The Quintessence
Michael Faust
- We
- all
- have
- choices
- to
- make
- in
- our
- lives.
- How
- do
- we
- know
- if
- our
- decisions
- are
- the
- correct
- ones?
- How
- can
- we
- tell
- if
- our
- judgment
- is
- sound?
- Will
- the
- abandoned
- choices,
- the
- lost
- options,
- the
- lives
- we
- never
- led,
- haunt
- us
- like
- spectral
- reproaches?
- Will
- we
- be
- surrounded
- by
- wraiths
- of
- lives
- unlived,
- wistfully
- staring
- us
- and
- wondering
- why
- we
- didn’t
- come
- to
- join
- them?The
- human
- race
- collectively
- is
- no
- different
- from
- individual
- human
- beings.
- It
- has
- its
- choices
- to
- make,
- and
- often
- it
- makes
- the
- worst
- possible
- selections.
- Are
- we
- living
- in
- a
- perfect
- world?
- Then
- why
- not?
- What
- went
- so
- badly
- wrong?
- Clearly,
- our
- choices
- weren’t
- the
- best
- ones.
- What
- makes
- us
- choose
- disastrously
- en
- masse?
- Whatever
- happened
- to
- the
- so-called
- Wisdom
- of
- Crowds?
- If
- they’re
- so
- smart,
- why
- is
- the
- world
- so
- dumb?Is
- it
- true,
- as
- the
- Illuminati
- assert,
- that
- the
- West
- lost
- an
- entire
- millennium
- because
- of
- Christianity?
- Was
- it
- this
- strange
- religion
- that
- sabotaged
- our
- progress
- to
- our
- own
- Eden?
- What
- might
- the
- world
- have
- looked
- like
- if
- instead
- of
- the
- rule
- of
- the
- Catholic
- Church
- for
- 1,000
- years
- (from
- the
- last
- century
- of
- the
- Roman
- Empire
- to
- the
- time
- of
- the
- Renaissance),
- paganism
- had
- prevailed?If
- the
- Roman
- emperor
- Julian
- the
- Apostate
- had
- successfully
- checked
- the
- rise
- of
- Christianity,
- would
- we
- now
- be
- living
- in
- an
- earthly
- paradise?
- To
- imagine
- what
- the
- world
- might
- have
- looked
- like,
- we
- have
- to
- go
- back
- to
- the
- ancient
- Greeks,
- the
- founders
- of
- Western
- civilisation.Catholic
- Christianity
- was,
- of
- course,
- indebted
- to
- Greek
- philosophy
- in
- many
- good
- and
- healthy
- respects,
- but
- there
- was
- an
- ingredient
- in
- Christianity
- that
- proved
- toxic.
- This
- ingredient
- was
- Jewish
- Messianism,
- something
- that
- had
- nothing
- at
- all
- in
- common
- with
- Greek
- philosophy
- and
- culture.
- This
- alien
- presence
- wreaked
- havoc.
- Without
- it,
- the
- West
- would
- have
- developed
- radically
- differently.
- Stoicism,
- Mithraism
- or
- Julian
- the
- Philosopher’s
- preferred
- religion
- of
- Neoplatonism
- would
- have
- shaped
- the
- West,
- and
- there’s
- no
- doubt
- they
- would
- have
- done
- an
- enormously
- superior
- job.This
- is
- the
- story
- of
- an
- alternative
- history
- of
- the
- West,
- one
- where
- Christianity
- never
- happened.
- The
- tale
- of
- this
- bright
- world
- that
- never
- was
- begins
- with
- the
- pre-Socratic
- philosophers
- of
- ancient
- Greece,
- some
- of
- the
- greatest,
- boldest
- and
- most
- imaginative
- thinkers
- of
- all
- time.
- This
- is
- the
- tale
- of
- the
- infinitely
- mysterious Quintessence.
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