Stoicka pneuma a Pawłowa koncepcja Ducha w Rz 8. Cz. 2: Paweł i stoicy na temat Ducha – podobieństwa i różnice

Abstract

In the second part of the article, the author draws comparison between the Stoic and Pauline notion of pneuma. First, the Stoic and cognate medical views on the Spirit/spirit are presented. According to them, pneuma functions as the principle of life, cognitive entity, element binding the cosmos, responsible for unifying various bodies, and passing the image of the father on his progeny. The Stoic categories and phenomenology of pneuma are then applied to Rom 8. A notorious difficulty in distinguishing between the divine and human spirit, the cognitive, life-giving and unifying faculties of pneuma bespeak the similarity between the Stoic and Pauline thought. Yet, the relationship seems to be rather formal and limited to the use of the same language. Paul goes well beyond both the Stoic and Jewish concepts of pneuma, presenting the Spirit as introducing the believers into the community with God, enabling them to imitate Jesus, granting the life of resurrection, interceding for Christians and making them brothers and sisters. Two other functions of the Spirit, his abiding in the believers and his ability to imprint in them God’s image, open more promising venues for comparison between Paul and the Stoics. The Stoic idea of krasis and popular philosophical and medical views on procreation may help to understand how Paul and his audience imagined the Sprit dwelling in Christians and making them conform to the image of Christ. The article ends with a reflection on the applicability of the Stoic notions of pneuma to Rom 8.