Romans 8:6-11

Ancient Lens

When Paul writes to the church about struggles between body and spirit, he is not the first to join this discussion. Even if you limit the conversation to just the Mediterranean world, debate had been going on for centuries. There were ethical questions about what is the right behavior, and if so, what determines it? Surely some said there were no objective ways to discern good or bad, it was just the prerogative of the ones in power to determine acceptable behavior. This would be the view that “might makes right.” Others thought there was a guide, and it was in you. You might say you just follow your gut.

Against any lofty morals, hedonists like Epicurus from the 4th century BC, simply maintained that our pleasure is the…