The single greatest benefit of reading old books directly, and not via a modern intermediary, is that you realize the modern era is but one of many. More specifically, that past people had completely different worldviews and weren’t simply modern humans living 2,000 years ago. The past isn’t just a foreign country, it’s another planet.
When you read a summary book or a modern translation, you miss this entirely. Everything is filtered through the worldview complex of 2020 to a much higher degree.
When you read a summary book or a modern translation, you miss this entirely. Everything is filtered through the worldview complex of 2020 to a much higher degree.