NEW EVIDENCE that the New Testament Was Shaped By Stoicism | Brian Thomassen

Key Concepts:

• Stoicism: A Hellenistic philosophy emphasizing virtue, reason, and living in accordance with nature.
• Hellenization: The spread of Greek culture and language.
• Apostasy: A falling away from religious faith or principles.
• Revelation: The act of revealing or disclosing divine truth or knowledge.
• Logos: A Greek word meaning "word," "reason," or "principle," used in Stoicism to refer to the rational principle governing the universe.
• Agape: A Greek word for unconditional love, often used in the New Testament.
• Filia: A Greek word for brotherly love or friendship.
• Open Ethic: An unbounded ethical system where obligations are universal, not tied to individual relationships.
• Deterministic Causality: The belief that every event is causally determined by prior events.

1. Models of Apostasy and the Influence of Hellenism

• The traditional view of the Great Apostasy involves the death of the apostles, a diminishment of authority, the cessation of public revelation, localized authority fracturing, and the encroachment of Hellenistic ideas. Apostasy is viewed as a "mutiny" or internal revolt.
• The speaker challenges the notion that Hellenization was the final nail in the coffin, arguing that Greek thought was embedded in the New Testament from the beginning.
• Three models for understanding the helenization of Christianity are presented:
  • Tertullian Model: Rejection of Hellenism ("What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?").
  • Clement of Alexandria Model: Selective adoption of Greek ideas to improve Christianity.
  • Augustine Model: Full adoption of Hellenistic (Neoplatonic) cosmology, with Christ added on top.

2. Revelatory Models

• Two models of revelation are discussed:
  • Plato's Ion Model: The revelator is a mere vehicle or funnel for divine truth.
  • D&C 1:24 and Alma 29:8 Model: Revelation is given in the language and cultural context of the recipient, acknowledging the influence of language and culture on understanding.
• The speaker argues for the latter model, emphasizing that revelation is always culturally and linguistically informed.

3. Socio-Linguistic Context of the New Testament

• The New Testament was written in Greek for a Greek-speaking audience within the Mediterranean orbit.
• The Roman world was dominated by Greek philosophy, particularly Stoicism.

4. Major Schools of Greek Thought

• Four major schools of Greek thought during the time of the New Testament:
  • Stoicism
  • Epicureanism
  • Academics (descendants of Plato)
  • Peripatetics (descendants of Aristotle)
• Stoicism was the most dominant philosophy in the early Roman Empire.

5. Stoicism: Core Principles

• Stoicism was founded in the 4th century BC by Zeno, with Cleanthes and Chrysopus as key figures.
• Chrysopus invented propositional logic.
• Stoic cosmology is material, with God being material.
• Stoicism embraces deterministic causality, but emphasizes free will and responsibility for one's thoughts.
• Stoicism is divided into three branches: logic, physics, and ethics.

6. Stoicism in the New Testament: John 1:1

• John 1:1 ("In the beginning was the Word...") is interpreted through a Stoic lens.
• "Logos" (the Word) is a fundamental cosmological principle in Stoicism, representing the binding force of reality.
• The verse is seen as equating God and the Logos, aligning with Stoic thought.
• The writer of John uses Stoic metaphysics to introduce the gospel to a Greek-speaking audience, using familiar concepts to make the new message understandable.

7. Stoicism as a Theoretical Precursor to the Gospel

• Christianity was most successful within the Roman sphere, suggesting a connection to the prevailing philosophical climate.
• Stoicism is presented as a theoretical precursor to the gospel, similar to John the Baptist preparing the way for Christ.
• Stoic ethical concepts mirror and highlight aspects of Christendom.

8. Love (Agape) in Stoicism and the New Testament

• Greek has multiple words for love (eros, ludus, mania, pragma, storge, filia, philautia, agape).
• The New Testament writers chose "agape," the least used and most abstract word for love.
• Agape is a universal idea, lacking the direct relational component of other forms of love.
• The exchange between Christ and Peter in John's Gospel illustrates Peter's initial inability to grasp the concept of agape.
• Stoicism uniquely uses "agape" as the fundamental word for ethics.

9. Stoic Ethics: Open Ethic and Examples

• Stoic ethics can be broken down into four parts:
  • Open Ethic
  • Adverbial Ethic
  • Natural Law
  • Sage as an Exemplar
• Stoicism promotes an "open ethic," an unbounded ethical system with universal obligations, unlike closed moral systems like Judaism.
• Examples of Stoic influence on New Testament teachings:
  • Matthew 5:45 (God sending rain on the just and unjust) parallels Seneca's idea of imitating the gods by benefiting the ungrateful.
  • Matthew 5:43-44 (love your enemies) has no direct correlate in the Old Testament but is a common sentiment in Stoic writings (e.g., Epictetus, Seneca).

10. Conclusion

The speaker argues that Stoicism played a significant role in shaping the ethical and philosophical landscape in which the New Testament was written. By examining key concepts such as "logos" and "agape" through a Stoic lens, the speaker suggests that Stoicism served as a "theoretical precursor" to the gospel, making it more accessible and understandable to a Greek-speaking audience. The emphasis on an open ethic and universal love in Stoicism aligns with core Christian teachings, highlighting the potential influence of Greek philosophy on the development of Christian thought.