Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

NEOSTOICISM AND THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 95,bont peace and war, but about happiness or misery,ood or evil fortune, servitude or freedom. Andwhen a man lives in such a polity, do you ask me if heis to embrace political life ? Do you ask me if he isto take office ? Foolish man, I retort, what office isgreater than that in which he bears rule ?" TheStoic herein took precisely the ground of all truereligion. He was repeating after his fashion and onhis natural basis, " The kingdom of God is withinyou." This is, within the limits of the law of nature,the very counterpart of that spirit which Tertulliangives as the characteristic of Christians in his time.Before his time it caused Christians to be denouncedas men" of the most contemptible inertness," becausethey drew back from the Roman magistracy and thecares of public life. It was this same spirit which aprofound observer of our own times * has so deeplyregretted as forming a note of Catholics in his owna y5. But this culminated in what may be called theglory of Stoic doctrine, the sense, that is, that men asmen had a common life, interest, and cause, and belongedto each other, and in each other to the Divineeing. " When," says Seneca, " we have given to thewise man a commonwealth worthy of himself, that is,the world, he is not outside of this commonwealth,though he withdraw into retirement; nay, rather, ifhe leave a corner of it. he advances into larsrer andampler regions." And again, " Our thoughts embracetwo commonwealths, the one vast and truly public,containing both gods and men, in which we regardnot this or that corner, but measure by the sun thelimits of our state; the other that to which the con-1 Tocqueville.