M
MadeUpName2
Guest
Hello, everyone. Since this was a philosophical (as well as religious) issue, I thought you would be the people to ask.
It’s a somewhat involved question.
Stoicism is one of those philosophical systems that gets assimilated by its adherents as much by experience – through “exercises” – as by argument. It’s an unusually “lived”, experiential philosophy.
Unfortunately, Stoicism also appears to be a thoroughly un-Christian philosophy, which would make me hesitant to try any of the relevant experiential exercises, even for academic research. (I’m working on the assumption that it’s one thing to study non-Christian philosophies in the abstract, and quite another to deliberately re-train oneself to habitually think in their terms.)
However, I discovered that Christians – most likely monks – adapted the Stoics’ Enchiridion (“handbook”) to Christian use from the 5th century onward. In the process, they rewrote some sections and chopped out others. (Saint Nilus allegedly wrote one of the redactions, but this attribution is probably incorrect.) Three Christian redactions/paraphrases still exist.
My initial thought was that the dedicated Christian paraphrases of the Enchiridion would allow me to proceed in studying the adapted “exercises” from a Christian standpoint, using the passages that managed to survive the editing choices of all three redactors.
Does anyone know enough about the adaptations of the Enchiridion (or theological views about this sort of question more generally) to know whether this is a sensible plan?
It’s a somewhat involved question.
Stoicism is one of those philosophical systems that gets assimilated by its adherents as much by experience – through “exercises” – as by argument. It’s an unusually “lived”, experiential philosophy.
Unfortunately, Stoicism also appears to be a thoroughly un-Christian philosophy, which would make me hesitant to try any of the relevant experiential exercises, even for academic research. (I’m working on the assumption that it’s one thing to study non-Christian philosophies in the abstract, and quite another to deliberately re-train oneself to habitually think in their terms.)
However, I discovered that Christians – most likely monks – adapted the Stoics’ Enchiridion (“handbook”) to Christian use from the 5th century onward. In the process, they rewrote some sections and chopped out others. (Saint Nilus allegedly wrote one of the redactions, but this attribution is probably incorrect.) Three Christian redactions/paraphrases still exist.
My initial thought was that the dedicated Christian paraphrases of the Enchiridion would allow me to proceed in studying the adapted “exercises” from a Christian standpoint, using the passages that managed to survive the editing choices of all three redactors.
Does anyone know enough about the adaptations of the Enchiridion (or theological views about this sort of question more generally) to know whether this is a sensible plan?