The Concept of Evil in 4 Maccabees
The concept of evil in 4 Maccabees differs from what we find in most ancient Jewish literature, and little attention has been paid to its philosophical background. In this article I submit that the author of 4 Maccabees has absorbed and adapted a Stoic conception of evil into his Jewish philosophy....
| Veröffentlicht in: | The journal of Jewish thought & philosophy |
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| 1. VerfasserIn: | |
| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Brill
2017
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| In: |
The journal of Jewish thought & philosophy
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| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
4 Maccabees
concept of evil
emotions
Hellenistic philosophy
natural law
Second Temple Judaism
value theory
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| Online Zugang: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Zusammenfassung: | The concept of evil in 4 Maccabees differs from what we find in most ancient Jewish literature, and little attention has been paid to its philosophical background. In this article I submit that the author of 4 Maccabees has absorbed and adapted a Stoic conception of evil into his Jewish philosophy. I trace the concept of evil in Stoicism and in 4 Maccabees using the categories of value theory, natural law, and the emotions. The outcome is an integrative philosophy that embraces vice as the sole evil, yet maintains a belief in the “goodness” of an afterlife; redefines natural law in terms of the Torah, reckoning any deviance from that Law as vicious; and conceives of the emotions as false belief and the cause of evil behavior, while still maintaining their God-given nature. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-285X |
| Enthält: | In: The journal of Jewish thought & philosophy
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/1477285X-12341283 |