Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
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Plutarch <strong>and</strong> the Greece <strong>of</strong> His Age<br />
tion shows no decay in what we may call religion,<br />
either in Greece or Rome. Its external forms <strong>and</strong><br />
traditional rites were sedulously kept up <strong>and</strong> scrupu<br />
lously<br />
maintained. Plutarch likewise bears testi<br />
mony to this condition <strong>of</strong> things. Sc<strong>of</strong>fers <strong>and</strong> in<br />
fidels had become more numerous, mainly because<br />
the Romans were more tolerant in such matters than<br />
the Greeks. To the ruling class all cults were alike;<br />
consequently they made no objections to anything<br />
that was spoken or written, so long as their authority<br />
was not directly or indirectly attacked. In the vari<br />
ous controversies about religion mentioned in the<br />
New Testament, the attitude <strong>of</strong> the government is<br />
always one <strong>of</strong> indifference except as to the mainte<br />
nance <strong>of</strong> public order.<br />
The Greeks, generally speaking, preferred, like<br />
Plutarch, the limited sphere <strong>of</strong><br />
local political activity<br />
to the larger one <strong>of</strong>fered at Rome. The provincials<br />
who came to honor on the other side <strong>of</strong> the Adriatic<br />
were few in number.<br />
In the main the provinces fared better under the<br />
imperial government than under the republic. There<br />
was a higher degree <strong>of</strong> probability that wrongs would<br />
be redressed. A case in point is that <strong>of</strong> the apostle<br />
Paul who appealed to Caesar even when the Caesar<br />
was Nero.<br />
It is a well-known fact <strong>of</strong> ancient history that prop<br />
erty in transit, either by l<strong>and</strong> or sea, was at no time<br />
particularly safe at a distance from the centers <strong>of</strong> pop<br />
ulation. The thief <strong>and</strong> the robber are familiar figures<br />
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