Marcus Aurelius (3): Religion and science in harmony

Who thinks they can help themselves by literally quitting, e.g Epicuristen A verb, which is understood according to Marcus Aurelius None of the philosophy However, the Stoic Emperor advises you to mentally withdraw into yourself from time to time, to train yourself better, but also to take a rest.

Those who hold on to Stoic beliefs and repeat them to themselves find inner order, and thus peace. This is reminiscent of meditation or prayer, and therefore resembles a religious activity.

Stoa as an attitude to life

Al-Riwaq was not a religion in the sense that it was a religious organization that relied on indisputable legal texts. But it was more than just a mindset. It was an attitude to life, integrated with the culture of the people who practiced it. So you can call Stoicism the art of living.

However, unlike the 19th century idea that religion and science are at odds, in Stoic religion, philosophy and science come together and are in harmony with each other. There is a God who is worshipped, but this does not happen out of spite, but through reason. There are certain spiritual awareness and rituals, even if they are consistent with science and logic. In fact, science and logic are essential parts of it.

God is like the universe

According to the Stoics, the entire universe embodies the divine, and this divine also exists within us. Our will is not a passive result of that divine being, but rather a part of it. Hence the great sense of duty of the Stoics: man, as part of the whole, is also partly responsible for this whole.

According to the Stoa, all human beings have the same divine reason, and there is in fact no distinction between people. But in reality, practicing the arcade was not easy, as we have seen. It took training and practice, and someone had to have the resources and time for it. This means that Stoic philosophy remained something for intellectuals and was an elitist philosophy.

The salon

Stoicism as a religion was probably not very popular among the people. Although the Stoicism recognized the equality of all living beings, in reality only a few living beings participated in the Stoicism. Compare it to salon socialism.

Perhaps this is an important reason why, over time, the Roman world needed other forms of philosophy and religion.

This series Depends on the book The world is before God By Kees Alders. The book provides an introduction to philosophical movements in the ancient world It can be ordered here.