View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

[Facts] Re: Does a woman *have* to be Jewish to be witty and charming on BtN?
Isnt "theological debate" a contradiction in terms? I mean do we debate about what the sex of an angel is? Or if a ventriloquist's dummy joins him in purgatory? Debate is based on facts. Theology on beliefs. They are mutually exclusive.
vote up1vote down

Replies

Theological debateA theological debate is *about* what you believe. Not entirely on the subject, I'd like to state that one person plus God is a majority, even verses dozens and dozens of other people. (:By the way, what exactly did you mean when you said 'does a woman have to be Jewish to be witty and charming?'
vote up1vote down
NOT so....I'm not referring to you personally here, so don't take this the wrong way. But I've gotta tell you something, Amigo...One religious fanatic plus his delusional conviction that "God" is on his side does NOT constitute "a majority", with all the implications that go along with that premise, such as the majority's generally accepted right to dictate law and social mores to the so-called "minority". In this case, the minority being those of us who do not choose to embrace "God" -- or Jesus -- as our buddy.Furthermore, this is the wrong message board for "theological debates". We've got Christians, Jews, a Jewitch, a Satanist, a Greek Neo-pagan and at least one Agnostic as "regulars" on this board -- all getting along just fine and feeling no need to "debate" each other's personal beliefs.What's to debate? That one person's religious or non-religious beliefs are wrong, and another's is right? What's the purpose of debating that? Nothing good, I can tell you that right now.Sorry, Amigo. The folks here are way too cool for that kinda stuff. That kinda stuff just becomes grist for our humor mills.-- Nanaea
vote up1vote down
Couple of "Theological Debate" anagrams!Oh God! Acetate libel!
Acted lethal boogie
Heated coital globe
Oh God! celibate teal
Hot bloated elegiac
Hooted celibate gal
Loathe celibate God
Bloated ethical ego
Bigoted hate locale
vote up1vote down
LOL! Anagram of "Theological Debater""Theodoric Bagatelle" ("bagatelle" being defined as "an unimportant thing of little value.")-- Nanaea
vote up1vote down
Ingenious Nanaea!!!! I think this is one of your strongest 'grams!...considering the fact that Theodoric is derived from *Theodorikon*, meaning "Related ('-ikon') to a gift('doron') from god ('theos')"!!!Note to Mike C: You may consider also adding the above to your etymology for Theodoric :)
vote up1vote down
I beg to differ, mon ami. Historical sources would indicate that Theodoric was probably aware of the fortunate similarity of his name to the Greek for "gift from God", and may have capitalized on it in a leadership sense. So your comment is certainly a valid contribution to the name's etymology.However, I believe the original derivation of his name is not Greek but Gothic: Thiudareikhs, "Ruler of the People". I doubt if there were many Greek speakers on the island of Gotland, the Baltic Swedish area from whence these hosers migrated south quite early in the A.D.'s.And lest our fellow BtNers have heard it wrong since grammar school (as I did), it's thee-ODD-o-ric, not thee-o-DOR-ic.- Wizzy
vote up1vote down
*Pas du tout, mon vieux* Our friendly hoser Thiudareikhs/Dietrich did attend a work/study program in Eastern Rome during his youth, where he apparendly did decide to capitalize on the similarity of his name to "gift from God". AdHellenizing one's name was quite *en vogue* at the time. Examples include Israelite historian Joseph ben Mattathias who adopted Flavios Iosipos (or Flavius Josephus) as his *nom de plume*
vote up1vote down
A final word on TheodoricThe name Theodrichos (pronounced theoDORichos) is cited in *Lexicon of Greek Personal Names* (an Oxford University project, http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/names2.html) as a bona fide central Greek name.The above compilation excludes Byzantine-era names, so it appears that the Theodoric/Theodorichos was in fact not a name coined by our Gothic friend.
vote up1vote down
That website describes its scope as excluding LATER Byzantine names, not ALL names from the Byzantine era. It also says it includes names up to the 6th century and "non-Greek names recorded in Greek".Keeping this in mind, I think that it is possible that the single Theodorichos from central Greece could have had a Hellenized Gothic name. In fact, this person could be THE Theodoric himself!
vote up1vote down
Mea culpa, I didnt read the fine print diligently :P
Think the Theodorichos from central Greece was our Dietrich ? I've seen stranger coincidences happen! Who knows, your guess is a good as mine :)
vote up1vote down
Are you suggesting that the Gothic chief Theodoric had a Greek name or are you suggesting that there was a separate name Theodorikon? I think the latter would be much more likely. The Roman form of Theodorikon could have influenced the spelling of Theodoric , or perhaps the Greek name directly influenced the Germanic name, since the Ostrogoths settled somewhere just to the north of Greece before they moved towards Italy, if I recall correctly.
vote up1vote down
I agree the latter is far more plausible :)
According to one source (http://www.btinternet.com/~mark.furnival/theodor.htm) "the boy was christened Dietrich , a common name amongst the Germans of that era. In Late Latin, the name translated as Theodoricus and the boy grew up to become the man known to history as Theodoric the Great."I am not too sure about the relevance of the "late-latin" part, as Greek was the *lingua franca* of the Easter Roman ("Byzantine") empire.Spot-on, Mike !
vote up1vote down
Thank you! I hadn't even thought about the Theodoric etymology. :)
vote up1vote down