UPDATE: I have now secured funding for my PhD (finally!) and plan to begin in September of 2015.

This blog is a way of publishing the research for my doctoral dissertation. I will research and write on a comparison and contrast between Christianity’s and Stoicism’s views of suffering and death.  I will explore to what extent early Christian writers may have borrowed or reinterpreted Stoic ideals and outlook with regard to this topic. In the New Testament, I will focus on Paul, specifically statements he made in Philippians and significant passages in the undisputed epistles regarding his impending death and the trials he had faced. Considering his close proximity in time and culture, I will also explore the Discourses of Epictetus and his Enchiridion. I hope to determine to what extent the popular understanding of Stoicism in Paul’s day may have influenced his thought on this and other subjects. I will also address the two extremes in this regard, the first being that the only similarities are lexical, the other extreme being that Paul lifted ideas wholesale from the Stoicism of his day. My goal is to contribute original thought to this area of study.