Thematic Bible: Stoicism


Thematic Bible





and no one who will not take up his cross and follow me is worthy of me. Whoever gains his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it.

And he called the people and his disciples to him and said to them, "If anyone wants to go with me, he must disregard himself, and take his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to preserve his own life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me and for the good news will preserve it.

And he said to everyone, "If anyone wants to go with me, he must disregard himself, and take his cross day after day and follow me. For whoever wants to preserve his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will preserve it. What good does it do a man to gain the whole world and lose or forfeit himself? read more.
For if anyone is ashamed of me and my teaching the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when he comes with all the glory of his Father and of the holy angels.

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she pleases so long as he is a Christian. But she will be happier, in my judgment, if she remains as she is, and I think I have God's spirit as well as other people.

As to the matters of which you wrote me, it is an excellent thing for a man to remain unmarried. But there is so much immorality that every man had better have a wife of his own, and every woman a husband of her own. The husband must give his wife what is due her, and the wife must do the same by her husband. read more.
A wife cannot do as she likes with her own person; it is her husband's; and in the same way a husband cannot do as he likes with his own person; it is his wife's. You must not refuse each other what is due, unless you agree to do so for a while, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then to come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you through your lack of self-control. But I mean this as a concession, not a command. I should like to have everyone be just as I am myself; but each one has his own special gift from God, one of one kind, and one of another. To all who are unmarried and to widows, I would say this: It is an excellent thing if they can remain single as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to be on fire with passion.

About unmarried women I have no command of the Lord to give you, but I will give you my opinion as that of one on whom through the Lord's mercy you can depend. This, then, is my opinion in view of the present distress??hat it is a good thing for a man to remain just as he is.

I want you to be free from all anxiety. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's work, and how he can please the Lord. A married man is concerned about worldly affairs, and how he can please his wife, and so his interests are divided.


We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am physical, sold into slavery to sin. I do not understand what I am doing, for I do not do what I want to do; I do things that I hate. But if I do what I do not want to do, I acknowledge that the Law is right. read more.
In reality, it is not I that do these things; it is sin, which has possession of me. For I know that nothing good resides in me, that is, in my physical self; I can will, but I cannot do what is right. I do not do the good things that I want to do; I do the wrong things that I do not want to do. But if I do the things that I do not want to do, it is not I that am acting, it is sin, which has possession of me. I find the law to be that I who want to do right am dogged by what is wrong. My inner nature agrees with the divine law, but all through my body I see another principle in conflict with the law of my reason, which makes me a prisoner to that law of sin that runs through my body. What a wretched man I am! Who can save me from this doomed body?




"For when John the Baptist came, he did not eat any bread or drink any wine, and you said, 'He has a demon!' Verse ConceptsAbstinenceAsceticism, People PracticingJohn The BaptistSelf DenialWineCharacter AssassinationAccused Of Being DemonisedDrinking No WineFasting Regularly

But I beat and bruise my body and make it my slave, so that after I have called others to the contest I may not be disqualified myself. Verse ConceptsLicentiousnessCastawaysBodyAsceticism, TypesLustMortificationSelf DisciplineConduct, ProperDietsMinisters, Should BeBeating OneselfMaking SlavesslaveryRacetrainingmyself

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some of them said, "What is this rag-picker trying to make out?" Others said, "He seems to be preaching some foreign deities." This was because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. Verse ConceptsBabblersevangelism, nature ofPhilosophyResurrection, Of The DeadFalse Teachers, Examples OfScoffersAmateursAmbiguityEncouraged To Serve Foreign gods

John wore clothing made of hair cloth, and he had a leather belt around his waist, and he lived on dried locusts and wild honey. Verse ConceptsLeatherClothingBeltsAsceticism, People PracticingHairsInsectsJohn The BaptistLocustsWaistsHoneyHairclothHair GarmentsChristmas Tree