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The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

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Stoics* Indeed, this is <strong>the</strong> very line <strong>of</strong> argument<br />

which Josephus follows in <strong>the</strong> conclusion <strong>of</strong> his<br />

treatise against Apion.^ This, <strong>the</strong>n, was an<br />

unassailable position to take: contempt poUred on<br />

hea<strong>the</strong>nism as such,^ <strong>and</strong> a rational philoso-phiccJ<br />

basis for Judaism. <strong>The</strong>y were not deep, only acute<br />

thinkers, <strong>the</strong>se Alex<strong>and</strong>rians, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> result <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

speculations was a carious Eclecticism, in which<br />

Platonism <strong>and</strong> Stoicism are found, <strong>of</strong>ten hetero*<br />

geneously, side by side. Thus, without fur<strong>the</strong>r<br />

details, it may be said that <strong>the</strong> Fourth Book <strong>of</strong><br />

Maccabees is a Jewish Stoical treatise on <strong>the</strong><br />

Stoical <strong>the</strong>me <strong>of</strong> ^ <strong>the</strong> supremacy <strong>of</strong> reason'—<strong>the</strong><br />

propositioni stated at <strong>the</strong> outset, that ^ pious reason<br />

bears absolute sway over <strong>the</strong> passions,' being<br />

illustrated by <strong>the</strong> story <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> martyrdom <strong>of</strong><br />

Eleazar^ <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> her seven sons.^ On<br />

<strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r h<strong>and</strong>, that sublime work, <strong>the</strong> ^ Wisdom <strong>of</strong><br />

Solomon,' contains Platonic <strong>and</strong> Stoic elements'—<br />

chiefly perhaps <strong>the</strong> latter—<strong>the</strong> two occurring side<br />

by side. Thus ® * Wisdom,' which is so concretely<br />

presented as to be almost hypostatised,' is first<br />

described in <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong> Stoicism/ <strong>and</strong>

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