Hello America. Welcome. It is Eric Erickson here across the United States of America. So glad that you're with me. The full number is 877-973-7-4-25, should you wish to be on the program. Happy to have you. There's a piece I want to talk about. Let me set you up some history to dive into this. In the 1330s, as the Renaissance was beginning to break out starting in Italy, Petrarch, it was an Italian scholar who coined the phrase Dark Ages.

Now, you should understand that there was a time that the Roman Imperial Age and before was referred to as the Dark Times,

and that was a Christianized idea that it was before and after Christ.

That they used the dark and light motifs, the reason being the Gospel of John.

And his statement about Christ coming into the world in John 1, just beautifully written words, whether

you're a theologian or not. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him,

and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men, the light

shined in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

It's a beautiful, beautiful language there by the Apostle John.

And a lot of early Christ viewed the times before Christ as dark, dark times.

But in 1330 Petrarch, the Italian scholar coined the term the Dark Ages and what he meant by the dark ages was the time after Rome fell.

And he had a point.

Now this is the medieval period into the Renaissance.

A lot of scholars will call the medieval period as opposed to the Dark Ages.

He, Petrarch, really, the term meant that period of time from the fall of Rome until really the rise of the

Renaissance period before the Enlightenment. Because society forgot things. Let me give you a very

real world example of one of the things society forgot.

Concrete.

Now you say, well, Erickson, we know how to make concrete. It's true.

We, however, are only just beginning to unlock the theories and science behind Roman concrete. Because the concrete of the Roman Imperial Empire to this day is better than our concrete.

Modern concrete begins to crack and crumble after about 100 years.

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