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Paul and Roman Stoicism: Romans 12 and Contemporary Stoic Ethics

Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University Allhelgona Kyrkogata 8, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden, runar.thorsteinsson{at}teol.lu.se

Exemplifying a rather widespread attitude among Pauline scholars, it has recently been argued on the basis of Rom. 12 that Paul differed sharply from the Stoics in his moral teaching. The present article aims to show that such a claim does not hold if and when the sources of Roman Stoicism are taken into consideration. A comparison of Paul’s moral teaching in Rom. 12 and contemporary Stoic ethics reveals that, whereas the two differ somewhat in scope (particular vs. universal), the differences are clearly outweighed by the many, striking similarities.

Key Words: Paul • Romans • Stoicism • moral teaching • ethics • agape

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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Thorsteinsson, R. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?