Aristotle looked around and asked pragmatic questions about the meaning of life. As the Greek empire prospered and materialism was embraced, he wondered if there was more to life than the world was presenting. In his best known work on ethics, Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle presented the idea that people should strive for “peace of mind.” This is done through saying no to the extremes of life, and following the “Golden Mean.” From this period, there was the embracing of the four virtues for well-being: temperance, prudence, courage, and justice. These virtues permeated the cultural drapery of Hellenism.
It was in this milieu that the Apostle Paul lived and breathed. And while Tertullian, an early Church father, is credited with saying, “What does Athens have to do with Jerusalem,” I think Paul would say: “Quite a bit.” Paul was taking a known cultural value, and in essence, he was wrapping it into the life of the Church. If a believer wants to have “peace of mind” and know well-being, this is done be standing firm (4:1) and training the mind with a life of virtues. Paul lists 6 virtues that the believer needs to engage in order to know peace (4:8).
However, people are people. At times, we like a good sermon. We like to go to “church,” but we do not like to practice what the “preacher” proclaims. See, Paul does not want epistemological wonderment: he wanted a faith that was based on virtues, and then practiced. My parents in frustration would talk about how “us boys” would let their “parental wisdom” go in one ear and out the other. This is exactly what Paul is also trying to get the church to wake up to: do not merely listen to wisdom, do wisdom. Our faith is one that is meant to have hands and feet on it.
In the end, when we learn through listening and practice, then we can know the peace of God (4:9).
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