Stoicism(stoics)
Summary
A Greek philosophical school encountered by Paul at Athens, teaching that man should live in consonance with nature and seek virtue above pleasure.
☩Origins
The Stoics were founded by Zeno of Citium (Cyprus) around 300 BC, named after the Stoa Poikile ('painted colonnade') in Athens where they met. They opposed the Epicureans on virtually every philosophical point. Paul encountered both schools in Athens.
☩Beliefs
Stoics were materialists who identified God with the universe—'God,' 'universe,' 'fate,' 'providence,' and 'reason' were merely names for the same reality. They believed the soul was a portion of the divine substance, destined eventually to be reabsorbed into the source from which it came. Resurrection and personal immortality were thus foreign to their thought.
☩Ethical Parallels
The ethical precepts of Stoicism sometimes parallel Christian teaching: 'All have sinned' (Seneca); keeping the body under subjection; the fatherhood of God; the common bonds of mankind. But Stoic morality was essentially based on pride and self-sufficiency, while Christianity rests on humility and dependence on God. The Stoic looked to fate for consolation; the Christian looks to Providence.
See Also
References
- 1.Philip Schaff and Johann Herzog (ed.), "STOICISM," in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. XI (Funk and Wagnalls, 1908–1914).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Stoicism And Christianity," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 3.John McClintock and James Strong, "Stoicism And Christianity," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 4.John McClintock and James Strong, "Stoicism And Christianity," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 5.John McClintock and James Strong, "Stoicism And Christianity," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 6.John McClintock and James Strong, "Stoicism And Christianity," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).