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The Concept of Evil in 4 Maccabees

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. 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. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy Brill

The Concept of Evil in 4 Maccabees

The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy , Volume 25 (2): 33 – Aug 17, 2017

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1053-699X
eISSN
1477-285X
DOI
10.1163/1477285X-12341283
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

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.

Journal

The Journal of Jewish Thought and PhilosophyBrill

Published: Aug 17, 2017

There are no references for this article.