Bruno Bauer's little-known, CHRISTUS UND DIE CAESAREN; DER URSPRUNG DES CHRISTENTHUMS AUS DEM ROMINSCHEN GRIECHENTHUM

(1877) attempts to elaborate on Hegel's idea of a historical and scientific relationship between Stoicism and Christianity. [Happily an English translation of this book was published (1999)]

I would like to share excerpts from Bruno Bauer (1877) as he encountered a Markan influence in Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 CE - 65 CE), tutor of Nero, betrayer of Nero, and perhaps the most prolific writer among the Stoic philosophers. Here they are: (a) As a Stoic of the Greek tradition, Seneca wrote about sin and the need for a redeeming principle of forgiveness, saying, "Some sins we have committed, some we have contemplated, some we have desired, some we have encouraged, and in some cases we are innocent only because we did not succeed. Bearing this in mind, let us be more just to transgressors, more heedful to those who rebuke us." (Seneca, ON ANGER, ca. 40 AD) Very similar terms appear in MARK, viz.: "When you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that the Spirit may forgive your failings, too." (MARK 11:25, ca. 70 AD) (b) Seneca applied stylistic expressions to encourage Stoic followers to cease their grasping at the material world. He said: "Cast away all riches if you are wise; no, rather, that you may be wise. If any bond holds you back, untangle it or just cut it off." (Seneca, EPISTLE 17, ca. 40 AD) Again, very similar terms appear in MARK, viz.: "And if your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off...And if your eye should cause you to sin, pluck it out." (MARK 9:43-47, ca. 70 AD) (c) Seneca the Stoic also accepted the Immortality of the Soul. In his consolation to Marcia who grieved the loss of her men to war, Seneca wrote:

"There is no need for you to hurry to the tomb of your son...he has fled away and wholly departed from earth...soared aloft and sped away to join the souls of the blessed. A saintly band gave him welcome." (Seneca, EPISTLE TO MARCIA, ca. 40 AD) Very similar terms appear in MARK, viz.: "There is no need for alarm. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here." (MARK 16:6, 70 AD) (d) "What will serve us best, our God and Father has already placed before us. He did not wait for our petition. He gave it freely of His own accord." (Seneca, EPISTLE 100, ca. 50 AD) The New Testament statement to the same effect seems nearly a word-by-word repetition of Seneca's language: "Your Father knows what you need before you you ask him," MATTHEW 6:8 (ca. 90 AD) (e) The duality of the flesh versus virtue is emphasized by Seneca the Stoic again and again. In this example Seneca addresses virtue as a soul: "By these bones the soul is crushed, strangled and stained, and imprisoned in error, it is kept far from its true and natural sphere. It constantly struggles against this weight of the flesh in its effort to avoid being dragged back and sunk. It ever strives to rise to that place from which it once descended. There awaits its eternal peace, when it has passed from earth's dull motley to the vision of all that is pure and bright." (Seneca, TO MARCIA, para. 23, ca. 50 AD). Who can fail to be reminded of the identical duality of flesh and soul that we find in the New Testament? "We...actually want to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord." 2 CORINTHIANS 5:8 (ca. 80 AD)

Here again is evidence that a background of Stoic Roman literature existed for the writers of the New Testament, and that this background may have become foreground. (f) Seneca was fond of describing the differences between the soul and the body. The body is the side that tempts us into indolence. The courageous soul does not fear death, looking beyond it. Our Stoic Seneca wrote: "The day will come which will tear you forth and lead you away from the company of this foul and noisome abode. Withdraw from it now too as much as you can, and withdraw from pleasure, except such as may be bound up with essential and important things; estrange yourself from it even now, and ponder on something nobler and loftier." (Seneca, EPISTLE 102, ca. 50 AD) The language there is not dissimilar to the portrait of death's transition later issued by the Apostle Paul: "For we know that when the tent we live in here on earth is folded up, we are to have a house built by God, an everlasting home not made by human hands. For we groan in this tent...not because we want to put it off, but because we want to put the heavenly home on, allowing what is mortal to be swallowed up by life. God made us for this very purpose, and gave us a token of what is to come, that is, the Spirit...While we have our home in the body, we are absent from God." 2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-6 (ca. 80 AD) I think the terminology is similar enough to note. Also, I think the wording by Seneca the Stoic reveals a unique stylistic clarity. (g) Bauer's says that St. Paul copied from the Epistles of Seneca to write his own Epistles, and not, as ancient history had written, the other way around. F.C. Baur taught that the oldest EPISTLES of St. Paul may be dated with LUKE and ACTS about 70-90 AD. Seneca's writings were completed around 50 AD giving ample time for redactors to employ the ethical and theological sayings of Lucius Annaeas Seneca. Bruno Bauer begins comparison with LUKE (70 AD) who is held by tradition to have been the traveling companion of St. Paul. Bauer reviews the Beatitudes of Jesus in Luke's Gospel: "Happy are you who are poor: Yours is the kingdom of God.

Happy you who are hungry now: You shall be satisfied. Happy you who weep now: You shall laugh." (LUKE 6:21) Bauer notices that this philosophy is similar to that of the Roman Cynics in the days of Seneca. Cynics were against wealth and Seneca greatly admired the Cynic Grand Master, Diogenes and wrote about him often. Seneca thought him kingly in his ability to remain unaffected while surrounded by misers, swindlers, embezzlers and soul-sellers in the world. Diogenes inspired Seneca to write: "Property is the greatest source of affliction to humanity. If you balance all our other troubles -- deaths, diseases, fears, longings, subjection to labor and pain - with the miseries in which our money involves us, then, the latter will far outweigh the former." (Seneca, 49 AD, ON TRANQUILITY, section 8, trans. M. Hadas, 1958, Doubleday, p. 89)

(h) To attain the spiritual kingdom some Roman Cynics would renounce their homes, wives and children. There were many such wandering teachers in Rome who called upon others to join them in their ascetic methods of moral advancement, because the rewards for such sacrifice were greater than the average person could imagine. This same sentiment was echoed by Luke, who wrote:

"I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over..." (LUKE 18:29) The Stoic ideal of being able to suffer; to carry ones burdens with dignity; to live in harmony with Nature and accept Her judgments; to do ones duty without complaining, including suicide if the Emperor demanded it, was a formidable ideal for anybody to ponder. Seneca wrote of the Cynic Demetrius: "Among the many magnificent sayings of our friend Demetrius is the following, which I have just heard; it still rings and reverberates in

my ears: 'No one is more unhappy than a man who has never met with adversity.' He has never had the privilege of testing himself." (Seneca, 40 AD, ON PROVIDENCE, Section 3, trans. M. Hadas, 1958, Doubleday, p. 33) This we can compare this with Luke's writing: "Alas for you who have your fill now. You shall go hungry. Alas for you who laugh now. You shall mourn and weep." (LUKE 6:25-26). Athenian Cynics from 300 years before Jesus had already perfected a type of Epistle full of warnings and repentance. There were some Cynics who went house to house (named, 'breakers of doors,' and 'inspectors of the spirit') who proclaimed to their hopeful listeners that a time of repentance was coming. This type of preaching was still at work within various Stoic and Cynic preachers in Rome in the decades of Tiberius and Jesus. The ancient Stoic Epictetus said, "The true Cynic is an envoy from Jupiter to open the eyes of humanity so they can see their errors, and to implore them with uplifted arms to turn back from the road from whence they seek frivolous things to satisfy superficial delight." (Epictetus, 10 AD, DIATRIBE 3:22)

Since, Bruno Bauer argues, we now know that the New Testament was composed well after the writings of Seneca, we can demonstrate that the well-known similarity of these writings represents New Testaments writers copying Seneca, and not the reverse, as was considered for centuries. Here are a few more examples of obvious similarity: "Will he be outraged that no eatable fruits grow on thorns and thistles?" (Seneca, ON ANGER 2:19, trans. Robert M. Gummere, 1917, Harvard U. Press) That imagery reminds us of the well-known Scripture, "Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from

thistles?" LUKE 7:16 As a Stoic of the Greek tradition, Seneca wrote about sin and the need for a redeeming principle of forgiveness, saying, "Some sins we have committed, some we have contemplated, some we have desired, some we have encouraged, and in some cases we are innocent only because we did not succeed. Bearing this in mind, let us be more just to transgressors, more heedful to those who rebuke us." (Seneca, ON ANGER, ibid.) That same sentiment is found in the New Testament, viz, "When you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that the Spirit may forgive your failings, too." MARK 11:25 (i) Bauer notes Seneca frequently referred to Cato as a moral example. The following statement evokes a famous image: "'But,' you ask, 'if a wise man receives a blow, what shall he do?' Do what Cato did when he was struck in the face; he did not flare up. The wise man does not walk with the crowd, but as the planets make their way against the whirl of the heavens, so he proceeds contrary to the opinion of the world." (Seneca, ON CONSTANCY, 14, ibid.) Naturally the well-known scripture comes to mind: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you...To the man who slaps you on the cheek, present the other cheek, too." LUKE 6:27, 29 We must bear in mind that Bruno Bauer is simply repeating what has been known since before Tertullian: some key passages of Seneca match key passages of the New Testament. But due to more recent scientific dating, we date Seneca's writing before 50 AD, and the New Testament writings after 70 AD. Those matches evidently reveal a wide borrowing from Seneca, the great Stoic.

(j) Seneca found courage in the doctrine that our souls will outlive our material existence; that our souls are only traveling through this life. Seneca wrote the following at about 40 AD: "All our possessions which dazzle us - children, honors, a beautiful spouse - are not our property; they are merely borrowed properties which decorate the stages of our lives, and must be returned to their owners...We should love all of our dear ones, but always with the thought that we have no promise that we may keep them forever, nor even for long." (Seneca, TO MARCIA, 10) This same phraseology is evidently taken up again in the Epistles of the Apostle Paul from around 60 BC or later. "Our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they had none, and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those who are enjoying life should live as though there were nothing to laugh about; those whose life is buying things should live as though they had nothing of their own...The world as we know it is passing away." 1 CORINTHIANS 7:29-31 I note that it seems to me that Seneca's writing flows more smoothly, more originally, more organically, while the Pauline Epistle is a bit more rigid, more imitative. (k) There is no need for you to hurry to the tomb of your son...he has fled away and wholly departed from earth...soared aloft and sped away to join the souls of the blessed. A saintly band gave him welcome. (Seneca, TO MARCIA 25 ibid.) Luke the Evangelist also repeated this NeoPlatonic spiritual vision: "Why look among the dead for someone who is alive? He is not here. He is risen." LUKE 24:6 (i) Another of Seneca's stylistic expressions was applied to a praise of those Stoics who had taken vows of poverty. He said in ca. 40 AD: "Cast away all riches if you are wise; no, rather, that you may be wise. If any bond holds you back, untangle it or just cut it off." (Seneca, EPISTLE 17)

This clearly reminds us of the admonitions of Jesus as expressed in the writing of St. Mark at about 70 AD: "And if your hand should cause you to sin, cut it off... And if your eye should cause you to sin, pluck it out." MARK 9:43, 47 The similarity of text and key-words was impressive in the second century when the theory arose that Seneca copied the New Testament to write his Epistles. It is impressive to social scientists today. Today's more scientific dating of the first century writings suggests a copying did occur - but in the opposite direction. (j) Let's briefly examine Seneca's stylistic structure in a text of his about spiritual transformation: "I feel, my dear Lucilius, that I am being not only reformed, but transformed...I therefore wish to impart to you this sudden change in myself... You cannot conceive what distinct progress I notice that each day brings to me." (Seneca, EPISTLE 6, ca. 50 AD) The on-going transformation to which Seneca refers is a Stoic precept which holds that humans can rise up, as a new creation out of the old. These words may remind the New Testament scholar of similar phraseology in the words of the Apostle Paul: "Not that I have become perfect yet, I have not yet won, but I am running, trying to capture the prize... I can assure you my brothers, I am far from thinking I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come. I am racing for the finish." PHILIPPIANS 3:10-12 (ca. 75 AD) I aspire to appreciate the poetic riches of each of these texts from the first century. Both texts appear to be spontaneous, heartfelt confessions of spiritual progress. Yet both are unusually similar in imagery. If there is a question about priority, I will argue for Bruno Bauer's view that Seneca's wording has a more original ring to it.

5. I should add that Bruno Bauer also finds the influence of Josephus throughout the New Testament. Philo, too. This convinced him that: (a) the New Testament was written later than tradition tells us; and (b) Roman writers, with the Septuagint Old Testament and the writings of Josephus, Philo and Seneca, would have sufficient raw material to mold the New Testament to their artistic preferences.