superstition sets people off from the rest of society because the superstitious person does not use intelligence.in thinking about the gods. Instead he/she creates fearful images and horrible apparitions that leads to bizarre and extreme behavior. Further, Plutarch states that because superstition leads to irrational ideas about the gods, the inevitable consequence is atheism. "Atheists do not see the gods at all," but the superstitious man "thinks they exist" and conjures up false ideas about them. 

Around the year 170 C.E., a Greek philosopher by the name of Celsus wrote a major book devoted solely to the Christians. He mentions that some Christians were arrogant and contemptuous of the opinions of others, they kept to themselves and appealed to people's fears or ignorance.

Because many people in the churches were uneducated and illiterate, Christians had the reputation of being gullible and credulous. There is a story about the fraudster Peregrinus, who became a member of the church for no other reason than to exploit simple Christians. The authorities finally caught up with him and had him imprisoned.
However, naive Christians still did not see through his deception. While he was in prison, they waited on him hand and foot, bringing him food and money and treating him as a hero. "The poor wretches have convinced themselves ...that they are going to be immortal and live for all time...They despise all things indiscriminately and consider them common property, receiving such doctrines traditionally without any definite evidence. So that any charlatan and trickster, able to profit by occasions, comes among them, he quickly acquires sudden wealth by imposing upon simple folk." Christians were an easy target for the racketeers of the Roman Empire.

Celsus was the first critic to call Jesus a magician and charge the Christian with practicing magic. The practice of magic was a criminal offense in the Roman Empire, and many of the things recorded about Jesus in the Gospels were similar to the things magicians did.

Christians claim that  the miracles that Jesus performed proved that he was the son of God. The question was, by whose power was he able to accomplish such wonders? Celsus knew from his reading of the Gospels that Jesus was reported to have spent some time in Egypt where magic was taught and well known among certain groups. He concluded that Jesus "was brought up in secret and hired himself out as a workman in Egypt. After having tried his hand at certain magical powers he returned from Egypt, and on account of those powers he learned, gave himself the title "Son of God." The point Celsus raised became central to his attack on Christianity. Did Jesus' ability to work wonders mean that he was the son of God, or was he another successful magician like others who could be found in the cities and towns of the Roman Empire? Celsuss' charge that Jesus was a magician was not separate from his overall criticism of the Christian movement. He wanted to show that Christians had no basis for claiming that Jesus was the son of God, because he was not the only one to work wonders; others had similar powers.

One major criticism leveled at the Christian view of God, specifically, the consequences of the worship of Jesus for the idea that God is one. "If the Christians worshiped no other God but one, perhaps they would have had a valid argument against others. But in fact they worship to an extravagant degree this man who appeared recently, and think it does not offend God if they also worship his servant."

Porphyry, a Neoplatonic philosopher  300 C.E., did not accuse Jesus of practicing magic, instead he praised him as a "wise man" and disassociated himself from such criticism so that Jesus could be integrated into his portrait of the traditional religion.

For two centuries Christian intellectuals had been forging a link between Christianity and the classical tradition of Rome. With one swift stroke of the pen, Julian, the Roman emperor, sought to sever the link between the two. Wealthy Christian parents, insisted that their sons receive the rhetorical education, and it now appeared as though Julian was limiting this to pagans.

"So grave was the situation that Christians sought their own way of insuring that their children would be properly educated. A Christian father and son, both named Apollinarius, came up with the idea of rendering the Scriptures in the style and form of Greek literature.

In the summer of 362 C.E., Julian went to northern Syria where the cities were renowned for Greek culture and learning. Many of the inhabitants were Christians, and Julian was disappointed to discover how influential they were. It irritated  him that they (he called them "atheists") had no respect for the "sacred rites which their forefathers observed."

Julian points out that the notion that Jesus is divine was a fabrication of his followers, not the teachings of Jesus himself. The Jewish Scriptures made clear that there is no basis in the writings of Moses for the idea that Jesus is divine. Julians' writings was still being read in the middle of the fifth century. Before he became Emperor of Rome, he was a Christian himself, and had studied the Holy Scriptures. His point was not the only one against Jesus' divinity. It was also disputed within the church. During the struggle to become legally recognized by the state, the General Council of Churches in 325, decided  that decisions made about belief were considered to be infallible, and the Council of Nicaea stated, "The Son is of the same substance as the father and who suffered pain, killed and came back to life.

Julian's feelings were ambivalent toward Judaism and the Jewish Scriptures. He respected Jewish traditions and in observing the ritual requirements of the law - yet he ridiculed the myths and legends of the Jewish Scriptures. His point was not to criticize the Jews but to engage the Christians who had taken over the Jewish conception and still used the Jewish Scriptures.

According to Julian, the God of the Hebrews and Christians was a "sectional god," and the proper way to honor him was to venerate him as a lesser deity subordinate to the one high God. One should not pretend that he was more than he was.

If the proper object of the highest form of worship is the "God of all" and not a tribal God, it follows, says Julian, that this high God is not the property of any particular people, nor can he be known through a particular revelation. The God of all is known to all humankind.

That the human race possesses its knowledge of God by nature and not from teaching is proved to us first by all the universal yearning for the divine that is in all humans whether private persons or communities, whether considered as individuals or as races.  For all of us, without being taught, have attained to a belief in some sort of divinity, though it is not easy for all people to know the precise truth about it, nor is it possible for those who do not know it to tell it to all people.

Julian's view was shared by many philosophers and religious thinkers in his own day and remains one of the philosophical debates and religious discussions in our own time.