Thematic Bible: Stoicism


Thematic Bible





And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me. He who has the desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, and he who gives up his life because of me will have it given back to him.

And turning to the mass of people with his disciples, he said to them, If any man has the desire to come after me, let him give up all other desires, and take up his cross and come after me. Whoever has a desire to keep his life, will have it taken from him; and whoever gives up his life because of me and the good news, will keep it.

And he said to them all, If any man has a desire to come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross every day, and come after me. For whoever has a desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, but whoever gives up his life because of me, will keep it. For what profit will a man have if he gets all the world, but undergoes loss or destruction himself? read more.
For if any man has a feeling of shame because of me or of my words, the Son of man will have shame because of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.


It is right for a wife to be with her husband as long as he is living; but when her husband is dead, she is free to be married to another; but only to a Christian. But it will be better for her to keep as she is, in my opinion: and it seems to me that I have the Spirit of God.

Now, as to the things in your letter to me: It is good for a man to have nothing to do with a woman. But because of the desires of the flesh, let every man have his wife, and every woman her husband. Let the husband give to the wife what is right; and let the wife do the same to the husband. read more.
The wife has not power over her body, but the husband; and in the same way the husband has not power over his body, but the wife. Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control. But this I say as my opinion, and not as an order of the Lord. It is my desire that all men might be even as I am. But every man has the power of his special way of life given him by God, one in this way and one in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, It is good for them to be even as I am. But if they have not self-control let them get married; for married life is better than the burning of desire.

Now about virgins I have no orders from the Lord: but I give my opinion as one to whom the Lord has given mercy to be true to him. In my opinion then, because of the present trouble, it is good for a man to keep as he is.

But it is my desire for you to be free from cares. The unmarried man gives his mind to the things of the Lord, how he may give pleasure to the Lord: But the married man gives his attention to the things of this world, how he may give pleasure to his wife.



For we are conscious that the law is of the spirit; but I am of the flesh, given into the power of sin. And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do. But, if I do that which I have no mind to do, I am in agreement with the law that the law is good. read more.
So it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me. For I am conscious that in me, that is, in my flesh, there is nothing good: I have the mind but not the power to do what is right. For the good which I have a mind to do, I do not: but the evil which I have no mind to do, that I do. But if I do what I have no mind to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin living in me. So I see a law that, though I have a mind to do good, evil is present in me. In my heart I take pleasure in the law of God, But I see another law in my body, working against the law of my mind, and making me the servant of the law of sin which is in my flesh. How unhappy am I! who will make me free from the body of this death?








But I give blows to my body, and keep it under control, for fear that, after having given the good news to others, I myself might not have God's approval.


And some of those who were supporters of the theories of the Epicureans and the Stoics, had a meeting with him. And some said, What is this talker of foolish words saying? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange gods: because he was preaching of Jesus and his coming back from the dead.


Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey.


Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain