Stoicism in Early Christianity

by Rasimus, Tuomas; Engberg-Pedersen, Troels; Dunderberg, Ismo

• ISBN13: 9780801039515
• ISBN10: 0801039517
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-11-01
• Publisher: Baker Academic

Summary

How usefully do distinctly Stoic ideas illuminate the meaning of first- and second-century Christian texts? This book suggests that early Christians--the authors of New Testament and noncanonical writings, including some early apologies--were often more influenced by Stoicism than by Middle Platonism. This insight sheds an entirely new light on the relationship between philosophy and religion at the birth of Christianity.

Author Biography

Tuomas Rasimus (PhD, Universit Laval; DrTheol, University of Helsinki) is research fellow in the department of biblical studies at the University of Helsinki and at the Institut d'tudes anciennes, Universit Laval. He is the author of The Legacy of John: Second-Century Reception of the Fourth Gospel. Troels Engberg-Pedersen (DPhil, University of Oxford; DrTheol, University of Copenhagen) is professor of New Testament in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Copenhagen. He is the author or editor of eleven books and more than a hundred articles. Ismo Dunderberg (DrTheol, University of Helsinki) is professor of New Testament studies at the University of Helsinki. He is the author or editor of four books and numerous articles in the field of early Christian literature.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Setting the Scene: Stoicism and Platonism in the Transitional Period in Ancient Philosophy	p. 1
Stoicism as a Key to Pauline Ethics in Romans	p. 15
Stoic Law in Paul?	p. 39
Jesus the Teacher and Stoic Ethics in the Gospel of Matthew	p. 59
An "Emotional" Jesus and Stoic Tradition	p. 77
The Emotional Jesus: Anti-Stoicism in the Fourth Gospel?	p. 93
Stoic Physics, the Universal Conflagration, and the Eschatological Destruction of the "Ignorant and Unstable" in 2 Peter	p. 115
The Stoics and the Early Christians on the Treatment of Slaves	p. 141
Facing the Beast: Justin, Christian Martyrdom, and Freedom of the will	p. 176
A Stoic Reading of the Gospel of Mary: The Meaning of "Matter" and "Nature" in Gospel of Mary 7.1-8.11	p. 199
Stoic Traditions in the School of Valentinus	p. 220
Critical Reception of the Stoic Theory of Passions in the Apocryphon of John	p. 239
Stoic Ingredients in the Neoplatonic Being-Life-Mind Triad: An Original Second-Century Gnostic Innovation?	p. 257
Index of Modern Authors	p. 275
Index of Subjects	p. 281
Index of Ancient Sources	p. 288
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