Ruch Biblijny i Liturgiczny • Volume 71 • Number 1 • 2018 • 53–72 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21906/rbl.258 Self-Discipline as a Condition for Life in Christ: Paul of Tarsus’ Notion of ἐγκράτεια Anna Magdalena Rambiert-Kwaśniewska Pontiical Faculty of Theology in Wroclaw anna.rambiert@gmail.com There have been many studies on the neo-Stoic inluences on the thought and writing of Paul of Tarsus. One of the oldest was an article by Frederick Clifton Grant, who noted the close similarities between Paul and Seneca and Epictetus, among others; he made note of the similar concepts, culture in which they were active, and even the similar time of their activity. 1 Of all of Paul’s writings, the Epistle to the Romans has been most suspected of having the strongest Stoic inluences, 2 as has the Epistle to the Philippians in recent decades. 3 Although researchers have diligently emphasized that Stoic elements are clearly evident in Paul’s writings, the Apostle to the Nations himself was not a Stoic. In his philosophy (or, rather, theology), he went one or even two levels above Stoicism, if Philo of Alexandria 4 can be situated before Paul. 5 1 Cf. F. C. Grant, St. Paul and Stoicism, “The Biblical World” 45 (1915) no. 5, p. 268–281; D. A. Desilva, Paul and the Stoa: A Comparison, “Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society” 38 (1995) no. 4, p. 549–564. 2 R. M. Thorsteinsson argues against Paul’s Stoicism ascribed to him on the basis of Romans 12 in the article Paul and Roman Stoicism: Romans 12 and Contemporary Stoic Ethics, “Journal for the Study of the New Testament” 29 (2006) no. 2, 139–161, https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064X06072835; do tekstu odnosi się T. Engberg-Pedersen, Paul’s Stoicizing Politics in Romans 12–13: The Role of 13. 1–10 in the Argument, “Journal for the Study of the New Testament” 29 (2006) no. 2, p. 163172, https://doi.org/10.1177/0142064X06072836. 3 Cf. T. Engberg-Pedersen, Stoicism in Philippians, [in:] Paul in His Hellenistic Context, ed. by T. Engberg-Pedersen, London–New York 2004, p. 256–290. 4 Cf. G. Reale, Historia ilozoii starożytnej, vol. 4, przeł. E. I. Zieliński, Lublin 2012, p. 287–288; F. C. Grant, St. Paul and Stoicism, op. cit., p. 280. 5 However, this view has been challenged in Pohlenz’s groundbreaking article. In it, Pohlenz iden- tiied Paul solely with the Jewish world, using the Epistle to the Romans to show that Paul had nothing in common with Stoicism. He only used Greek concepts to present Jewish ideas to the Hellenized world. Only Philo found a more perfect bridge between the Greek and Jewish worlds – cf. M. Pohlenz, Paulus und die Stoa, “Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der Älteren Kirche” 42 (1949) no. 1, p. 69–104, https://doi.org/10.1515/zntw.1949.42.1.69.