"I've been spending a fair bit of time with pagans lately. Not the modern, self-indulgent, falsely idealistic, entitled, uninteresting kind all around us, conspicuously so at our universities. But the ancient - almost too interesting - stout seekers of the true and the good. Especially the Stoics, who influenced St. Paul and other early Christians, and - not incidentally - helped prepare the ground for the spread of Christianity among peoples living in great darkness, under bad rulers. Like us.
"Plato and Aristotle are great lights - when there's a chance that at least some measure of reason will guide worldly affairs. But in times like ours, the Stoics are particularly helpful because they know that serious evil exists and don't expect, certainly not in the short run, to be able to do much about it, least of all via politics. What, then, is to be done?"
In a recent commentary, Robert Royal, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing and president of the Faith & Reason Institute (Washington, DC), reflected on the Stoics and their beliefs vis-à-vis our need for a kind of "Christian Stoicism - courage and serenity - even under unfriendly regimes run by nominally Christian politicians - and above all an increase in Christian charity."
To access his complete post, please visit:
The Catholic Thing: Some Lessons from the Great Pagans (6 MAY 24)
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