The Porch and the Cross: Ancient Stoic Wisdom for Modern Christian Living

This book serves as a great reference, directing the reader to the works which both define Stoicism and intersect the Christian faith.

The book does quite a good job distilling some of the most important ideas of Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. I am very very happy to have learned about Musonius in this selection. It's a shame he is not more well known and does not get the credit due him (of course he would likely not care about this). I loved the ways the book presented Musonious' wisdom. His teachings and insights really resonated gloriously with me. The book does a good job of keeping the teachings grounded in our modern real world with the emphasis on real world practice. The book does offer connections and distinctions between Stoic wisdom and Christianity but it should have gone more in depth with it. I thought that would be the main thrust of the book but it came across to me more as a presentation of those 4 Stoics with ancillary references to how it corresponds with Christian thought and practice. All in all it's a great edifying, inspirational and practical resource. I hope to return to this book devotionally many times over!

The book did a great job giving at giving insights to multiple philosophers and sharing how it can relate to Christianity. Highly recommend the book.

Overall it's pretty good but in some areas like human sexuality they slip into the naturalistic fallacy and the author does not acknowledge that because it Accords with his religious beliefs

The Porch and The Cross by Kevin Vost gives the reader a good overview of Stoicism. While Vost writes from a Catholic perspective, the contents of the book aren't biased for the most part. However, near the end of his section on Musonius Rufus, he draws a parallel between his Lectures and The Catechism of the Catholic Church. This doesn't diminish the substance of the book; however, it seems like Vost is trying to stretch his thesis a bit.In addition to Musonius Rufus, Vost gives the reader biographical information on Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius as well as snapshots of their beliefs.There is a lot of debate on the differences and similarities between Christianity and Stoicism. Vost doesn't really weigh in on this debate; rather he gives the reader ample insight into each Stoic and urges those who would take philosophy and virtuous living seriously to strive to best the person possible. One need not be a Catholic or a Christian to learn and profit from the contents of this book.

I liked the deep look into the “Big Four” stoics, and how he connected them with Catholic teachings. I’ll definitely read this again.

the title intrigued me, John 1.1 Jesus is the Logos, searching for the logos led me to logic to the stoics. . disappointed the authors spent more time on the Porch than connecting to the cross. good if you a good life, Stoicsm impossible without Christ

Zeroes in on 4 Stoics. Gives concise summary of their lives and sayings. Worthwhile read.

Good summary of main Stoic teachings and principles and how they were adopted and assimilated by early Christian fathers to promote the faith.