Daphne heard birthplace of abraham
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Feminist theology is not part of my normal reading agenda, but I think it was Richard Holloway’s recent book that pointed me at Daphne Hampson’s very difficult and challenging read. Her approach, as one might expect, is very radical: is Christianity truthful? is it ethical? Hampson repeatedly emphasises that she does not consider herself a Christian, and at times her manner seems aggressive or angry, as well as inevitably reflecting a rationalist approach to spiritual matters which necessarily must completely exclude the notion of faith.
She structures her arguments and presents her case very clearly and logically, in the manner of a Spinoza or a Robert Barclay, which is helpful; she spends considerable time debunking the ‘specialness’ or particularity of the ‘Christ event’ as she calls it, as well as locating the significance and importance of feminist theory for the future of theology as she understands it. I repeat, it was not an easy read, although I was very glad
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Daphne, Sumptuous Suburb
The hamlet of Daphne was the place to live for wealthy Romans posted to Antioch, Syria, a far corner of their empire in the first century A.D.
A lovely place by all reports, Daphne boasted a heavily forested mountain setting, rippling streams, lush gardens, luxurious villas, a centuries-old Temple of Apollo, and a fine view of the Orontes Valley.
It was quite a logical—albeit ironical—thing for the Greeks to name the site of this temple “Daphne,” given that their mythology has the god Apollo jaga the chaste virgin Daphne with lewd, lascivious intentions. She flydde by turning herself into a laurel tree, which forever after would be associated with Apollo.
I could find no first-century image of Daphne to work with, only the sixteenth-century rendition shown here, which was created by a Flemish cartographer, Abraham Ortelius, 15 centuries after the Romans took it as their residential paradise in Syria. While the buildings that Ortelius po
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1624 Ortelius View of The Paradise of Daphne (Antioch)
Title
Daphne.
1624 (dated) 14 x 18.75 in (35.56 x 47.625 cm)
Description
This is a lush example of Ortelius' 1595 engraving of the wooded parks and stately temples of Daphne, a classical paradise. At center is the temple to the Pythian Apollo: not visible here is Diocletian's companion sanctuary to Hecate, constructed (appropriately) underground. Four freshwater springs can be seen in clearings in the woods, with revellers taking the waters, dancing, playing music, drinking, and embracing, a hint given by the straitlaced Flemish engraver of the loose morals for which Daphne had unjustly become (in)famous.