It used to be that Hebrews were the forerunners of the church. Just look at what Jesus says to his disciples on the road to Emmaus. Turns out Bible readers were wrong. It was the Stoics who prepared the way for Christianity:
The Stoics actually lived lives full of joy, peace, and meaning. Though bereft of God’s divine revelation in the Old and New Covenants, they stretched their God-given powers of reason to the limit, reaching many of the same conclusions that Christians came to regarding life, liberty, and love. . . .
How close were they to divine truth? Musonius Rufus is considered one of the first pro-life philosophers. He praised large families, extolled fidelity in marriage, argued against abortion and contraception, and connected the purpose of marriage to procreation and the unitive value between husband and wife. Quite astounding for someone who was born a few decades before Jesus Christ.
The Stoic philosophers were not interested in pie-in-the-sky theorizing. Rather, they focused on eminently practical topics like: should a child obey his parents? How should we dress ourselves? What is the meaning of pain and hardship? Must we learn what is good and follow it?
Nor were they interested in sin, damnation, sacrifice or expiation.
Kevin Devin Rose left Protestantism for this?
Old Life 
Sounds like a saccharine quote you might get out of a fortune cookie or hear from a football coach. What next? Is he going to decide to tell her to get out there and win one for the Gipper?
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If two men should build exactly the same house, then what is imporant is where the foundation is built: is it upon solid ground or is it upon shifting sand?
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DG says “Nor were they interested in sin, damnation, sacrifice or expiation.”
Jonesy says: If two men should build exactly the same house, then what is imporant is where the foundation is built: is it upon solid ground or is it upon shifting sand?
link says “that watered down version of Christianity he ultimately found less compelling than the practical wisdom of the Stoics.”link says: a hope he will return to Christianity
in that case: reality/simplicity/clarity jolt?…
-all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
-the wages of sin is death
-the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
-recap: pay for your own sins or receive Jesus’s payment for your sins
-recap: life = faith in Jesus; death=faith in anything else
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Wasn’t it a medieval creed that “Aristotle was the forerunner of Christ in natural things as John the Baptizer was in the things of grace”? And Protestants are the dualists, right.
sdb, I wondered the same. Odd. It’s like the football coach saying, “Here’s what you should do: carry the football to the end zone.” Thanks, coach.
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