"Man, do something desperate, as the expression goes, now if never before, to achieve peace, freedom, and high-mindedness. Lift up your neck at last like a man escaped from bondage, be bold to look towards God and say 'Use me henceforth for whatever Thou wilt; I am of the same mind with Thee; I am Thine; I crave exemption from nothing that seems good in Thy sight; where Thou wilt, lead me; in what raiment Thou wilt, clothe me. Wouldst Thou have me to hold office, or remain in private life to remain here or go into exile; to be poor or be rich? I will defend all these Thy acts before men; I will show what the true nature of each thing is."
- Epictetus, The Dicourses (Book II)
Can't remember if I commented on this, but this seems very Christian. Almost Biblical.
ReplyDeleteThank you, TB. You all be safe and God bless.
Linda, a very odd thing about Epictetus: he was not Christian and, from the little bit I know, actually disliked them. That said, he had a Stoic understanding of a Supreme Being which blended in quite well with the Christian ethos and has been effectively co-opted historically by Christians. Remove the Stoic God and "Zeus" from the concept, and much of his writing aligns quite nicely with Christian ethics and understanding of God (of course, that "remove the Stoic God and Zeus is rather a big thing, although I do not find it significantly lessens my appreciation for his insights).
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