Back in December, I had one of the worst panic attacks I've ever had. I prayed for away to get it under control as what I usually did for them did not work. When I eventually opened the YT app the first recommended video was How To Deal with Anxiety Like Marcus Aurelius. That was my first into to stoicism. It really helped me, regulate my emotions. At the end of May, there was an extreme family emergency, no amount of stoicism could settle me. Once again, openings the YT app, there was a recommended video about Orthodoxy. I went to my first Liturgy on Father's Day. I went again last Sunday. Im going again this Sunday. I truly believe God showed me these things, because He can do anything.
When people say ‘have you read Marcus Aurelius?’ I perceive the flex here and counter with ‘have *you* read St Maximos the Confessor?’ Just having some fun. In all seriousness. Thank you for talking about this topic. I feel like a lot of men are turning to the stoics right now as a masculine ideal. And we have to pray and help them turn to Christ. The Truth is a person. And that person is Christ. He is risen!! ☦️☦️☦️
Fr, I tangled with you not long ago about "rebaptizing." I wanted to apologize. I was going through a serious spiritual battle as a former trad cat now an Orthodox Catechuman in no small part because of your videos through the Grace of God.
father this actually freaked me out so much, i am catechumen that just started learning about stoicism a day ago and this video popped up on my for you page. And its crazy it happened in this timing the day after i started looking into it
Like somebody else in this comment section said, you must have read my mind Father Mikhail because I have been thinking and wondering about this very topic for a few days now-and voilà, here’s this video. Thank you! Christ is Risen
Thank you for the video father! I hope you get over your illness soon. Would you consider doing a video on the GOC and ecumenism? I notice it is a common reaction amongst people to overcorrect against the evils of ecumenism in this way.
Great Video Father, Been awhile since I watched one from you. Important Video you made here, Stoicism is a big vacuum of souls these days (I was nearly sucked in) and many lost young men my age look to Aurelias. Ill be sure to share this.
I studied stoicism in 2019 and at first everything was great, I really felt as though it was very useful and insightful but the more I studied it the further away I became from Christ and then turned agnostic, almost as if a shift in my spirit happened from one day to the other. I became convicted and stopped about 2 years ago already but everyday I battle with thoughts I used to not deal with in the past. I’ve returned to Christ but something doesn’t feel right in my spirit. I just pray that God enlightens me with inner peace, joy and appreciation for life like I used to have. Even though I appreciate, even though I am grateful, even though I love my neighbor there’s another side that doesn’t. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Looking forward to the video on how to conduct oneself in the secular workplace. Being in the trades you will encounter some heavy anti-Christian sentiment. Of course, only symptoms of the age and we must pray for those who offend us. Still it is difficult at times to bear.
I experienced this a lot, my solution was to just get along with them and be like them on the outside, in language too. I didn't present myself as a great guy while being a stickler about what I'd be willing to talk about, talking like Ned Flanders, crossing myself every time I heard an ambulance, forgetting things because I was trying to do the Jesus prayer, etc. I didn't make Christianity likeable.
*"Philosophy is knowledge of things which are in so far as they are, that is, a knowledge of the nature of things which have being. And again, philosophy is knowledge of both divine and human things, that is to say, of things both visible and invisible.* *Philosophy, again, is a study of death, whether this be voluntary or natural. For life is of two kinds, there being the natural life by which we live and the voluntary one by which we cling lovingly to this present life. Death, also, is of two kinds: the one being natural, which is the separation of soul from body, whereas the other is the voluntary one by which we disdain this present life and aspire to that which is to come.* *Still again, philosophy is the making of one’s self like God. Now, we become like God in wisdom, which is to say, in the true knowledge of good; and in justice, which is a fairness in judgment without respect to persons; and in holiness, which is to say, in goodness, which is superior to justice, being that by which we do good to them that wrong us.* *Philosophy is the art of arts and the science of sciences. This is because philosophy is the principle of every art, since through it every art and science has been invented. Now, according to some, art is what errs in some people and science what errs in no one, whereas philosophy alone does not err. According to others, art is that which is done with the hands, whereas science is any art that is practiced by the reason, such as grammar, rhetoric, and the like.* *Philosophy, again, is a love of wisdom. But, true wisdom is God. Therefore, the love of God, this is the true philosophy."* _- Saint John of Damascus, Philosophical Chapters_
I've been really enjoying these praxis-related videos, I think they're very edifying and applicable to the struggles we face as Orthodox Christians today. Looking forward to the one about the workplace! Thank you again Fr.
I wanted to ask what do i do if im living the life of a sinner but still completely understand that the Orthodox Church is the truth. I know that Jesus Christ is the only way but i think im having trouble taking the first steps into living like him. I part of me doesnt want to leave my lifestyle even tho i know i need to. thank you and God bless. I felt it was good to ask you because i saw your video on how you became Orthodox and realized that we lived a similar life
Fr, related to your next video of working in a secular work force from experience I’d say don’t try to force anything down anyone’s throat but live it through prayer while working. I set up a prayer corner on my desk and have had quite a few people come and ask about parts of orthodoxy and I’ve even given some books to read
One of the problems with stoicism as a philosophy is that it has a strong tendency to reduce everything to utilitarianism. Stoicism is useful in a limited sense, but it can never be equated with proper Orthopraxy.
As a new Christian, I struggle with hearing others use reason to justify faith, i.e. theology. My fall back arguement is if we are to have a relationship with God there is little room for intellectual explanation. It would be akin to asking explain your relationship & understanding of your parents. Maybe I am naive or asking the wrong questions. I saw how stoicism & Christianty can share some practices way before this video came out. But again, I struggle.
Years ago I got interested in Stoicism because of its philosophy to overcome suffering by finding internal peace or happiness or eudaimonia. The idea that you can remain impassible and happy no matter your circumstances was intriguing. It's one thing to have high ideals in theory, but it's another thing to put them into practice, correctly apply them, and fulfill them. I found that Christ fulfilled the best of this philosophy, yet he wasn't a Stoic. Paul also spoke of having found the secret to contentment in whatever circumstances he found himself. It's not in our God created nature to be happy or indifferent or impassible while being tortured on the rack. It's not in our God created nature to be indifferent or happy or impassible seeing a loved one suffering. This is a criticism of Stoicism, that it teaches you to become indifferent to love or charity or agape or compassion. Instead, while suffering, you can cry out to God in prayer. That prayer doesn't have to be a happy go lucky prayer. It can be a Psalm. Not all Psalms or good prayers are joyful. Some are dirges. But whether joyful songs or dirges, directed to God in faith, they are still songs of praise and gratitude. Jesus sung a dirge on the Cross. Psalm 22 starts sorrowfully, but ends hopeful with praise to God. Pain and sorrow, though not joyful, don't have to end in despair or depression either. With faith, pain and sorrow can be transformed into poor-in-spiritedness. Faith is the assurance or foundation of hope. Without faith, hope is wishful thinking. Faith bolsters hope. Faith also adds to love. Faith + love = fidelity. Faith, whether it transforms or bolters or adds to, it modifies for the better. As Paul mentioned we walk by faith not by sight. Faith improves our sight. Faith and hope are a pair of eyes which look forward, while despair and regret are a pair of eyes which look back. Faith sees the narrow gate ahead when walking the long straight path. It sees the good end ahead and believes, has assurance, has hope, is convinced it can be reached with patience in time someday, if not by the good persistent effort of yourself (with the gace of God), then by the power and grace of God in whom you place your faith. Faith is incentive for fortitude to keep going. What is courage without faith? Without faith, the heart melts like wax. Those who fight for justice don't fight for long and give up when without faith. Stoicism has been criticised for being complacent with injustice in that it says you should wish for things to happen as they do happen not wish for them to happen as you think they ought to happen. So, if an unjust system is not in your power to change, then wish it to remain as it is and be happy. Jesus taught that those who hunger and thirst for justice will be blessed. It might not happen in this temporal lifetime, but it will in the next eternal lifetime. Without faith or assurance or trust or conviction in him, then you won't believe it and might despair of injustices, losses, pains, and sorrows. A dejected depressed spirit might set in. This isn't a blessed spirit or a happy spirit or a spirit of contentment or eudaimonia. I don't know exactly what Paul's secret to contentment was regardless of the external circumstances in which he found himself. His secret has to do Christ though, and with Christ crucified. I don't exactly know how Christ managed to sing a Psalm while tortured on the Cross. I think it has a lot to do with faith and a poor-in-spirit dispostion. There's a thing called a faithful disposition. Faith + humbleness = happiness? I think of humbleness or poor-in-spiritedness like temperance in/of the soul. Sophrosyne or temperance is sober mindedness directed by wisdom/reason, as opposed to the soul being intoxicated or unduely influenced by inordinate emotions, exaggerated desires, inappropriate aversions, or passions. If in the midst of your sorrow you can still manage to find in the depths of your humbled heart a song, even if it is a dirge, to sing in faith and gratitude to God, then you have found that hidden treasure in the field, that overlooked pearl of great price hidden among the inferior pearls, or that lost silver wedding coin, ie, the spirit of happiness or contentment or eudaimonia. Don't you see? He is the Holy Spirit we had lost, our first love, hidden in the depths of our cluttered, dusty, dark hearts. Years ago I went to Stoicism to find my lost happiness, seeking to become impassible, indifferent to pain and sorrow. I didn't find it. By the grace of God I found the discipline and art of Christian contemplation or theoria instead. As a discipline it isn't painless. It is kathartic. It requires sweeping our inner houses clean. It requires lighting a lamp exposing the inner clutter and dust. But that same light of Christ also illuminates, reflecting the silver of that lost coin in the eye of the soul. The cleaned out heart, emptied of all other spirits, emptied to become poor in spirit, can then be like a lamp filled with Christ's anounting oil to be ignited with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Theosis. The Holy Spirit is God's Eudaimonia or Good Spirit. The Stoics in their philosophical quest for happiness overlooked Him.
The Holy Spirit is the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price hidden in plain sight, the lost silver wedding coin, the light of the lamp filled with the anointed Christ by which true philosophers seek wisdom. Though the Stoics sought wisdom with the Spirit's light (they couldn't have found what truth they had found without Him since Jesus called Him the Spirit of Truth), they overlooked Him. It's like what John said about the Word incarnate in John 1:9-13. The same goes with the other philosophies of Jesus' time. They overlooked the Spirit of God. The other main classic philosophies were the Paripatetics (Aristotelians and Platonists) and the Epicureans. Traditionally the Stoics taught under a porch or stoia (hence their name), the Paripatetics taught while walking (hence their name), and Epicurus taught in a garden. What's interesting is that Jesus taught in the Temple in Solomon's Porch or Stoia, he taught while in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he taught moving about from place to place. You can find parts of all three philosophies in his teachings. I think he fulfilled the best of all three.
The Stoics taught to be indifferent to anything not in your control. As Christians, we believe all things are ultimately in God's control or in His domain. He didn't put all things under our domain. Except for the risen, glorified Christ, He put all things under his feet. What God puts under our domain are our wills, our faith, and our efforts. We can chose good will vs ill will. We can act in good faith vs act in bad faith. We can put good effort vs poor effort into what we do. Good effort implies not only working hard, fortitude, or persistence in following through, but also implies working with skill which develops with practice. If you have good will, act in good faith, and put good effort into what you do, then even if you fail when circumstances are not in your control, you still succeed in character or virtue. You may not gain the world, but you gain your soul. In the parable of the talents, the servant given 5 talents wasn't expected to earn an additional 10 talents. The servant given 1 talent wasn't expected to earn an additional 5 talents. To he who has been given more, more is expected. The two servants who earned the additional 10 and 5 talents in proportion to how much they were initially given acted with good will in good faith with good effort. The servant who buried his one talent under a rock didn't act with good will, in good faith, or with good effort. His master would have been happy with a little interest. He who is faithful with a little matter can then be trusted with a larger matter. What we do with what God has given us in our little domains is a test of faith. Will we have good will or ill will with what little we have been given? Will we put good effort or poor effort into what little we have been given? Will we act in good faith or in bad faith with what little we have been given? Our faithfulness will turn what little life we have been given into an abundance of life. Jesus said he came to give life, abundant life. A grain of wheat cannot bear fruit unless it dies and falls to the ground. In time it can bear 30, 60, 100 fold. A little mustard seed size of faith can move Christ's mountain size ability. Jesus would tell those he healed that it was their faith that saved them. We know it was his ability that healed and saved them. It was their faith that facilitated his ability. He has the ability. Faith in him provides the facility for his ability to work on and in and through us. It's synergy. Not everything is in our control or in our domain. Yet everything is in his domain and under his feet. What is in our domain is faith in him who has domain over all the rest. No, we shouldn't become indifferent to all that isn't in our control. Instead, we should instead show deference to him when we find things not under our control. Yes, we should instead have good faith in him, and have good will towards him, and do our good part with him when confronted with things not in our control. The answer to what isn't in our control isn't indifference. The answer is deference to Christ. Once again, Christ surpasses Stoicism.
What confuses me is.. well.. the bible doesn’t contain any real explanation of what the concept of Logos is, the way we find it discussed in Pagan philosophers, or even later by the likes of St Maximus the Confessor. John’s prologue simply uses the word ‘Logos’ and it can be inferred that this is very much in reference to or in conversation with Greek pagan philosophies of the time, in the sense that someone well versed in contemporary philosophy would very well understand what was meant by logos when they read it in Johns Gospel, and it seems that John understands this and feels that the term needs no explanation, he is simply providing an answer, saying that Jesus Christ IS that logos. But for us moderns it leaves us in a tricky position where it’s almost as if we can’t grasp the full import of the claim that Jesus Christ is the Logos without making reference to pagan philosophers.
Keep in mind that the Bible was written at a specific time and place for the people who would read it. They didn’t need the explanations like we do. This is why the divorce from tradition in the Protestant formed west has lead to the decline of society.
One critique of your wording in that video Fr is that you say we should be "slaves of Christ". I don't view Jesus as a slave driver. I view Him as a leader. Slave drivers don't lead, they persecute and use force. I feel like we should say "be lead by Christ". This wording will just drive seekers away and give the Atheists ammo. Just a genuine and sincere thought. I respect your words in this video!
Hello Father, I minored in history while attending university and specialized in Greco-Roman history. So I would like to share my thoughts about the concept of the logos that you mentioned I really like how you contrasted how the word "logos" has a different meaning between Greco-Roman pagans and Christians. The pagans believed that the "logos" is the universal divine reason that governs the cosmos transcends all imperfection. The pagans believed that objects in material world are imperfect projections of the immutable forms in the aether. These forms were believed to be perfect, This is best illustrated in Plato's Allegory of the cave. John 1:1 used the word "logos" as a diss against pagans, basically saying "you believe that the logos is the universal reason? I tell you that Christ is Reason himself" So your argument from the different definitions of the word "logos" between pagans and Christians holds no water.
Have had this on my mind recently. Thank you, Fr. ☦️
Back in December, I had one of the worst panic attacks I've ever had. I prayed for away to get it under control as what I usually did for them did not work. When I eventually opened the YT app the first recommended video was How To Deal with Anxiety Like Marcus Aurelius. That was my first into to stoicism. It really helped me, regulate my emotions. At the end of May, there was an extreme family emergency, no amount of stoicism could settle me. Once again, openings the YT app, there was a recommended video about Orthodoxy. I went to my first Liturgy on Father's Day. I went again last Sunday. Im going again this Sunday.
I truly believe God showed me these things, because He can do anything.
When people say ‘have you read Marcus Aurelius?’ I perceive the flex here and counter with ‘have *you* read St Maximos the Confessor?’
Just having some fun.
In all seriousness. Thank you for talking about this topic. I feel like a lot of men are turning to the stoics right now as a masculine ideal. And we have to pray and help them turn to Christ. The Truth is a person. And that person is Christ.
He is risen!!
☦️☦️☦️
Fr, I tangled with you not long ago about "rebaptizing." I wanted to apologize. I was going through a serious spiritual battle as a former trad cat now an Orthodox Catechuman in no small part because of your videos through the Grace of God.
All is well! I am just happy to see that you are drawing closer to Christ! Glory to God! Christ is Risen!
@@living_orthodox Truly He is risen!
Well done!
father this actually freaked me out so much, i am catechumen that just started learning about stoicism a day ago and this video popped up on my for you page. And its crazy it happened in this timing the day after i started looking into it
Glory to God
Like somebody else in this comment section said, you must have read my mind Father Mikhail because I have been thinking and wondering about this very topic for a few days now-and voilà, here’s this video. Thank you!
Christ is Risen
Thank you for the video father! I hope you get over your illness soon.
Would you consider doing a video on the GOC and ecumenism? I notice it is a common reaction amongst people to overcorrect against the evils of ecumenism in this way.
Good Ortho channel...keep with good work
Great Video Father, Been awhile since I watched one from you. Important Video you made here, Stoicism is a big vacuum of souls these days (I was nearly sucked in) and many lost young men my age look to Aurelias. Ill be sure to share this.
I studied stoicism in 2019 and at first everything was great, I really felt as though it was very useful and insightful but the more I studied it the further away I became from Christ and then turned agnostic, almost as if a shift in my spirit happened from one day to the other. I became convicted and stopped about 2 years ago already but everyday I battle with thoughts I used to not deal with in the past. I’ve returned to Christ but something doesn’t feel right in my spirit. I just pray that God enlightens me with inner peace, joy and appreciation for life like I used to have. Even though I appreciate, even though I am grateful, even though I love my neighbor there’s another side that doesn’t. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Remember that we all have shortcomings. And up until the revelation Christ , stoicism was the best way to live. Logic and reason is devine.
Looking forward to the video on how to conduct oneself in the secular workplace. Being in the trades you will encounter some heavy anti-Christian sentiment. Of course, only symptoms of the age and we must pray for those who offend us. Still it is difficult at times to bear.
God bless and thank you Father
I experienced this a lot, my solution was to just get along with them and be like them on the outside, in language too. I didn't present myself as a great guy while being a stickler about what I'd be willing to talk about, talking like Ned Flanders, crossing myself every time I heard an ambulance, forgetting things because I was trying to do the Jesus prayer, etc. I didn't make Christianity likeable.
*"Philosophy is knowledge of things which are in so far as they are, that is, a knowledge of the nature of things which have being. And again, philosophy is knowledge of both divine and human things, that is to say, of things both visible and invisible.*
*Philosophy, again, is a study of death, whether this be voluntary or natural. For life is of two kinds, there being the natural life by which we live and the voluntary one by which we cling lovingly to this present life. Death, also, is of two kinds: the one being natural, which is the separation of soul from body, whereas the other is the voluntary one by which we disdain this present life and aspire to that which is to come.*
*Still again, philosophy is the making of one’s self like God. Now, we become like God in wisdom, which is to say, in the true knowledge of good; and in justice, which is a fairness in judgment without respect to persons; and in holiness, which is to say, in goodness, which is superior to justice, being that by which we do good to them that wrong us.*
*Philosophy is the art of arts and the science of sciences. This is because philosophy is the principle of every art, since through it every art and science has been invented. Now, according to some, art is what errs in some people and science what errs in no one, whereas philosophy alone does not err. According to others, art is that which is done with the hands, whereas science is any art that is practiced by the reason, such as grammar, rhetoric, and the like.*
*Philosophy, again, is a love of wisdom. But, true wisdom is God. Therefore, the love of God, this is the true philosophy."* _- Saint John of Damascus, Philosophical Chapters_
I've been really enjoying these praxis-related videos, I think they're very edifying and applicable to the struggles we face as Orthodox Christians today. Looking forward to the one about the workplace! Thank you again Fr.
Wow!!! This is so good. Very well said and clear to me, thank you.
You sound like you have a sore throat. If this is the case, I hope you get well soon.
Yes! It’s been a rough week and a bit
I wanted to ask what do i do if im living the life of a sinner but still completely understand that the Orthodox Church is the truth. I know that Jesus Christ is the only way but i think im having trouble taking the first steps into living like him. I part of me doesnt want to leave my lifestyle even tho i know i need to. thank you and God bless.
I felt it was good to ask you because i saw your video on how you became Orthodox and realized that we lived a similar life
Would like to hear that conducting oneself at work video
Fr, related to your next video of working in a secular work force from experience I’d say don’t try to force anything down anyone’s throat but live it through prayer while working. I set up a prayer corner on my desk and have had quite a few people come and ask about parts of orthodoxy and I’ve even given some books to read
One of the problems with stoicism as a philosophy is that it has a strong tendency to reduce everything to utilitarianism. Stoicism is useful in a limited sense, but it can never be equated with proper Orthopraxy.
What is the intro chant called? I can’t find it on CZcams
Psalm 135. The whole chant is on my channel
@@living_orthodox This is my favorite Psalm, great intro.
As a new Christian, I struggle with hearing others use reason to justify faith, i.e. theology.
My fall back arguement is if we are to have a relationship with God there is little room for intellectual explanation. It would be akin to asking explain your relationship & understanding of your parents. Maybe I am naive or asking the wrong questions. I saw how stoicism & Christianty can share some practices way before this video came out. But again, I struggle.
Hey good afternoon Fr. Mikhail, where can I submit questions for the next faq?
livingorthodoxmedia@gmail.com God bless you!
@@living_orthodox thank you and same to you
Years ago I got interested in Stoicism because of its philosophy to overcome suffering by finding internal peace or happiness or eudaimonia. The idea that you can remain impassible and happy no matter your circumstances was intriguing. It's one thing to have high ideals in theory, but it's another thing to put them into practice, correctly apply them, and fulfill them. I found that Christ fulfilled the best of this philosophy, yet he wasn't a Stoic. Paul also spoke of having found the secret to contentment in whatever circumstances he found himself.
It's not in our God created nature to be happy or indifferent or impassible while being tortured on the rack. It's not in our God created nature to be indifferent or happy or impassible seeing a loved one suffering. This is a criticism of Stoicism, that it teaches you to become indifferent to love or charity or agape or compassion. Instead, while suffering, you can cry out to God in prayer. That prayer doesn't have to be a happy go lucky prayer. It can be a Psalm. Not all Psalms or good prayers are joyful. Some are dirges. But whether joyful songs or dirges, directed to God in faith, they are still songs of praise and gratitude. Jesus sung a dirge on the Cross. Psalm 22 starts sorrowfully, but ends hopeful with praise to God. Pain and sorrow, though not joyful, don't have to end in despair or depression either. With faith, pain and sorrow can be transformed into poor-in-spiritedness.
Faith is the assurance or foundation of hope. Without faith, hope is wishful thinking. Faith bolsters hope. Faith also adds to love. Faith + love = fidelity. Faith, whether it transforms or bolters or adds to, it modifies for the better. As Paul mentioned we walk by faith not by sight. Faith improves our sight. Faith and hope are a pair of eyes which look forward, while despair and regret are a pair of eyes which look back. Faith sees the narrow gate ahead when walking the long straight path. It sees the good end ahead and believes, has assurance, has hope, is convinced it can be reached with patience in time someday, if not by the good persistent effort of yourself (with the gace of God), then by the power and grace of God in whom you place your faith. Faith is incentive for fortitude to keep going. What is courage without faith? Without faith, the heart melts like wax. Those who fight for justice don't fight for long and give up when without faith. Stoicism has been criticised for being complacent with injustice in that it says you should wish for things to happen as they do happen not wish for them to happen as you think they ought to happen. So, if an unjust system is not in your power to change, then wish it to remain as it is and be happy. Jesus taught that those who hunger and thirst for justice will be blessed. It might not happen in this temporal lifetime, but it will in the next eternal lifetime. Without faith or assurance or trust or conviction in him, then you won't believe it and might despair of injustices, losses, pains, and sorrows. A dejected depressed spirit might set in. This isn't a blessed spirit or a happy spirit or a spirit of contentment or eudaimonia.
I don't know exactly what Paul's secret to contentment was regardless of the external circumstances in which he found himself. His secret has to do Christ though, and with Christ crucified. I don't exactly know how Christ managed to sing a Psalm while tortured on the Cross. I think it has a lot to do with faith and a poor-in-spirit dispostion. There's a thing called a faithful disposition. Faith + humbleness = happiness? I think of humbleness or poor-in-spiritedness like temperance in/of the soul. Sophrosyne or temperance is sober mindedness directed by wisdom/reason, as opposed to the soul being intoxicated or unduely influenced by inordinate emotions, exaggerated desires, inappropriate aversions, or passions. If in the midst of your sorrow you can still manage to find in the depths of your humbled heart a song, even if it is a dirge, to sing in faith and gratitude to God, then you have found that hidden treasure in the field, that overlooked pearl of great price hidden among the inferior pearls, or that lost silver wedding coin, ie, the spirit of happiness or contentment or eudaimonia. Don't you see? He is the Holy Spirit we had lost, our first love, hidden in the depths of our cluttered, dusty, dark hearts.
Years ago I went to Stoicism to find my lost happiness, seeking to become impassible, indifferent to pain and sorrow. I didn't find it. By the grace of God I found the discipline and art of Christian contemplation or theoria instead. As a discipline it isn't painless. It is kathartic. It requires sweeping our inner houses clean. It requires lighting a lamp exposing the inner clutter and dust. But that same light of Christ also illuminates, reflecting the silver of that lost coin in the eye of the soul. The cleaned out heart, emptied of all other spirits, emptied to become poor in spirit, can then be like a lamp filled with Christ's anounting oil to be ignited with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Theosis. The Holy Spirit is God's Eudaimonia or Good Spirit. The Stoics in their philosophical quest for happiness overlooked Him.
The Holy Spirit is the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price hidden in plain sight, the lost silver wedding coin, the light of the lamp filled with the anointed Christ by which true philosophers seek wisdom. Though the Stoics sought wisdom with the Spirit's light (they couldn't have found what truth they had found without Him since Jesus called Him the Spirit of Truth), they overlooked Him. It's like what John said about the Word incarnate in John 1:9-13. The same goes with the other philosophies of Jesus' time. They overlooked the Spirit of God. The other main classic philosophies were the Paripatetics (Aristotelians and Platonists) and the Epicureans. Traditionally the Stoics taught under a porch or stoia (hence their name), the Paripatetics taught while walking (hence their name), and Epicurus taught in a garden. What's interesting is that Jesus taught in the Temple in Solomon's Porch or Stoia, he taught while in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he taught moving about from place to place. You can find parts of all three philosophies in his teachings. I think he fulfilled the best of all three.
An impassible heart is impassable to the Holy Spirit. Suffering need not be vain when it tears an opening into the heart for the Spirit to pass.
The Stoics taught to be indifferent to anything not in your control. As Christians, we believe all things are ultimately in God's control or in His domain. He didn't put all things under our domain. Except for the risen, glorified Christ, He put all things under his feet. What God puts under our domain are our wills, our faith, and our efforts. We can chose good will vs ill will. We can act in good faith vs act in bad faith. We can put good effort vs poor effort into what we do. Good effort implies not only working hard, fortitude, or persistence in following through, but also implies working with skill which develops with practice. If you have good will, act in good faith, and put good effort into what you do, then even if you fail when circumstances are not in your control, you still succeed in character or virtue. You may not gain the world, but you gain your soul.
In the parable of the talents, the servant given 5 talents wasn't expected to earn an additional 10 talents. The servant given 1 talent wasn't expected to earn an additional 5 talents. To he who has been given more, more is expected. The two servants who earned the additional 10 and 5 talents in proportion to how much they were initially given acted with good will in good faith with good effort. The servant who buried his one talent under a rock didn't act with good will, in good faith, or with good effort. His master would have been happy with a little interest. He who is faithful with a little matter can then be trusted with a larger matter.
What we do with what God has given us in our little domains is a test of faith. Will we have good will or ill will with what little we have been given? Will we put good effort or poor effort into what little we have been given? Will we act in good faith or in bad faith with what little we have been given? Our faithfulness will turn what little life we have been given into an abundance of life. Jesus said he came to give life, abundant life. A grain of wheat cannot bear fruit unless it dies and falls to the ground. In time it can bear 30, 60, 100 fold. A little mustard seed size of faith can move Christ's mountain size ability. Jesus would tell those he healed that it was their faith that saved them. We know it was his ability that healed and saved them. It was their faith that facilitated his ability. He has the ability. Faith in him provides the facility for his ability to work on and in and through us. It's synergy.
Not everything is in our control or in our domain. Yet everything is in his domain and under his feet. What is in our domain is faith in him who has domain over all the rest. No, we shouldn't become indifferent to all that isn't in our control. Instead, we should instead show deference to him when we find things not under our control. Yes, we should instead have good faith in him, and have good will towards him, and do our good part with him when confronted with things not in our control. The answer to what isn't in our control isn't indifference. The answer is deference to Christ. Once again, Christ surpasses Stoicism.
What confuses me is.. well.. the bible doesn’t contain any real explanation of what the concept of Logos is, the way we find it discussed in Pagan philosophers, or even later by the likes of St Maximus the Confessor. John’s prologue simply uses the word ‘Logos’ and it can be inferred that this is very much in reference to or in conversation with Greek pagan philosophies of the time, in the sense that someone well versed in contemporary philosophy would very well understand what was meant by logos when they read it in Johns Gospel, and it seems that John understands this and feels that the term needs no explanation, he is simply providing an answer, saying that Jesus Christ IS that logos. But for us moderns it leaves us in a tricky position where it’s almost as if we can’t grasp the full import of the claim that Jesus Christ is the Logos without making reference to pagan philosophers.
Keep in mind that the Bible was written at a specific time and place for the people who would read it. They didn’t need the explanations like we do. This is why the divorce from tradition in the Protestant formed west has lead to the decline of society.
One critique of your wording in that video Fr is that you say we should be "slaves of Christ". I don't view Jesus as a slave driver. I view Him as a leader. Slave drivers don't lead, they persecute and use force. I feel like we should say "be lead by Christ". This wording will just drive seekers away and give the Atheists ammo. Just a genuine and sincere thought. I respect your words in this video!
You’re very much committing a word concept fallacy.
Hello Father, I minored in history while attending university and specialized in Greco-Roman history. So I would like to share my thoughts about the concept of the logos that you mentioned
I really like how you contrasted how the word "logos" has a different meaning between Greco-Roman pagans and Christians. The pagans believed that the "logos" is the universal divine reason that governs the cosmos transcends all imperfection. The pagans believed that objects in material world are imperfect projections of the immutable forms in the aether. These forms were believed to be perfect, This is best illustrated in Plato's Allegory of the cave.
John 1:1 used the word "logos" as a diss against pagans, basically saying "you believe that the logos is the universal reason? I tell you that Christ is Reason himself" So your argument from the different definitions of the word "logos" between pagans and Christians holds no water.
What I am highlighting is that Christ is the Logos and that the logos isn’t merely a thing.