Category: Practical Theology

The Inner Critic and the Advocate: Redeeming the Voice in Your Head

Every man has a voice in his head. It is the running commentary of your life, the invisible narrator that evaluates your actions, judges your motives, and reacts to your circumstances. For the Stoic, this internal voice was meant to be the voice of Reason (Logos). The philosopher trained his mind to act as a… Continue reading The Inner Critic and the Advocate: Redeeming the Voice in Your Head

The Morning and Evening Review: Bookending the Day with Grace

A day without structure is a day surrendered to chaos. If you wake up and immediately let the demands of the world—your email, the news, the urgent crises of others—dictate your attention, you will spend the next sixteen hours playing defense. You will be reactive, driven by your passions and the whims of circumstance. The… Continue reading The Morning and Evening Review: Bookending the Day with Grace

The Philosophical Diary as a Spiritual Journal

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates spoke these words at his trial, and the Stoics took them as a fundamental command. To live well, a man must pay attention to how he lives. He cannot drift. He must audit his own soul. The primary tool the Stoics used for this audit was the… Continue reading The Philosophical Diary as a Spiritual Journal

The Enchiridion and the Pilgrim’s Handbook: Epictetus’s Rules for Life, Refined by Grace

We have spent the last few articles wrestling with giants—rejecting the cold theology of the Stoics, grappling with the tragedy of Seneca, and staring down the temptation of self-sufficiency. But Stoicism was never meant to remain in the ivory tower. It was designed for the street fight of daily life. To end our practical exploration,… Continue reading The Enchiridion and the Pilgrim’s Handbook: Epictetus’s Rules for Life, Refined by Grace

The Problem of Suicide: A Point of No Return

We have arrived at the most somber chapter of our “Non-Negotiable Rejections.” We have dismantled the Stoic’s impersonal God, his prideful self-sufficiency, and his small goal of tranquility. We have insisted that evil is real and must be fought with hope, not resignation. But now we must confront the final, logical conclusion of the Stoic… Continue reading The Problem of Suicide: A Point of No Return

Things Indifferent? Paul, Adiaphora, and the Christian Conscience

In our study so far, we have established the theological warrant for engaging with Stoicism: the doctrine of Common Grace. We have argued that we should “plunder the Egyptians,” taking the gold of pagan insight and refining it in the fire of Scripture. We saw the Apostle Paul model this generally on Mars Hill in… Continue reading Things Indifferent? Paul, Adiaphora, and the Christian Conscience

An Iron Faith for an Age of Anxiety

We are living in a brittle age. I have observed, as I am sure you have, that our cultural moment is defined by a pervasive and paralyzing anxiety. It is an age of therapy-speak and trigger warnings, of safe spaces and emotional support animals, where the language of fragility has supplanted the language of fortitude.… Continue reading An Iron Faith for an Age of Anxiety