Note 1 — Chapter XII · APPLIED MORAL SCIENCE.

A. General connection of Stoicism and religion. It would be impossible to give a full account of the philosophy of the Stoics without treating of their theology; for no early system is so closely connected with religion as that of the Stoics. Founded as is their whole view of the world upon the idea of one Divine Being, begetting from Himself and containing in Himself all finite creatures, upholding them by His might, ruling them according to an unalterable law, and thus manifesting Himself everywhere, their philosophy bears a decidedly religious character. Indeed, there is hardly a single prominent feature in the Stoic system which is not, more or less, connected with theology. A very considerable portion of that system, moreover, consists of strictly theological questions; such as arguments for the existence of deity, and for the rule of Providence; investigations into the nature of God, His government, and presence in the world; the relation of human activity to the divine ordinances; and all the various questions connected with the terms freedom and necessity. The natural science of the Stoics begins by evolving things from God; it ends with resolving them again into God. God is thus the beginning and end of the world’s development. In like manner, their moral philosophy begins with the notion of divine law, which, in the form of eternal reason, controls the actions of men; and ends by requiring submission to the will of God, and resignation to the course of the universe. A religious sanction is thus given to all moral duties. All virtuous actions are a fulfilment of the divine will and the divine law. That citizenship of the world, in particular, which constitutes the highest point in the Stoic morality, is connected with the notion of a common relationship of all men to God. Again, that inward repose of the philosopher, those feelings of freedom and independence, on which so much stress is laid, rest principally on the conviction that man is related to God. In a word, Stoicism is not only a system of philosophy, but also a system of religion. As such it was regarded by its first adherents, witness the fragments of Cleanthes;1 and as such it afforded, in later times, together with Platonism, to the best and most cultivated men, whenever the influence of Greek culture extended, a substitute for declining natural religion, a satisfaction for religious cravings, and a support for moral life.