Philosophy

The gospel represents the height of human reason

Acts 17:18–23 KJV 1900

Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

The quest for understanding

Ec 7:25; Ac 17:18–21

See also Job 34:2–4; Ec 1:13; Ec 7:27; Ec 7:29–8:1; Ec 12:12

Stoicism

Paul encounters the Stoics in Athens

Ac 17:16–18 The Stoics were a leading philosophical group based, like their rivals the Epicureans, in Athens. Stoics held that God was the inner reason of the universe and that salvation lay in accepting one’s place in the established order.

Stoics ridicule Paul

Acts 17:18 KJV 1900

Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

Stoics misunderstand Paul’s message

Acts 17:18 KJV 1900

Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

Paul presents a view of God very different from that of the Stoics

Ac 17:24–25 In contrast to Stoic belief God is the Creator; Ac 17:26–27 In contrast to Stoic belief God is a personal being.

Response of the Stoics to Paul’s message

Acts 17:32–34 KJV 1900

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

The benefit of received wisdom

Job 15:17–18; Pr 1:2–4; Ec 12:9–11

The limits of human enquiry

Job 11:7–9; Ec 8:16–17

See also Job 38:36–37; Ps 145:3; Ec 3:11; Is 40:28; Is 55:8–9; Ac 17:23; Ro 11:33–34; Is 40:13; 1 Co 1:20–21

The danger of philosophical speculation

Col 2:8; 1 Ti 6:20–21

See also Ga 4:3; Col 2:20; 1 Ti 1:4; 1 Ti 6:4; Tt 3:9

True insight is given by God

Job 12:13; Ec 2:26; Mt 13:11; 2 Ti 3:7

True meaning is found in relationship with God

Acts 17:24–28 KJV 1900

God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

See also Ec 12:1; Re 4:11

Epicureanism

Paul meets some Epicureans in Athens

Ac 17:16–18 Followers of the Greek philosophy founded by Epicurus (341-270 b.c.). In strong contrast to the Stoics, they taught that pleasure, and the avoidance of all disturbance, pain and fear, was the chief goal of life.

Epicureans’ assessment of Paul and his message

Ac 17:18; Ac 17:18 Paul’s listeners mistook the Greek word for “resurrection” (“anastasis”) for the name of a strange god. While Epicureans did not deny the existence of gods, they believed they had no interest in the lives of human beings, and that therefore everything in life was the result of mere chance.

Epicurean and Stoic philosophers bring Paul to the Areopagus

Acts 17:19–20 KJV 1900

And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

The response of Epicureans and others to Paul’s preaching

Acts 17:32 KJV 1900

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

Docetism

Docetism questions the reality of the incarnation

2 Jn 7 Docetism is a denial of the physical reality of Jesus Christ’s incarnation that may have been prompted by the typically Greek perception of physical matter as evil.

See also 1 Jn 2:22–23

Scripture affirms the physical incarnation of Jesus Christ:

Jn 1:14; 1 Ti 3:16; Heb 2:14

Scripture emphasises the physical death of the Son of God:

Ro 8:3; Php 2:6–8; 1 Jn 4:10

Docetic views are identified as heretical

1 John 4:1–3 KJV 1900

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

See also Jn 6:53–56

Gnosticism

Contrary to the teaching of Gnosticism, the world is not inherently evil

1 Ti 4:4 Gnosticism was a religious philosophy whose fundamental belief in the inherent evil of the created realm led to a number of heretical teachings about creation, human nature, the person of Jesus Christ, salvation and ethics.

Creation is God’s work and is therefore good:

Ge 1:31; Ne 9:6; Ps 19:1; Ac 17:24; Col 1:15–17; Re 4:11

Creation, though fallen, will be redeemed and reconciled to God through Jesus Christ:

Ro 8:20–21; Eph 1:9–10; Col 1:19–20

Contrary to the teaching of Gnosticism, human beings are not sparks of divinity trapped in evil, fleshly bodies

Acts 17:26 KJV 1900

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Human beings are a good creation of God:

Ge 1:26–27; Ge 2:7; Ps 8:3–8

Human beings can know bodily redemption and use their bodies to serve God:

Ro 6:12–13; Ro 8:22–23; Ro 12:1; 1 Co 6:12–18; 1 Co 6:19–20; 1 Th 5:23

The future existence of glorified human beings will be a bodily existence, not just a spiritual one:

Ro 8:10–11; 1 Co 15:35–44; 2 Co 5:1–4; Php 3:20–21; 2 Ti 2:16–18

Contrary to the teaching of Gnosticism, Jesus Christ did not merely appear in human form

John 1:14 KJV 1900

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Son of God became a real flesh-and-blood human being:

Lk 24:36–43; Col 2:9; Heb 2:14; 1 Jn 1:1–3; 1 Jn 4:2–3; 2 Jn 7

As a man, the Son of God experienced death on the cross:

Jn 19:33–34; 1 Co 2:8; Php 2:6–8; Col 1:19–22; 1 Jn 5:6

Contrary to the teaching of Gnosticism, salvation is not found simply in a divine revelation of special knowledge

Salvation is by faith in the crucified Christ:

1 Co 3:18–20; Col 2:8; Col 2:18–19; 1 Ti 6:20–21

All knowledge and wisdom needed for full salvation are to be found in Christ:

1 Co 1:18–25; Col 1:19–20; Col 2:2–4; Col 2:8–10; 2 Pe 1:3

Contrary to the teaching of Gnosticism, Christian behaviour is not to be marked by licence and ritualistic self-denial

There is no value in empty ceremonial observance or ritualistic self-denial:

Mt 15:10–11; Ro 14:5–6; Col 2:16–17; Col 2:20–23; 1 Ti 4:1–5

Christian behaviour is to be marked by liberty, not by licence:

1 Co 6:12–20; Ga 5:13; Col 3:5–14; Tt 1:15–16; 1 Pe 2:16; 1 Jn 1:5–6; 1 Jn 2:3–6; 1 Jn 3:3–10; Jud 4