The Book Meme
Monday, February 04, 2008
I got this from Birdie.

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages.)
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Well, the nearest book is actually being used as a mouse pad (but only because it kept falling on the keyboard, that's not it's permanent location!)

I turned to page 123... and there are NOT 5 sentences on the page. There are, however, 18 commas and 9 semicolons. Plus two dashes. Was it written by Henry James? I'm just going to post the first three complete sentences, which begin at chapter XXIII.

Can you possibly guess what book this is?

"To proceed, if magicians produce phantoms and give a bad name to the souls of the dead; if they kill children to make an oracle speak; if by mountebank tricks they play off no end of miracles; if they send dreams to people; assisted by the power of the angels and demons invoked, those same beings by whose aid she-goats and tables have acquired the habit of divining; how much more, think you, would that power, acting on its own behalf and in its own business, take pains to use its full strength ot achieve what it does in the affairs of others?

Or, if angels and demons do exactly what your gods do; where, then, is the pre-eminence of divinity, which we surely should count superior to every other power?

Will it not be a worthier suppoosition that it is they who make themselves into gods when they do what wins credence for gods, than that gods should be on a level with angels and demons?"

It's Tertullian's Apology de Spectaculis. One half is Latin, the other half is English - fortunately, the odd numbered pages are the English ones. Yes, I actually had that on my desk, I didn't pull it from the shelf to make myself look smart! I've been reading it in short bursts for a really, really long time. It's not a light read. Plus I was using it while researching topics on the Watchtower website, which claims Tertullian taught that Jesus was an angel. Because that's what I do in my spare time. ("Spare Time" ha ha ha ha!)

It was right next to the teetering stack containing Alphabet Theme-A-Saurus, Magic Schoolbus Goes Batty, the Book of Mormon, If You Grew Up with Abraham Lincoln, and My Antonia. Hmm. Perhaps I should work on clearing my desk off today?

I need to tag 5 other people, so I think I'll tag some of the more masculine blogs in my feeds.

Random Brown
The Curt Jester
The Catholic Caveman
Dadwithnoisykids
Musings from A Catholic Bookstore (his should be good!


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posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 2/04/2008 08:46:00 AM | Permalink | |