Epictetus’ Stoicism and Christian Ideals: Bridging Philosophies
Intersections of Stoicism and Christianity
Sometimes, Christians regard “philosophy” as an outside influence that can be dangerous to true doctrine, while others think philosophy goes hand-in-hand with Christian thinking and behavior. The Stoics, for example, some that were alive in the time of Christ, were very like-minded and taught the same way of living.
Epictetus, with his manual for living — the Enchiridion (Handbook), was influential for many great men as well as for a foundation in Western Civilization and modern psychiatry. His handbook had Christianized versions. The first was historically attributed to St. Nilus Ancyranus in AD 43; the second Christianized version was titled Paraphrasis Christiana of unknown authorship. The third and final version of the handbook is called Vaticanus graecus 2231 edition, written sometime between 1317 and 1338.
1497 Epictetus’s Handbook was translated from Greek to Latin in Bologna, Italy. The book was exceptionally well received and translated into other languages. A host of great Western thinkers (and Eastern, no doubt) since that time have been influenced to some extent by the writings of Epictetus.
One was Justis Lispius (1547–1606), a professional philologist at the University of Louvain now located in Belgium, who trained as a Jesuit and became a Lutheran before returning to Catholicism. His enduring professional interest was in early Roman Stoicism and Roman History. As for his opinion of the “Divine Epictetus” he stated,
“He was a man who relied wholly on himself and God, but not on fortune. In origin, low and servile, in body, lame and feeble, in mind most exalted, and brilliant among the lights the lights of every age… There is no one who better influences and shapes a good mind. I never read that old man without a stirring of my soul within me, and, as with Homer. I think more of him each time I re-read him, for he seems always new, and even after I returned to him I feel that I ought to return to him once more.”
As Lispius describes, Epictetus’ handbook is not a one-time read. It is a handbook for life and how to live properly and virtuously. That is why one can return to it repeatedly for more wisdom each time it is read. So, in a real sense, this can be considered a guide to a Christian philosopher.
Catholic mathematician and philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) was also an adherent to the teachings of Epictetus. He seemed to appreciate Epictetus’s prolonged and intensive training in mind for anyone who would approach virtue, tranquility, and freedom from vice.
A century later, in 1762, an even more famous man, a William and Mary College graduate, included Epictetus in his recommended reading and ordered a complete Greek text of the entire corpus of Epictetus for the school he founded, the University of Virginia. He also wrote that he considered Epictetus, along with Epicurus, masters in dealing with self as Jesus is in the duties and the charitable actions we owe others.
The man’s most famous written work includes this rather Epictetan note
“that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The work is the Declaration of Independence, and the Epictetus admirer was Thomas Jefferson, who would become the third US president.
Famous 19th-century American literary figures influenced by Epictetus, who openly sang his praises for championing personal liberty, included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The poet Walt Whitman even told a friend that Epictetus was a “universe in himself,” the day Whitman first read Epictetus, he was “born again.”
Regarding the similarities between the stoicism of Epictetus and Christianity, for Epictetus, God was singular, unlike how many other pagans believed at the time, which was in praise to the many different Gods. Epictetus even knew of Christians and wrote of them.
What matters most to Epictetus is to live a good life in accordance with nature or the universal law. As for God’s primary role in achieving this goal, Epictetus states:
“Now the philosophers say the first thing we must learn is this: ‘That there is a God, and that He provides for the universe, and that it is impossible for a man to conceal from Him, not merely his actions, but even his purposes and his thoughts.’”
Christian thinkers and Western Civilization can be grateful for the Stoic Epictetus and his Enchiridion or Handbook, a world-changer regarding how people thought and believed in a higher power rationally.
For some thinkers, reason leads to the concept of one God.
“What kind of being is He, and how does he govern it (the universe)? And what are we, who have we been created by Him, and for what purpose were we created? Do we, then, really have some contact and relation with Him or none at all?”
Epictetus goes on to say that we must learn what God is like and try to please him, resembling Him in things like faithfulness, freedom, benevolence, and high-mindedness. In sum, “therefore, in everything he (the person who would please God) says and does, he must be an imitator of God.”
There is so much resemblance between early Christians, the Stoic Epictetus, and his works. Epictetus even writes about those early Christians in Discourses II.9. He refers to those who claim to be “Jews” (probably meaning Christians) who are “counterfeit Baptists” in that they proclaim their faith but do not live it out in their lives.
He implies that confessing and living the Christian faith is a rare and rigorous undertaking, mastered only by a few. He urges his students not to be like “counterfeit Baptists” by failing to practice the principles they preach. Similar to today, like the hypocrites in the Christian church.
In Discourses IV.7, he describes the “Galileans” as people who can overcome the fear of tyrants through their faith in God. He urges his students to use reason to grasp God’s providence and relinquish their concerns.
As Epictetus said:
“Death and pain are not frightening; it’s the fear of pain and death we need to fear.”
This counsel would prove beneficial for the “Galileans,” who faced constant threats of potential execution. It appeared that numerous early Christians displayed fearlessness, prioritizing their principles and the love for God and fellow beings above all else in their lives.
One has to wonder if those “Galileans” knew of Epictetus as he knew of them. Their way of thinking was so similar that it may have been possible, although we will never know. We know that Epictetus’s stoicism and Christianity’s doctrine can go hand in hand and be a guide for living the good life.
Religion and philosophy may be essential for some people struggling with coping: religious philosophy or philosophic religion.
Sources:
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, The Works of Epictetus. Consisting of His Discourses, in Four Books, The Enchiridion, and Fragments, translation from the Greek based on that of Elizabeth Carter, Little, Brown, and Co., Boston, 1865.
Kevin Vost, The Porch and the Cross: Ancient Stoic Wisdom for Modern Christian Living, Angelico Press, New York, 2016.
