I am doing a series on insights from Stoic philosophy for how to live well. Some people may wonder, why focus on the Stoics when you have the Bible? Isn’t what is best in the Stoics contained in the Bible? If so, why not just use the Bible?
Here’s a few answers. First, the Bible is not meant to be read in isolation from the world. The Bible gives us a framework for understanding reality. Knowledge of reality and a framework for understanding it go hand in hand. The more we know of reality, the better we will understand the Bible and vice versa. In addition, on our own, we can only learn so much about reality. We need other people to help us understand it. The Stoics are just one group that I’ve found particularly helpful.
Second, the Bible does not give us a new ethic. The substance of the ethic of the Bible is written on the hearts of human beings (see Romans 2:14–15). It is the natural law. The Bible doesn’t give us a new law. It clarifies the natural law, but the main purpose of the Bible is to tell us what to do now that we haven’t and can’t keep the natural law. So, it is not surprising that other people can explain the natural law in a way that is helpful because it is knowable without the Bible.
Third, my basic perspective is that we should make us of anything that is helpful or good. We should be happy to receive good ideas wherever they may come from. We can learn from everyone. I find the Stoics to have some particularly helpful ideas. You may disagree. You can judge for yourself.
The deficiency of the Stoics is that they do not understand the Trinity, original sin and the fall into it, and the specific manner of God’s redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Because of their misunderstanding of the fall, they often miss the mark on what is natural and what is unnatural. They also lack the hope of world renewal that Christian eschatology and hope provides us.
That said, it is somewhat surprising to me how clear their thinking is on issues of the right use of creation, connection with people, and dealing with suffering. As you read the Stoics, you have to ask the question, if these men who did not have the light of biblical revelation made such progress, what is the problem with Christians? Why are we so attached to things that matter so little? And why do we live as if our life depended on avoiding suffering and getting all that we can?
This is what George Stanhope, a Christian, said in his preface to a translation of Epictetus’ works. He noted: “But it must be remembered again what is the true benefit of such writings, and that, no doubt, must be, to let us see what a reproach the perfection of these ancients is to us at this day.”
Similarly, the 17th century Genevan theologian Francis Turretin cites Seneca in his discussion of providence. Seneca says: “Calamity is the occasion of virtue. Anyone would rightly call them miserable who becomes sluggish with too great happiness. The recruit grows pale at the mere thought of a wound; the veteran looks at his gore without flinching because he knows that he has often conquered after blood” (Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 6.2.12). Then, Turretin goes on to say: “So it is a wonder that Christians should doubt concerning providence on account of that from which the Gentiles themselves elicit an undoubted argument in favor of it!” (Ibid.). This illustrates the way in which consideration of the Stoics can help us and challenge us.
I find that you never know what God will use to help you see things better. You may have read something in the Gospel of Matthew a hundred times. Then, you experience something new or hear someone talk about it, and you see it in a whole new light. So, I’m all for looking at truth from as many different angles as I can with the hope that I may finally get it and be able to implement it in my life. For me, the Stoics have been one such resource, and I am writing this series to clarify my own thoughts on them and because I think that you may find them helpful, too.
In my next posts, we will look at the Stoic vision of what human beings ought to be. What, according to the Stoics, is the human goal, purpose, end, or telos? We shall consider four things: enjoying and obeying God, moral virtue, joyful emotion, and social cooperation.
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Note: this is a multi-part series on the Stoics. You can see an outline of all the posts here.
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