a sect of Heathen philosophers, Acts xvii, 18. Their
distinguishing tenets were, that God is underived, incorruptible, and
eternal; possessed of infinite wisdom and goodness; the efficient cause
of all the qualities and forms of things; and the constant preserver and
governor of the world: That matter, in its original elements, is also
underived and eternal; and is by the powerful energy of the Deity
impressed with motion and form: That though God and matter subsisted
from eternity, the present regular frame of nature had a beginning
originating in the gross and dark chaos, and will terminate in a
universal conflagration, that will reduce the world to its pristine
state: That at this period all material forms will be lost in one
chaotic mass; and all animated nature be reunited to the Deity: That
from this chaotic state, however, the world will again emerge by the
energy of the efficient principle; and gods, and men, and all forms of
regulated nature be renewed and dissolved, in endless succession: And
that after the revolution of the great year all things will be restored,
and the race of men will return to life. Some imagined, that each
individual would return to its former body; while others supposed, that
similar souls would be placed in similar bodies. Those among the stoics
who maintained the existence of the soul after death, supposed it to be
removed into the celestial regions of the gods, where it remains until,
at the general conflagration, all souls, both human and divine, shall be
absorbed in the Deity. But many imagined that, before they were admitted
among the divinities, they must purge away their inherent vices and
imperfections, by a temporary residence in some aërial regions between
the earth and the planets. According to the general doctrine of the
stoics, all things are subject to a stern irresistible fatality, even
the gods themselves. Some of them explained this fate as an eternal
chain of causes and effects; while others, more approaching the
Christian system, describe it as resulting from the divine decrees--the
fiat of an eternal providence. Considering the system practically, it
was the object of this philosophy to divest men of their passions and
affections. They taught, therefore, that a wise man might be happy in
the midst of torture; and that all external things were to him
indifferent. Their virtues all arose from, and centred in, themselves;
and self approbation was their great reward.
distinguishing tenets were, that God is underived, incorruptible, and
eternal; possessed of infinite wisdom and goodness; the efficient cause
of all the qualities and forms of things; and the constant preserver and
governor of the world: That matter, in its original elements, is also
underived and eternal; and is by the powerful energy of the Deity
impressed with motion and form: That though God and matter subsisted
from eternity, the present regular frame of nature had a beginning
originating in the gross and dark chaos, and will terminate in a
universal conflagration, that will reduce the world to its pristine
state: That at this period all material forms will be lost in one
chaotic mass; and all animated nature be reunited to the Deity: That
from this chaotic state, however, the world will again emerge by the
energy of the efficient principle; and gods, and men, and all forms of
regulated nature be renewed and dissolved, in endless succession: And
that after the revolution of the great year all things will be restored,
and the race of men will return to life. Some imagined, that each
individual would return to its former body; while others supposed, that
similar souls would be placed in similar bodies. Those among the stoics
who maintained the existence of the soul after death, supposed it to be
removed into the celestial regions of the gods, where it remains until,
at the general conflagration, all souls, both human and divine, shall be
absorbed in the Deity. But many imagined that, before they were admitted
among the divinities, they must purge away their inherent vices and
imperfections, by a temporary residence in some aërial regions between
the earth and the planets. According to the general doctrine of the
stoics, all things are subject to a stern irresistible fatality, even
the gods themselves. Some of them explained this fate as an eternal
chain of causes and effects; while others, more approaching the
Christian system, describe it as resulting from the divine decrees--the
fiat of an eternal providence. Considering the system practically, it
was the object of this philosophy to divest men of their passions and
affections. They taught, therefore, that a wise man might be happy in
the midst of torture; and that all external things were to him
indifferent. Their virtues all arose from, and centred in, themselves;
and self approbation was their great reward.