Part 2
Stoicism and Judaism
Compiled by R.E. Slater
SERIES
Part 2 - Stoicism and Judaism <--- added: processual view
When speaking to Hellenism in the Ancient Near East one must also speak to the Greek philosophy of Stoicism. The Stoic school was founded by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE. He was a voracious reader of the Socratic dialogues and studied under the Cynic, Crates; he was also influenced by the teachings of Plato's Academy and Megarian School (cf SEOP - Stoicism)
In Ethics and political philosophy, Stoicism and Platonism seem to be quite close to one another, and yet the schools remained quite distinct historically. Stoics did not call themselves Platonists, nor Platonists called themselves Stoics.The main similarities seem to be in the role that both Plato and the Stoics attribute to the importance of society for the individual (namely that the quality of society is determined by the quality of individuals "society is man writ large", but at the same time the individual ought to serve the interests of society), the centrality of virtue to happiness, and the idea that the good man will benefit both in this world and in the next. - ANON
It is important to point out that Semitic Judaism AFTER the Babylonian Conquest began to change from an isolated Canaanite religion to a more profoundly connected Near Eastern / Levant religion. Previously, it had been affected by the Sumerian and Egyptian cultures re the Abrahamic Fathers. And in its pre-Monarchy and Monarchy eras to those influences near itself (Ammon, Moab, Edom, Aram, Phoenicia, Philistine). But after the First Temple's destruction everything changed for Israel (and for the ten tribes much earlier with their absorption into Assyria).
Generally, Israel's faith and religion may be describes as affectedly Semitic but that after it's exile out of the Land (re Babylon: c.610, 597, 586 BCE) it's Semitic-Canaanite-Jewish faith began to be enlarged in a more global sense in that Zoroastrian-Persia (sic, ancient Persia's Achaemenid Empire) held more of an Indo-Asian influence than it did a Semitic influence. And not many years later, say about 200 years later (538-333 BCE), under Alexander the Great, the Macedonian-Greek enculturations began to thoroughly sweep across the many admixtures of the "modern" eras of Mesopotamian kingdoms, embedding itself across the ancient Near East.
Hence, ancient first-temple Judaism differs from second-temple Judaism in it's InterTestamental Period differs from it's earliest Rabbinic / Talmudic forms of Judaism under Hellenism (specifically that of Platonism and Stoicism's influences).
Why is this important?
Because as the Jewish Torah, Writings, and Prophets were being collected and written down tyring imagining how one might re-capture the different Semitic cultural eras of earlier Judaism into a written text under the separate and collected influences of Israel's later ancient enculturated histories?
The Hebrew Scriptures have experienced as many influences and variations in them as the church's own Christian Scriptures have under their own separate and collected first Millennial influences (the first 1000 years of the church).
The point being, having introduced Israel's Patriarchs and Priesthood in recent posts, and then explored the early Church Fathers in those same posts, we are now coming into additional enculturating syncretic religious forces affecting both the Jewish and Christian faiths. They may be for good or for ill but these forces have especially resulted apace in Rome's first century oppression, persecution, and destruction upon both the Jewish temple and Christian church bodies.
Might we ask, "How many hundreds and thousands of permutations have now resulted from thesis to antithesis to synthesis over the centuries that have affected the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures?" We can easily find local, regional, geographic, cultural, and temporal translations, readings, teachings, rites, rituals, traditions, and beliefs resulting from Israel and the early Church's God across time and space, can we not?
The Importance of ReCapturing Legacies
And so, in addition to briefly introducing "Hellenism and Judaism," and "Stoicism and Judaism," I will also introduce "Hellenism and Christianity," and "Stoicism and Christianity" - all in an effort to show that what one believes about God, and how one conducts oneself in that belief, has been deeply affected by enculturating forces through human history.
And more simply, that it is a fairly impossible task to conduct one's faith as it was once conducted because those faith experiences have each-and-everyone been influenced by their own past eras of beliefs and situational life styles.
As example, I heard said at one time in my life that the church must get back to the practices of the early church. Which is all well and good, even whole sects such as the Disciples of Christ under William and Alexander Campbell had tried to restore their 18th century church practices back to the days of Platonic / Stoic Christianity. This idea was known as Restorationism.
A New Proposal
However, perhaps we can do better. Be less naive. Be a bit more pro-active and work towards philosophic-theologies which may admit the idea and worship of God to be a bit less anthropocentric and a bit more eco-cosmologic centric while admitting how this displacing philosophic might re-found the foundations of earlier forms of the Jewish and Christian faith in its own kind of philosophical-theological restorationism.
And if so, than it is neither out-of-bounds, nor untimely, to look for a more expansive, more central, more reasonable philosophic-theological foundation. One to which this website is committed and known as Process Philosophy and Theology ala Alfred North Whitehead who picked up its thread and can be traced all the way back into ancient times and eras.
We can thus keep the Hebrew and Christian bibles but may also re-read those ancient texts in contemporary manner noting ancient details, narratives, myths, legions, legacies, manners and customs, times and eras while also placing all unto a processual foundation that is organically tied to how creation works and by supposition of one's natural theology, how the divine or supernatural works albeit the formation of processual "bible" teachings, worship, conduct, and tenants.
Something to think about...
In Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior,
R.E. Slater
March 5, 2025
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Wikipedia -
Process philosophy (also ontology of becoming or processism) is an approach in philosophy that identifies processes, changes, or shifting relationships as the only real experience of everyday living. In opposition to the classical view of change as illusory (as argued by Parmenides) or accidental (as argued by Aristotle), process philosophy posits transient occasions of change or becoming as the only fundamental things of the ordinary everyday real world.
Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, classical ontology has posited ordinary world reality as constituted of enduring substances, to which transient processes are ontologically subordinate, if not denied altogether. As example, if Socrates changes, becoming sick, Socrates is still the same (the substance of Socrates being the same), and change (his sickness) only glides over his substance: change is accidental, and devoid of primary reality, whereas the substance is essential.
In physics, Ilya Prigogine distinguishes between the "physics of being" and the "physics of becoming". Process philosophy covers not just scientific intuitions and experiences, but can be used as a conceptual bridge to facilitate discussions among religion, philosophy, and science.
Process philosophy is sometimes classified as closer to continental philosophy than [Western] analytic philosophy, because it is usually only taught in continental philosophy departments. However, other sources state that process philosophy should be placed somewhere in the middle between the poles of analytic versus continental methods in contemporary philosophy.
Wikipedia -
Process theology is a type of theology developed from Alfred North Whitehead's (1861–1947) process philosophy, but most notably by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000), John B. Cobb (b. 1925), and Eugene H. Peters (1929–1983). Process theology and process philosophy are collectively referred to as "process thought".
For both Whitehead and Hartshorne, it is an essential attribute of God to affect and be affected by temporal processes, contrary to the forms of theism that hold God to be in all respects non-temporal (eternal), unchanging (immutable), and unaffected by the world (impassible). Process theology does not deny that God is in some respects eternal (will never die), immutable (in the sense that God is unchangingly good), and impassible (in the sense that God's eternal aspect is unaffected by actuality), but it contradicts the classical view by insisting [in important ways] that God is in some respects temporal, mutable, and passible.
According to Cobb, "process theology may refer to all forms of theology that emphasize event, occurrence, or becoming over substance. In this sense, theology influenced by G. W. F. Hegel is process theology just as much as that influenced by Whitehead. This use of the term calls attention to affinities between these otherwise quite different traditions." Also, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin can be included among process theologians, even if he is generally understood as referring to the Whiteheadian/Hartshornean school [of thought], where there continues to be ongoing debates within the field on the nature of God, the relationship of God and the world, and immortality.
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The Influence of Stoicism Upon
Ancient Rabbinic/Talmudic Judaism
Compiled by R.E. Slater
Stoicism and Judaism share many philosophical and ethical ideas, including concepts of human flourishing, the origin of the world, and the nature of God.
Human flourishing
- Both Judaism and Stoicism emphasize how we treat others and how we can improve our character, emotions, and thinking.
- Rabbi Hillel the Elder taught "Do not do to others what is hateful to you".
The origin of the world
- Both Judaism and Stoicism have similar ideas about the origin of the world.
- Stoics believe the universe is made of logos, or a rational principle.
The nature of God
- Stoics see the divine as part of nature, guiding the universe and helping us grow virtues like wisdom and courage.
Other connections
- Stoicism was popular with Roman jurists and became a major part of Greco-Roman rhetorical culture.
- Stoicism was already established in Jesus' time, and much of what he taught reflects Stoic thought.
- Some fundamental teachings of Stoicism appear in the Bible.
- The Stoic theory of the Logos became central in Philo and in the Gospel according to St. John.
PARALLES, DIFFERENCES, CONNECTIONS
Judaism and Stoicism share some parallels, including ideas about fate, morality, and living in accordance with nature. However, they also differ in their views on God and the relationship with God.
Similarities
Living in accordance with nature
- Both Judaism and Stoicism encourage people to use their intellect to live in a reasonable way.
Stewardship
- Both Judaism and Stoicism teach that people are stewards of what they think they own, not the owners.
Ideas about fate
- Both Judaism and Stoicism have ideas about fate, such as "that which has been is what will be".
Differences
God
- Judaism views God as one, omnipotent, and personal, while Stoicism views the divine as part of nature.
Relationship with God
- Judaism has a covenantal relationship with God, while Stoicism has a non-covenantal relationship with the divine.
Supreme Being
- Judaism views God as transcendent, while Stoicism views the divine as impersonal and imminent in the physical world.
Other connections
- Stoicism was prevalent in the Roman Empire during the biblical age.
- Stoic casuistry was known to rabbinic scholars.
- Stoic rhetorical forms appear in rabbinism.
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Stoicism and Judaism:
Exploring Parallels, Differences, and Connections
by Master Stoicism | Dec 18, 2024
Judaism, Stoicism, religion and philosophy, ancient religions, Jewish beliefs, ethical teachings, Stoic values, religious parallels, Jewish spirituality, philosophical insights, moral wisdom, religion and ethics, ancient teachings, Stoic ethics, Jewish practices, religious philosophy, faith-based wisdom, spiritual resilience, Jewish traditions, Stoicism in religion, interfaith understanding, cultural connections, religious values, virtue and religion, faith and reason
From Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2021
Stoicism and (Rabbinic & Talmudic) Judaism
by RON PIES, MD
Biblical Judaism—arguably the world’s oldest monotheistic religion— preceded the development of Stoicism by well over a thousand years.
However, rabbinic or Talmudic Judaism (ca. 70-500 CE) was roughly contemporaneous with the life of Marcus Aurelius (121 -180 CE). Indeed, legend has it that the compiler of the Talmud, Rabbi Yehuda ha Nasi (ca. 135—220 CE) was a friend of one of the Antonine emperors — either Antonius Pius or Marcus himself.
In comparing and contrasting Talmudic Judaism with Stoicism, we can analyze two quite different frames of reference: (1) metaphysics and theology; and (2) ethics, psychology, and character.
METAPHYSICS AND THEOLOGY
To oversimplify considerably, Biblical Judaism is grounded in the belief in one omniscient, omnipotent God, who is both transcendent and immanent; that is, both outside of space, time, and the physical universe, yet pervasively present in the physical universe. The relationship of God to Man in Judaism is covenantal, prescriptive, and personal. God commands us to follow specified rules and laws; violation leads to punishment and alienation from God. The God of the Hebrew Bible speaks personally to mankind through prophets such as Moses; and mankind often “talks back” to God--sometimes quite argumentatively!
In contrast, the somewhat ill-defined Supreme Being of the Stoics is an impersonal entity that is imminent in the physical world, but not transcendent. The relationship between mankind and the Stoic Supreme Being is non-covenantal and non-prescriptive. Thus, while this Being, in some sense, “wills that we should obey moral principles,” it does not promulgate specific commandments or laws, such as “Keep the sabbath.” Moreover, there are no Stoic “prophets” to convey any explicit wishes of this Supreme Being.
ETHICS, PSYCHOLOGY, AND CHARACTER
Judaism and Stoicism have quite similar concepts of what might be called “human flourishing” (eudaimonia). In simplest terms, this comes down to how we behave toward one another; and how we can refine our thinking, emotions, and character. We can summarize these Judeo-Stoic similarities by examining four main areas:
- Tact, empathy, and compassion: Both Judaism and Stoicism emphasize our common humanity, and the obligation to respect all persons. Thus, Rabbi Hillel the Elder taught, “Do not do to others what is hateful to you” (a version of the “Golden Rule”); while Marcus Aurelius taught that,
…man’s proper work is kindness to his fellow man. - Meditations, 8.26.
- Anger, rage, and revenge: Both the rabbis of the Talmud and the Stoic sages viewed anger very harshly. The Talmud compares anger to idolatry (i.e., one worships oneself); and Marcus taught that,
Our rage and lamentations do us more harm than whatever caused our anger and grief in the first place. - Meditations, 11.18
- Worry, sorrow and depression: The rabbis saw excessive worry as a kind of cognitive error, correctable by rational thinking. Thus, Maimonides held that “…It is the duty of man to subordinate all the faculties of his soul to his reason.” Similarly, Marcus taught that,
…our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within…. - Meditations 8.3
- Joyfulness, gratitude and pleasure: Both rabbinic and Stoic ethics teach us to limit our desires and appreciate what we have. Thus, the Talmud asks, “Who is rich?” and answers, “He who rejoices in his portion.”; and Seneca teaches that,
It is in no man’s power to have whatever he wants; but he has it in his power not to wish for what he hasn’t got…”- Letters from a Stoic. [Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium] Letter 122
CONCLUSION
The rich spiritual and philosophical traditions of Judaism and Stoicism begin with quite different conceptions of the universe and of God; yet both exhort us to respect the common bond of humanity; to avoid anger; to examine the cognitive judgments that underlie worry; and to cultivate gratitude for the blessings bestowed upon us.
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