Amantes Humanitatis, Spring 2024

2nd Issue- ‘Lovers of Humanity’ Spring Term 2024

Oxford High School Student-Led Humanities Magazine Club

AMANTES HUMANITATIS

Spring Term 2024 “Humanity without science is fragile, science without humanity is lethal.”

“Man aspires, To good, To love Sighs;”

“Beaten, corrupted, dying In his own blood lying Yet heaves up an eye above Cries, Love, love.

It is his virtue needs explaining, Not his failing.

“Away Melancholy” -Stevie Smith

CONTENTS #1

Women in Homer and Virgil: Symbols of a hero’s achievements or heroic women?

-Dr Karapanagioti

#2

A Discussion of ideas related to Trinity Ruoying

#3

The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon -Katherine

#4

What does Imago Dei imply?

- Ruoying

#5 Puzzle Page!

#6

Credits

Women in Homer and Virgil: Symbols of a hero’s achievements or heroic women?

A Discussion of Ideas Related to Trinity Have you ever considered the idea that God is the Father, the Son and Spirit all in one? Have you ever heard someone saying that the God is all in one but at the same time, is in three forms?

If the world is ruled by a god without distinctions, will we have no variation from each other?

Will we be just like clones?

If the world is ruled by many different gods, will common sense and common moral standard even exist?

Can you imagine what difference it might make if the world was created by this kind of God, compared to a world made by a god without these distinctions, or by many different gods?

J.R Tolkien said that ‘If you do not believe in a personal God, the question: “What is the purpose of life?” is unaskable and unanswerable.

However, Stephen Hawking opposed Tolkien’s argument. In his book “The Grand Design” he stated that ‘Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to… set the Universe going.’

Now let's look at C.S Lewis’s argument. He said that ‘Unless the origin of all other things were itself concrete and individual, nothing else could be so; for there is no conceivable means whereby what is abstract or general could itself produce concrete reality. Bookkeeping( i.e. accounting), continued to all eternity, could never produce one farthing. I.e coins.’

What C.S Lewis means is that ‘Bookkeeping needs something else (namely, real money put into the account)... before any income can exist. If anything is to exist at all, then the Original Thing must be, not a principle nor a generality, much less an ‘ideal’ or a ‘value,’ but an utterly concrete fact. 1.

Dutch-American theologian Cornelius Van Til said in his book “An Introduction to Systematic Theology” that “The whole problem of knowledge has constantly been that of bringing the one and the many together.” 2.

What he meant is that if ultimate reality is many, that is many deities, many elements, principles or independent forces, how can we meaningfully group individual things under common categories?

And if ultimate reality is one, that is one all-encompassing deity, one element, or one unified principle of force), how can we account for difference and the seeming plurality of things?

It is a complex question, but if we use the Christian theory of Trinity to try to tackle it, things can actually make more sense:

Colin E. Gunton tells us that: “If we let the Trinity provide us with a blueprint for reality, we find that we are living in a universe where everything may be what it is and not other things, but it is also what is uniquely is by virtue of its relation to everything else. “ What do you think of this? You are welcome to leave your thoughts about the idea of ‘Trinity’ and write your response to the question: How can we account for difference and the seeming plurality of things?

Ruoying

All snowflakes are the same, and all snowflakes are different. All insects are insects, yet there are around 900,000 species of insects.

Footnote 1. Miracles: A Preliminary Study (N Y: HarperOne, 2001), 138-39 2.An Introduction to Systematic Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1979),10

The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon The legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, generally thought to have been built in Babylonia. Babylonia was a region in Southern Mesopotamia, first settled in around 4000 BCE. Only five classical texts have been written about the gardens, so it is difficult to know much about them or their location. Since all of these texts were written after the gardens were supposedly destroyed in an earthquake, they are the most elusive of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world, and their existence is still disputed today.

There are multiple theories about who built the gardens, but the most popular belief is that they were built in around 600 BCE by King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled from 605562 BCE, for his wife Amytis. Amytis was homesick for the luscious, verdant scenery of Media, where she grew up, which was unlike the dry, arid landscape of Babylonia. It is thought that the gardens may have been built on a sloping construct to resemble the mountains of Media.

Another belief is that they were built in the 9th century BCE by the semi-legendary queen Semiramis, so they are sometimes referred to as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis.

However, recent evidence found by an Oxford historian suggests that the gardens were never built in Babylon but in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. In this case, they would have been built by King Sennacherib in the 7th century BCE. Archaeological excavations in Nineveh have found evidence of an irrigation system that was described in many classical texts. In 689 BCE, Babylon was conquered by Assyria and Nineveh became known as ‘New Babylon’, which could be the reason for the confusion.

It is believed that the gardens were filled with glorious vegetation, such as fruit trees, exotic flowers and even waterfalls. The gardens would have needed an incredible irrigation system to keep the plants ‘permanently green’ as the Alexandrian philosopher Philo described them.

This included balconies covered with reeds or lead so that water did not seep through, and a system of screws and pumps that brought water from the nearby .

Euphrates river to the gardens. The German archaeologist Koldowey discovered a series of vaults in the palace at Babylon. One of these contained a well which could have been part of the irrigation system, supporting the belief that the gardens were built at Babylon.

‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ is quite an inaccurate name. Were they hanging? The gardens are called ‘hanging’ gardens because Philo wrote in his book ‘De sept orbis spectaculis’ that the gardens floated in the air. This is because they are thought to have been built on a roof with terraces which gave the illusion of floating. Were they in Babylon? Evidence suggests that the gardens were in Nineveh, 300 miles from Babylon. Did the gardens exist at all? It is likely that there will never be conclusive evidence, and the mystery of the alleged Hanging Gardens will remain unsolved.

Bibliography: https://www.britannica.com/place/Hanging-Gardens-of-Babylon

-Katherine

https://www.wonders-of-the-world.net/Seven/Description-of-the-gardens.php https://www.history.com/news/hanging-gardens-existed-but-not-in-babylon https://www.worldhistory.org/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon/ https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/features/the-biggest-wonder-about-the-hanging-gardensof-babylon-they-weren-t-in-babylon-8604649.html https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fezgrogarden.com%2Fhistory-of-hydroponics-2%2Fthegardens-of-babylon%2F&psig=AOvVaw2XIeM_Dd0bLtsTXPSCPFj&ust=1707749632788000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBEQjRxqFwoTCJj mmrDdo4QDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

What does IMago Dei imply?

The idea that humans are different from animals, has been a big topic for thinkers in Western history.

Some philosophers agree with Locke’s thesis, that ‘it is the understanding that sets man above the rest of sensible beings.’ This is originated from Locke’s “An Essay concerning Human Understanding (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1996), 4. John Locke (1632-1704)‘ However, some people such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), thought that ‘it is not, so much the understanding that constitutes the specific difference between the man and the brute, as the human quality of freeagency.’ — Jean Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on the Origins of inequality (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1992), 17.

Adam Smith (1723-1790), true to his economic cast of mind, considered the division of labour as that which ‘is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals, which seem to know neither this nor any other species of contracts.’ –Adam Smith, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, ed. Edwin C annan (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977).

For Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), "though man resembles the animals in many respects one characteristic is peculiar to him alone; he improves himself and they do not.’ –Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, ed. J.P. Mayer and Max Lerner, translate. George Lawrence (New York: Harper and Row, 1996), 420.

John Stuaut Mill thinks that human beings differ from animals in only two respects: ‘in being capable of sympathising, not solely with their offspring, or, like some of the more noble animals, with some superior animal who is kind to them, but with all humans, and even with all sentient beings,’ and ‘in having a more developed intelligence, which gives a wider range to the whole of their sentiments, whether self-regarding or sympathetic’. –John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2002), 51.

In modern times, there have also been notable efforts to argue that nothing significant separates humanity from the animals....

We can notice from those arguments above that most ideas about what makes humans special focus on a certain skill we have, like being able to think logically or use language. John E. Coons and Patrick M. Brennan calls this the ‘host property.’ It’s like a special ability that sets us apart from other animals.

But, if we think more deeply about this so-called ‘host property’, this ‘host property 'approach faces a chilling problem: What if certain individuals do not possess the requisite capacities to get them across the line of humanity? What about the rationality of those with severe mental disabilities? What about the very young?

What about the very old?

Therefore, whenever we try to say that being human is special because of a certain quality or feature, we run into a problem. This is because not everyone might have this quality, or have enough of it.

If we base being human on this, it could mean some people might not be considered fully human and wouldn’t get the respect or safety that comes with it.

Genesis 1, however, explicitly does not name what it is about human beings that makes us in the image of God but repeatedly emphasises that the imago dei is a feature of creation, not an achievement*.

This idea thus implies that being human is special, not because of what we can do or show off, but just because we are who we are. It’s not about bragging or thinking we are better than other animals.

Seeing ourselves as made in the image of God, gives us a strong reason to believe in everyone’s equal worth and human rights. *creation is mentioned three times in 1:27: “So God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”.

Puzzle Page!

A QUIZ FOR COUNTRIES AND CITIES IN THE WORLD!

Play online: https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/6873187/famous-female-authors/

Winter Term Puzzle Page - Solutions A QUIZ FOR COUNTRIES AND CITIES IN THE WORLD!

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Beijing

Nigeria

Czechia The Netherlands

Nepal

Kyoto

Boston

Credits:

Student contributors:

Staff helpers:

Ruoying, Katherine, Amy

Dr Karapanagioti Ms Nebesnuick Ms McMorrow Dr Willis Mr South Miss Sissons Ms Gillham Mr Londsdale

Staff contributors: Dr. Karapanagioti

2nd Issue- ‘Lovers of Humanity’ SpringTerm 2024

The Spring Term Issue of the Oxford High School Student-Led Humanities Magazine Club