What's your opinion on apophatic theology?

[onager]

16. Have you ever read E.M. Forster on Plotinus?

I don't know if Forster was any more of a religious expert than a Certain Ex-Nun. But his writing on the subject subject is rollicking and entertaining.

Been a while since I read it, but IIRC according to Forster, Plotinus wanted to go to Persia and study philosophy. Unfortunately he had the usual Philosopher's Dilemma - he was broke. But a war was going on, so he joined the army to travel. I believe Forster said Plotinus "must have been the unlikeliest soldier in history."

The war went badly. One of Forster's funniest lines (from memory): "Plotinus always said he was embarrassed by his physical body. His military experience almost relieved him of that embarrassment."

The more things change, the more they etc...

Plotinus claimed that he studied philosophy under Ammonius Saccas, a dockworker/philosopher in Alexandria.

Dockworker/philosopher? Yep, because at the time Alexandria was the world center of philosophy schools and they were fiercely competitive.

According to Forster: if you were a young person who landed at Alexandria wanting to study with Philosopher "A," you'd be greeted by mobs of disciples representing Philosopher "B thru Z." All of them claiming that their master was the Most Philosopheriest of them all, and the guy you wanted to study with was an ignorant clod.

And all of them wanting your tuition money. So the whole thing sounds a lot like today's diploma mills. Or places like Liberty University.