Paul of Tarsus

Roman Stoic Philosopher Cicero on Aging and Death
Philosophy

Roman Stoic Philosopher and Politician Cicero on Aging and Death

09/24/2025 Bruce Strom 4

Cicero advises us: “Enjoy the blessing of strength while you have it, and have no regrets when it has gone, any more than young men should regret the end of boyhood, or those approaching middle age lament the passing of youth. Life’s course is invariable: nature has one path only, and you cannot travel along it more than once. Every stage of life has its own characteristics: boys are feeble, youths in their prime are aggressive, middle-aged men are dignified, while the elderly are mature. Each of these qualities is ordained by nature for harvesting in due season.”
Cicero continues: “Age must be overcome; its faults need vigilant resistance. We must combat them as we should fight a disease: following a fixed regime, exercising in moderation, and consuming enough food and drink to strengthen” but not too much. “The mind and spirit need even more attention than the body, for old age easily extinguishes them, like lamps” with too little oil. […]

Was St Paul a Former Slave
Biblical Interpretation

Was St Paul a Former Slave? Were His Parents Enslaved by the Romans?

06/05/2024 Bruce Strom 0

Our authors in Christianity Today note that several prominent Biblical scholars in past 150 years have speculated that Paul’s parents were enslaved, perhaps in “the uprising in 4 BC, when Varus, Roman governor of Syria, burned entire cities and crucified 2,000 people. In Galilean cities like Sepphoris, Josephus wrote in Antiquities of the Jews, ‘troops made its inhabitants slaves.’” Furthermore, in St Jerome’s commentary on Philemon, written around the end of the fourth century, likely using Origen’s commentary as a source, states St Paul’s parents were Gischala in Judea, and were among the Jews exiled to Tarsus by the Romans. A few centuries later, St Photius, the scholarly bishop of Constantinople, confirms this, adding that St Paul was born to enslaved parents in Tarsus. These ancient sources are highly regarded by modern scholars. […]