How to Think About God, Marcus Tullius Cicero
How to Think About God, Marcus Tullius Cicero
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How to Think About God
An Ancient Guide for Believers and Nonbelievers

Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philip Freeman

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Unabridged: 1 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/05/2019

Synopsis

A vivid and accessible new translation of Cicero's influential Stoic writings on the divine

Most ancient Romans were deeply religious and their world was overflowing with gods—from Jupiter, Minerva, and Mars to countless local divinities, household gods, and ancestral spirits. One of the most influential Roman perspectives on religion came from a nonreligious belief system that is finding new adherents even today: Stoicism. How did the Stoics think about religion? In How to Think about God, Philip Freeman presents vivid new translations of Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods and The Dream of Scipio. In these brief works, Cicero offers a Stoic view of belief, divinity, and human immortality, giving eloquent expression to the religious ideas of one of the most popular schools of Roman and Greek philosophy.

On the Nature of the Gods and The Dream of Scipio are Cicero's best-known and most important writings on religion, and they have profoundly shaped Christian and non-Christian thought for more than two thousand years, influencing such luminaries as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, and Thomas Jefferson. These works reveal many of the religious aspects of Stoicism, including an understanding of the universe as a materialistic yet continuous and living whole in which both the gods and a supreme God are essential elements.

About Marcus Tullius Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), commonly known as Cicero, was a Roman statesman, philosopher, orator, and lawyer. Born into an aristocratic family, he studied law and served a term as consul in 63 BC. As a member of the Senate, he witnessed the rise to prominence of Julius Caesar, whose followers forced him into exile and out of politics. Following the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, to which he was a witness, he argued in front of the Senate for the restoration of the republic, but was unsuccessful. In 43 BC, he was murdered on the orders of Mark Antony. Cicero's works include philosophic writings, speeches made as a lawyer and a senator, and letters. His best-known writings include On the Orator, On the Republic, Hortensius, On the Nature of the Gods, On Duties, and Treatises on Friendship and Old Age.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Gabrielė on September 08, 2023

Books like this one are like the colour beige. Unexceptional. They are neither lovable nor hateable—rather mildly pleasant and quick to forget. The author focuses on how Stoics saw the world and the divine and their arguments for and against it. Although many ideas are outdated, it does stimulate you......more

Goodreads review by Jordan on January 05, 2020

Another good entry in Princeton UP’s Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series, this one excerpting passages from two of Cicero’s late philosophical treatises On the Nature of the Gods and On the Republic. The first passage is an interesting example of what medieval Christian philosophers and theolog......more

Goodreads review by James on December 07, 2019

Very interesting read that distinguishes the argument about God's existence during the Roman's dominance era. This was a book highlighting how Stoics argued the existence and relevance of a higher power during their time on this earth. It was fascinating debate and an important and short read. I hig......more

Goodreads review by Peter on September 08, 2022

How to Think About God by Marcus Tullius Cicero [URL not allowed]-re... This series provides a reader with good quality. The individual books offer a nice introduction to the featured philosopher and the subject of the book. The book takes a portion of an ancient philosopher's corpus......more

Goodreads review by Ahmed on July 18, 2022

Nice small read. “The true self of each person is the mind. Know therefore that you are a god. For a god is someone who moves, who feels, who remembers, who looks to the future, who rules over and guides and directs the body he is master of, just as that Supreme God directs the universe. And just as......more

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