Thematic Bible: Stoicism


Thematic Bible





"and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. "He who has saved his life shall lose it; and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it.

Then summoning the crowd to him, with his disciples. he said: "If any man wishes to follow me, let him renounce self, take up his cross, and so follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever, for my sake and the gospel's, loses his life will save it.

And he said to all. "If any man wills to follow me, Let him renounce self and take up his cross daily and follow me. "For whoever wills to save his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it. "For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose or forfeit himself? read more.
"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my teachings, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his own and in his Father's glory, and in that of the holy angels.

A wife is bound to her husband during his lifetime; but if her husband dies, she is free to marry whomever she will, provided it be in the Lord. But she is happier, in my judgment, if she remains as she is; and I think that I, too, have the Spirit of God.

Now concerning the question in your letter. It is well for a man to have no intercourse with a woman, but because there is so much immorality let each man have his own wife; and let each women have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife her due, and likewise the wife her husband. The wife is not mistress of her own person, read more.
but her husband is; and in the same way the husband is not master of his own person, but his wife is. Do not refuse one another, unless it is only temporary and by mutual consent, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, lest through your lack of self-control Satan begin to tempt you to sin. But what I have just said is by way of concession, not command. I would that every one lived as I do; but each man has his own special gift from God, one this, another that. But to the unmarried, and the widows, I say that it is well for them to remain as I am. If, however, they are not exercising self-control, by all means let them marry; for marriage is better than the fever of passion.

I have no command from the Lord to give you concerning unmarried women; but I give you my opinion, and it is that of a man who, through the Lord's mercy, is deserving of your confidence. I think then, that in view of the time of suffering now imminent, it is best for a man to remain as he is.

So I want you to be free from all anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the Lord's business, how he may please the Lord; but a married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how he may please his wife, and he is divided in his mind.

but I find a different law in my bodily faculties, waging war with the law of my will, and taking me prisoner to that law of sin which is in my bodily faculties. Verse ConceptsBodily LimbsSpiritual Warfare, As ConflictLiving Not For The MaterialEvil PrinciplesPrinciples Of WarMind BattlesGoing Through the MotionsstruggleWarLife StrugglesThe MindConflictStrugglesBeing DifferentBeing Uniquelawworkingmindset

For we know that the Law is spiritual; but as for me, I am a creature of flesh, bought and sold under the dominion of sin. For what I perform I know not; what I practise is not what I intend to do, but what I detest, that I habitually do. If then I habitually do what I do not intend to do, I am consenting to the Law, that it is right. read more.
And now it is longer I myself who do the deed, but it is sin which has its home in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, no good thing has its home; for while to will is present with me, to carry out that which is right is not. For the good that I intend to do, I do not; but the evil which I do not; but the evil which I do not intend to do, that I am ever practising. But if I do the very thing I do not intend to do, it is no more I who practise it, but sin which has its home in me. I find, then, this law, that when I intend to do good, evil is ever present with me. For in my inmost self I delight in the law of God; but I find a different law in my bodily faculties, waging war with the law of my will, and taking me prisoner to that law of sin which is in my bodily faculties. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this slave of death?





but I bruise my body and keep it in subjection, lest having called others to the contest, I should myself be disqualified. Verse ConceptsLicentiousnessCastawaysBodyAsceticism, TypesLustMortificationSelf DisciplineConduct, ProperDietsMinisters, Should BeBeating OneselfMaking SlavesslaveryRacetrainingmyself

A few of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him again and again. Some were saying, "What has this beggarly fellow to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods," because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. Verse ConceptsBabblersevangelism, nature ofPhilosophyResurrection, Of The DeadFalse Teachers, Examples OfScoffersAmateursAmbiguityEncouraged To Serve Foreign gods

This John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Verse ConceptsLeatherClothingBeltsAsceticism, People PracticingHairsInsectsJohn The BaptistLocustsWaistsHoneyHairclothHair GarmentsChristmas Tree