Stoic ethics and the future shape of Christianity.

Stoic ethics heavily influenced Christianity in many ways, it’s influence waxing and waning throughout the centuries. Stoicism was founded in Aristotles’ time by Zeno of Citium (ca. 340-265), drawing upon Heraclitean physics and was then later perpetuated by Cleanthes (ca. 250-?) and Chrysippus (280-207). It is interesting to note that Stoicism is not just a school of philosophy, but a religion based on Greek polytheism. This relgious foundation later enabled Christianity to adopt it in some ways all the more readily, as Stoicism assumes divinity and has a moral idealism holding faith in the far reach of Providence. “In the third century Stoicism ceased effectively to exist as an independent philosophical school... The likeliest explanation is that the distinctively Stoic theses on the ethical side were taken over by the Church....” (“The Early Church” Henry Chadwick p116).

Stoicism borrowed some of it ethical theory from previous ancient Greek philosophy, like the Cynics and they “... saw themselves in direct descent from Socrates, whom they were inclined to canonise as one of the very few to achieve the status of “Wise Man”. They approved his ascetic way of life, and continued his interest in the rigorous analysis of ethical terms.... based on the twin Socratic foundations of care for the soul and alliance of virtue with knowledge.” (“Cicero: on Stoic Good and Evil”, M. R. Wright p8). It was Diogenes, however, who made popular the way of life that needed the least and this ascetic ideal is an important feature of Stoic ethics. The concept of the Wise Man is an important influential feature of Stoic ethics. “The Wise Man will achieve the best life in harmony with nature and a devotion to virtue for virtue’s sake. Man can graciously accept his world since he is of it, and he can be resigned - not to say happy - however little it gives him. Whether little or much, he knows that all is for the best.” (“From Aristotle to Plotinus”, T. V. Smith p154). This continuing connection between humans and the natural world flowered as a idealistic cosmopolitanism in later Roman times which later went on to permanently influence the West especially with regard to later Christian ascetics who followed Diogenes in trying to accept a simple, frugal life.

This self-denying Wise Man was also influenced by Aristotle’s Doctrine of the Mean whereby man should live a passionless and austere life, he does not share in pleasure or vanity and he is most definitely not excessive. With regards to this the Stoic recognised an eight way division of the human soul: speech; the five sense; intellect, which is the mind itself and the generative faculty. As a result of perversions of this eight fold human soul rising from lies and untruths, many passions occur in the human which the Stoics considered to be irrational and caused instability. Zeno saw them as irrational and unnatural movements in the soul, or as impulse in excess. The four main emotions were grief, fear, desire and pleasure, they were all forms of judgement and had their own sub-groups; i.e. desire is an irrational expectantly. Though these ideas never influenced Christianity to a great degree, they emphasise the ascetic responses of some Stoics and later ascetics. However there were emotional states that were seen as good, like joy, caution and wishing. Still, the soul was subject to malady and weakness, just like the body, which led to vice and sin and it is important to note the parallels with Christianity here. However there was some disagreement as to whether sins were equal, and this has implications for later Christian conceptions of mortal and eternal sins.

But perhaps the most important feature in Stoic ethics concerning the Wise Man was that, as he is good he is also pious, hence the gods love him and he loves the gods. Further more the Wise Man is free, he is not a slave to the passions, and is a King amongst men. There is something of Plato’s Philosopher King here, especially in that a true knowledge of good and evil is necessary for the Wise Man to be what he is and as a King amongst men. As a result of this the Wise Man is infallible and perfect as he possesses all virtues, “A man cannot be perfect unless he possesses all the virtues, nor can an action be perfect unless it is done in accordance with all the virtues, so that, virtue being one and indivisible, it is impossible to possess a single virtue without possessing all....” (“Stoic and Epicurean” J. Hicks p86). This is because the virtues involve each other, if man possesses virtue, he is at once able to know how to use it. In many ways the Wise Man mirrors ideas concerning Jesus Christ, especially when we consider the Stoical reveration of Socrates as a Wise Man and of his execution by hemlock. One can see much of Socrates in Christ and in their brave and poignant executions. However, though Stoicism holds that “Man.. is so constructed that he naturally craves the good.” (“The Stoic Tradition from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages”, M. L. Colish p36) there are sinner, bad men who are not wise. Man either possess virtue or he does not; for the Stoics, virtue and vice are all or nothing, “Such teaching, whether Christian or Stoic, is bound to divide the world of existing men into two opposing classes, saints and sinners, the wise and the foolish.” (“Stoic and Epicurean” J. Hicks p 87). Christianity admits that through conversion a man may be saint from sinner and the Stoics had a similar belief with regards to their teachings.

To fully understand the Wise Man (and indeed to achieve such a goal) and to realise the extent that Stoicism influenced Christianity, we must fully understand the Stoical theories and ideas relating to virtue. “The ethical branch of philosophy they divide as follows: 1. the topic of impulse; 2. the topic of things good and evil; 3. that of the passions; 4. that of virtue; 5. that of the end; 6. that of primary value; 7. that of duties or the befitting; 8. of inducements to act or refrain from acting.” (“From Aristotle to Plotinus”, T. V. Smith p155). The impulses of animals and children is to self- preservation, because of their uncorrupted affinity with nature. After all, nature would not reject the creature that it has made. “As soon as each animal is born, it seeks pleasure and rejoices in it as the highest good, and rejects pain as the greatest bad thing, driving it away from itself as effectively as it can; and it does this while it is still not corrupted, while the judgment of nature herself is unperverted and sound.” (“Hellenistic Philosophy - Introductory Reading” - translated by Brad Inwood and L. P. Gerson p43). However, despite other Greek philosophies most Stoics maintained that pleasure is not the object of the first impulse. For the Stoics, pleasure is a by-product of the animals existence or constitution. The main impulse allows animals to go “in quest of their proper aliment” ((“From Aristotle to Plotinus”, T. V. Smith p155), it is natures rule to follow the direction of impulse. “But when reason by way of a more perfect leadership has been bestowed on the beings we call rational, for them life according to reason rightly becomes the natural life. For reason supervenes to shape impulse scientifically.” (ibid. p156).

For the Stoics then, a virtuous life is a life in agreement with nature. One can see the later comparisons to be made with Christian theories of Natural Law and the virtues of following such a principle. Though the exact definition of virtue was debated, it was often generally agreed upon that virtue was perfection. Hecato saw virtue as theoretical principles of justice and prudence in “On the Virtues” and Panaetius divided virtue into theoretical and practical, whereas Apollophases saw virtue simply as common sense. Other philosophers placed emphasis on certain virtues above others or grouped them together or divided them into logical, physical and ethical divisions. It can be confidently said that for the Stoics virtue “....is a harmonious disposition, choice worthy for its own sake and not from hope or fear or any external motive.” (ibid. p157). Virtue is goodness and happiness and natural. Anything that perverts nature is a vice and vice is evil and forms due to ignorance of virtue. One can see the echoes of these ideas in later Christian thought concerning virtue and vice in ideas like the deadly sins and the cardinal virtues and ignorance. For the Stoics and later the Christians, knowledge is pure good. Good may also be beauty, though this requires four qualifiers: what is just, courageous, orderly and wise. All goods are equal and they must be of the highest degree and intensity. Evil of course is the opposite of good, it is ugliness and ignorance. The Stoics were also concerned with duties “...some duties are incumbent unconditionally, others in certain circumstances. Unconditional duties are the following: to take proper care of health and things of that sort. Duties imposed by circumstances are such as maiming oneself... And so likewise with acts which are violations of duty.” (ibid. p163) and this is sure to have influenced later Christian duty based philosophies, especially in relation to duties to God and others.

Another interesting influence the Stoics have had on Christianity has been to regard the life of virtue as a life of progress, slow work, meditation, self-discipline and examination, abstinence from pleasure, watchfulness against sin and perseverance in the face of failure and adversity. Here is an analogy in substance and in method between the ethics of Stoicism and Christianity “By both the war is waged against the same enemies, the world of appearances without the treacherous self within, and with hardly an exception the Apostle’s “works of the flesh” and “fruits of the spirit” can be identified with the vices and virtues of the Stoics.” (“Stoic and Epicurean” J. Hicks, p120). Ancient Stoicism taught that happiness and good is achieved by the suppression of desire for everything that one cannot both get and keep “Before the external disorder of the world and bodily illness, retreat into yourself and find God there.” (“The Early Church” Henry Chadwick p56). Christianity tried to directly answer the human quest for true happiness, by which more is meant than just feeling happy. The Christians found much that was useful in Stoic ethics but one must take note of the major divergances. The Christians emphasised the Grace of God as making their lives possible, and that humans should strive towards the love of God through acts of love and charity towards one’s fellow humans. The Stoics on the other hand placed their emphasis on the individuals self-respect, which leads to respect for others, and indeed charity also.

Stoic teaching emphasised man within a community of man. The highest ideal of the Stoic way of life was to live with others. Social duty was more important than individual tasks, man was not isolated. The Stoics tried to shape themselves into harmonious personalities, not just with themselves though because their “...individual ethics were ipso facto social ethics. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Stoicism excited such a profound influence on Christianity.” (“The Meaning of Stoicism” Ludwig Edelstein p72). The practical application of charity was no doubt an important cause for early Christian success., “... Christian charity expressed itself in care for the poor, for widows and orphans, in visits to brethren in prison or condemned to the living death of labour in the mines, and in social action in time of calamity like famine, earthquake, pestilence, or war.” (“The Early Church” Henry Chadwick p56). The later Stoics also emphasised philanthropy as a virtue. Such altruism presupposes the brotherhood of man. Seneca said that Nature has made us all one family and has imbued us with mutual love. One cannot help but note the striking similarity of these Stoic ethics with later Christian ethics, ethics that Christ espoused and spread, or indeed, repeated? In other ways though there are differences. The Stoics were more Christian by philosophy than revelation. Though it is easy to select various trends and ideas in Christianity with which to highlight the influence of Stoicism, there are some dogmas that had no roots in Stoicism. The Messianic hopes, early Christian communism and Christian condemnation of masturbation, incest, homosexuality and prostitution, have no part in Stoicism, and indeed the latter example was condoned by the Stoics.

If, though, one sees the early Christians as believing in happiness and in perfection in this life assured by Christ, and if one sees early Christianity as a moral creed then Stoicism will certainly appear to be a prefiguration of Christianity because the theological debates of Trinity and Transubstantiation were not yet of any real concern. That said, Stoic influences were to remain with Christianity until the present day and have seen periods of revival, like in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (take Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” as a popular reflection of this) and recent Natural Law discussions bare a very close resemblance to discussions in categories of the Stoa.

Bibliography

Chadwich, H. - “The Early Church” (Penguin 1969)

Colish, M. L. - “The Stoic Tradition from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages” (Leiden E. J. Brilll 1985)

Edelstein, L. - “The Meaning of Stoicism” (Harvard University Press 1966)

Hicks, J. - “Stoic and Epicurean” (Epochs of Philosophy, Longmans Green and Co. 1911)

Inwood, B. and Gerson, L. P. (tran.) - “Hellenistic Philosophy - Introductory Reading” (Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 1988)

Sandbach, F. H. - “Aristotle and the Stoics” (Cambridge Philological society 1985)

Smith, T.V. - “From Aristotle to Plotinus” (Phoenix books 1956)

Wiles, M. and Santer, M. (ed.) - “Documents in Early Christian Thought” (Cambridge University Press)

Wright, M. R. - “Cicero: On Stoic Good and Evil” (Aris and Phillips Ltd 1991)

My Writings:

Other:

Links:

Please consider making a small donation to keep this site ad-free.