Emotion, Jesus, and the Stoic Sage

Title

Emotion, Jesus, and the Stoic Sage

Author

Terry G. Pence

Page

1-15

DOI

10.6163/tjeas.2013.10(1)1

Abstract

Stoicism was a dominant philosophical viewpoint in the Greco-Roman world for five hundred years. It appealed to the ideal of the sage who living according to nature achieves a condition of apathy and cleverly strategizes ways to live a life that avoids suffering. Christianity, which superseded stoicism in cultural influence, also appealed to a moral exemplar in the person of Jesus. This paper is a comparison of the emotional repertoires of these moral exemplars—the Stoic sage and Jesus (7-2 BCE-A.D.30-36). Although there is much in Christianity that is compatible with Stoic attitudes there are nevertheless, remarkable differences as well. For example, there are emotions that the Stoic sage would condemn that are attributed to Jesus, cultivation of others that stoics and epicureans would think unwise and there is a contrasting attitude toward suffering.

Keyword

Jesus, Stoicism, Emotion, B. B. Warfield, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Stoic Sage

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