charlesasullivan.com has a fourfold mission for every reader that visits this site:
- To inspire people to go beyond the elementary principles of the Christian faith and focus on more complex issues
- To foster an appreciation of historic literature, cultures, languages, and the Bible
- To discover how ideas, thoughts, and doctrines begin, evolve, transform, and shape us
- To encourage others to learn ancient languages.
This site is intended for the advanced reader who is intellectually curious.
The emphasis is on comparative literature from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic sources. Additional articles explore Christian mysticism and philosophy, providing insights into ethics and politics from a faith-based perspective.
The fourth goal of encouraging others to learn ancient languages was a central part of the site’s mission, but has lessened over the last decade. When this blog began, there were scant resources for learning ancient languages or finding resources. Today, many specialized sites offer great aids and assistance. It is no longer necessary to make this a central focus.
The website is designed so that you can follow the conversation even if you do not know the languages.
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There are so many exciting things about working in an ancient language, a manuscript, or any literature in general. At one moment, it is the language or grammar that captivates. In another moment, it is admiring the creative writing or artwork of a manuscript. Often it is the theological or philosophical insight, or the message itself. Most of all, what I really want is to understand the meaning and how it applies to today.
It is amazing how a good piece of literature, whether written 3,500 or 10 years ago, never seems old or outdated. A good story, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, never dies. They teach immortal life-lessons.
Reading ancient literature draws a portrait of the human psyche — the good parts, the bad, the innovations, the resistance to change, the humanity, inhumanity, truth, lies, strokes of genius, and demonstrations of sheer silliness. My fascination surrounds people writing about their personal and community identities. They are guideposts on where we fit in the great cosmic story and the continual struggle to survive. These narratives have been ongoing since the creation of man, and it is interesting to see this unfold over almost 5000 years of literature.
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