As a faithful follower of Christ and a devotee to His Church, I am sometimes questioned on my appreciation for the philosophy of Stoicism, and my addition of Stoic practice to my daily pursuit of goodness, justice, truth, mercy, and temperance. These questions are generally not reproaches, but genuine curiosity as to the fitness of Stoicism to hold a place among the targets at which I aim (shoot and miss, more often than not!) These questions tend to take one of several forms, not asked in such precise terms, but carrying these ideas:
- If you believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, why also put out a hand to lean on the uninspired thoughts of men who lacked divine revelation? This question has a foundation in Timothy 3:16-17. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” This question is one of Biblical purism, founded on the idea that the scripture alone should be our guide. It is a good and worthy question.
- What profitable ideas can you find in the Stoic minds that cannot also be found in Holy Scripture? This question rests on a simple idea: That if one might choose to seek wisdom sitting at the feet of Christ and the apostles, and one might also gain wisdom sitting under great pagan thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Epictetus, and Seneca, why sometimes choose the latter? There is enough content in the Holy Scriptures to occupy a lifetime. Why divide your attentions thus? This is a question founded on the thought that time is a limited commodity, and in choosing how you spend it, you should prioritize the best thing that you can. A good and worthy question.
- What crossover of moral and practical teaching exists between Christian and Stoic principles? This is a question posed by genuinely curious people who have limited knowledge of the Stoics. Not having read them, and knowing only that it is a line of philosophical thought that does not share identity with Christianity or stem from its scriptures, they puzzle that a follower of Christ might find them so very useful.
That Stoicism is not identical to Christianity is a true observation. One of these is true religion, a divinely revealed study in how one’s soul might be redeemed from sin and brought into harmony with the spirit of his Creator, behaving and believing in such a way as to gain eternal rest in the place that has been prepared for redeemed souls. The other is not a religion at all, but rather a collection of long-form proverbs set forth by the minds of great thinkers who did not know this Creator. As such, one who is pursuing eternal rest may read only so far as to discover that Seneca appears to have believed in a plurality of Roman gods, and toss the book in the trash at once; rightly divining that this book does not contain the means of redemption. Yet a tree, with its beauty and grace, is insufficient to teach a man how to gain redemption from sin and find eternal rest. But few would argue that the tree does not write a beautiful and profitable message to the soul of man. Many a poet has devoted verses to this message, and wondered at the living picture of resilience against storms and dependence upon the provision of the Creator. We do not toss the tree away for its inability to articulate the path to salvation.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
– Joyce Kilmer
How much more is the mind of a brilliant man, when engaged in the improvement of the character, worthy of pause, appreciation, and reflection. To explore these questions, we turn to eight Church Fathers and theologians who found in Stoic philosophy a reflection of divine truths, always fulfilled by Christ. The appreciation for Stoic philosophy among Christian thinkers is no new thing, and it is certainly not something for which I can claim any unique insight, though I stumbled upon the Stoics rather than being led to them by the Fathers. Just as a seed, though not grown to a tree, holds the potential to stretch forth branches that reach the heavens, so too have many luminaries of the Church found in Stoic thought a well developed embryo, aligning with the Christian pursuit of righteousness, though not yet bloomed into a full arbor by the light and water of the gospel.
Church Fathers and Theologians on Stoic Philosophy
Below is a brief summary of Church Fathers and historic theologians who shared my appreciation for the Stoics, each finding in the Stoic writings a natural harmony with the moral law of God.
Justin Martyr: Stoic Logos and Christ’s Revelation
A seeker of truth before his conversion, Justin saw in Stoic philosophers and their forerunners a shadow of the divine Logos. He likened the Stoic concept of logos spermatikos—the spark of divine reason in all men—to the eternal Word, Christ Himself. In his First Apology, he declares, “We have been taught that Christ is the first-born of God, and we have declared above that He is the Word [Logos] of whom every race of men were partakers; and those who lived by reason [meta logou] are Christians, even though they have been thought atheists; as, among the Greeks, Socrates and Heraclitus, and men like them” (First Apology 46, trans. Marcus Dods and George Reith, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, 1885, CCEL.org). In argumentative context, it is noteworthy that his meaning was “Christians in part,” but we must quote faithfully. Like a tree rooted in good soil, Justin saw Stoic reason as a seed planted by God among the gentiles, blossoming fully only in the light of Christ’s revelation.
Clement of Alexandria: Stoicism as Gospel Preparation
This gentle teacher embraced Stoicism as a preparation for the Gospel. In his Stromata, he wove Stoic self-control and indifference to worldly gain into the tapestry of Christian asceticism, writing, “Accordingly, before the advent of the Lord, philosophy was necessary to the Greeks for righteousness. And now it becomes conducive to piety; being a kind of preparatory training to those who attain to faith through demonstration. For this was a schoolmaster to bring ‘the Hellenic mind,’ as the law was to the Hebrews, to Christ. Philosophy, therefore, was a preparation, paving the way for him who is perfected in Christ” (Stromata 1.5.28, trans. William Wilson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2, 1885, CCEL.org). He believed that Stoic ethics could guide the soul toward repentance and virtue, preparing it to be grafted into divine truth when illuminated by the Gospel of Christ. In short, that the moral principles, reason, and surrender to the divine found within Stoicism point the way to Christianity.
Tertullian: Cautious Embrace of Stoic Ethics
Though wary of philosophy’s excesses, Tertullian drank deeply from Stoic wells of moral discipline. His writings on the soul and martyrdom reflect Stoic ideas of rationality and endurance, adapted to the Christian call to suffer for righteousness’ sake. In his Apology, he notes, “We are no philosophers, but Christians; yet we do not shrink from the doctrines of philosophers, in so far as they are true, for they too have discovered some things rightly, though they have not attained to the full truth” (Apology 21, trans. S. Thelwall, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, 1885, CCEL.org). While not mentioning the Stoics explicitly in this quote, it can be understood to apply to his discourses on their ethical framework elsewhere (in De Anima or On Patience). He did not lean excessively on Stoic thought, but found its ethics profitable without mistaking them for true religion.
Origen: Stoic Virtues and Christian Holiness
A student of Clement, Origen found in Stoic self-mastery a mirror of Christian holiness, a discipline that trains the soul to seek virtue above fleeting desires. In his Against Celsus, he highlights how Stoic virtues, like justice and temperance, echo Christian morality, writing, “For we assert that the whole human race shares in the divine Logos, and that those who live rightly, even if they do not know Christ, are in some way partakers of the divine reason. The philosophers, in teaching virtues such as justice, temperance, and self-control, have contributed to the moral improvement of men, and in this sense, their teachings align with the preparation for the truth that comes through faith” (Contra Celsum 6.2, trans. Henry Chadwick, Cambridge University Press, 1953, CCEL.org). While apparently misunderstanding the Stoic emphasis on fate for a complete determinism over the will of man (to be compared with the interpretation of providence in hyper-Calvinism), he saw their principles as a noble gesture toward divine order, brought to fullness in Christ.
Augustine of Hippo: Stoic Resilience and Perseverance of the Saints
Once swayed by Cicero’s Stoic musings, Augustine cherished their call to inner virtue and detachment from fleeting pleasures. In City of God, he engages Stoic thought, writing, “The Stoics, indeed, are accustomed to say that these passions do not affect the wise man, though they do affect the foolish; but we say that they affect even the wise man, but in such a way that they are subordinated to reason and controlled by the virtues, so that they are not eradicated but regulated by love and piety” (City of God 14.9, trans. Henry Bettenson, Penguin Classics, 1972, CCEL.org). Augustine saw Stoic resilience as a shadow of grace-sustained perseverance against sin, yet he redirected their focus toward the eternal love of God, the source of wisdom being imparted to man by the Holy Spirit, rather than bubbling up from man’s own well.
Boethius: Stoic Contentment in Divine Providence
In his Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius wove Stoic threads of rational endurance into a Christian tapestry. He writes, “Nothing is miserable, but what is thought so; and contrariwise, every lot is happy if you are content with it” (Consolation of Philosophy 2.4, trans. W.V. Cooper, J.M. Dent, 1902, CCEL.org). This is no original thought, but comes nearly verbatim from Epictetus and Seneca. This Stoic emphasis on contentment are the roots of a tree that Boethius relocates, planting it anew in the soil of divine providence. The thought reaches fullness when the fates, or the will of the gods, is correctly redirected to the providence of the Creator who alone makes both trees and souls.
Thomas Aquinas: Stoic Natural Law and Christian Ethics
This medieval giant, though Aristotelian in bent, drew from Stoic streams through Cicero. In his Summa Theologica, he melded Stoic natural law and cardinal virtues into Christian ethics, stating, “The natural law is promulgated by God when He implants it in the minds of men to be known by them naturally” (Summa Theologica I-II, Q. 90, A. 4, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Benziger Bros., 1947, CCEL.org). Like a seed nestled in good soil, awaiting only the addition of pure water, Aquinas found Stoic thought a fertile ground for truths completed in Christ. The Stoic emphasis on nature as the state of morality, and vice as action against nature, Aquinas correctly attributes to the morality of God written naturally on the heart of every being with the spark of the divine (the image of God imprinted on all mankind).
John Calvin: Stoic Self-Mastery and Paul’s Renewing of the Mind
This reformer, shaped by the humanist revival of classical wisdom, found in Stoic ethics a radiant reflection of the virtues God ordains. He admired the call of Stoics such as Epictetus to govern thoughts, actions, and attitudes — seeing in their disciplined reason a foreshadowing of Christian godliness. In his Commentary on Philippians, Calvin praises such restraint, writing, “Let us learn to bear all things with a calm and tranquil mind, for this is the moderation that Paul teaches” (Commentary on Philippians 4:11, trans. John Pringle, Calvin Translation Society, 1844, CCEL.org). While correctly redirecting their deterministic view of fate to God’s providence, and their natural law to the law of God written on the heart of man, Calvin wove Stoic self-mastery into his vision of a life ordered by God’s Word.
Conclusion: Stoic Wisdom as a Supplement to Faith
These fathers and theologians, like pilgrims pausing beneath a mighty tree on their path to a more blessed country, found in Stoicism a beauty and strength that enriched their pursuit of virtue, though not the path to salvation. To the question of Scripture’s sufficiency, I answer that while the Word of God is complete, Stoic wisdom, as Justin saw in the logos spermatikos (First Apology 46, trans. Marcus Dods and George Reith, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, 1885, CCEL.org), aligns with the moral law God has written on the heart (Romans 2:14–15).
For example, Seneca’s On Anger unpacks the Ephesians 4:26 command to avoid sinful wrath, with a lengthy treatise of vividly lucid logic and rigorously honed reason. On Anger offers practical tools for a discipline that cannot be called unchristian.
To the question, “Why study the Stoics when Scripture abounds?” I say that, as Boethius redirected Stoic fate to providence (Consolation of Philosophy 4.6, trans. W.V. Cooper, J.M. Dent, 1902, CCEL.org), we can glean practical help without diminishing scripture. Just as one may marvel at the grace of a tree without mistaking it for the cross, so can we benefit from Stoic thought without diminishing the primacy of divine revelation.
To those curious about the crossover, I point to Augustine, whose view of Stoic resilience as a shadow of grace (City of God 14.9, trans. Henry Bettenson, Penguin Classics, 1972, CCEL.org) reflects virtues like self-control and justice that echo God’s call. Though Tertullian cautioned against over-indulgence in philosophy (Prescription Against Heretics 7, trans. Peter Holmes, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3, 1885, CCEL.org), even he did not disregard the Stoics, adopting Stoic principles of endurance in On Patience. Careful to submit Stoic ideas to Christ’s authority, I find them a powerful supplement to my pursuit of Christlike character. As Kilmer’s tree lifts its arms to God, so Stoic wisdom, when rightly ordered, points the soul toward its Creator. I invite readers to explore Seneca’s Letters or Epictetus’s Enchiridion with discernment, testing their insights against Scripture’s light.
Keywords
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