Lucius Anneus Seneca has been one of the historical figures most interesting left by the Roman empire. A multifaceted man who has passed into history What philosopher, writer Y political. Despite the vast literary work that he left, some points of his thought they are still being debated today. One of them particularly interesting: was it Seneca one of the first ideologues Christianity?
Seneca statue in Cordoba
Seneca He was born in the year 4 BC in the Roman empire Romana (most likely in what is now the city of Cordova). His work in the politics and the philosophy occurs in times of maximum splendor Roman empire.
Much of his fame is due to work politics. He was the tutor and main counselor of the young emperor Nero. Although it seems Seneca was the one – along with Sixth Afranius Donkey– actually ruled the Roman empire.
But even more has transcended for his contributions to the philosophy Roman. Seneca was one of the pillars of stoicism Roman, heiress of the current stoic original that had emerged in Athens in the 3rd century BC c. .
Is philosophy postulated that the freedom it can be achieved by moving away from material comforts and wealth; commending instead to the principles of reason and virtue.
Seneca alongside Plato and Aristotle in a medieval illustration
Therefore it was a philosophy who attached great importance to morality . Well, some passages from the work of Seneca they have a strong religious trait. Here is a passage from Letters to Lucilius:
«God it is close to you, with you, in you. Within us resides a spirit sacred to which none of our works, good or bad, are hidden; And he treats us the same way we treat him. No one is honored without God….”
In their texts they work many precepts that coincide with the idiosyncrasy of the Christianity: the importance of resignation, acceptance of difficult situations, denial of carnal impulses, disdain for the material.
The stoics they had the vision of a unique divine entity. An idea that was closer to a religion of type monotheistic (as the christian) instead of polytheism characteristic of this first stage of Empire.
This vision of religion that appears in Senecaadded to the fact that he was a contemporary, links him -according to some scholars- with the origin of christianity.
We return, then, to our initial question: was it Seneca one of the first ideologues Christianity? It is something that is difficult to affirm with total certainty since there is no historical documentation to support it. But there is a long tradition of ideologues of the Christianity (What San Agustin, Tertullian either St Geronimo) who take their ideas and have been nourished by them to build during the Middle Ages the doctrine of Christianity .
More information:
arthistory
Stoicism, on Wikipedia
Images:
Seneca statue, on Flickr
Medieval Seneca illustration, on Flickr