Acts 17:16-21, Part 2 Yes, I know this was the reading yesterday. But Paul’s encounter with the Athenians has much to say to us, and requires a lot of unpacking. Yesterday, I gave some historical background. Before we get to what Paul said in the Aeropagus, we need to understand the thread he needed to run between the two philosophies mentioned in the reading.
You could say that many atheists who believe – wrongly – that modern science has ruled out God’s existence are successors to the Epicureans. Basically, the Epicureans believed that our physical senses were the only source of knowledge and the sole criteria by which we could judge what was “true.” Epicurus himself didn’t go to the trouble of denying the existence of gods, but he adamantly rejected the notion that they had anything to do with the world we live in. He also rejected the concept of immortality. In such a world, pleasure and freedom from fear were the most we could hope for.
Stoics were a little bit like the “New Agers” of today, though probably not as emotional. Unlike the Epicureans, they believed that the divine was the force of reason, which was present in all things. Thus there was a divine law of nature, and of conscience or duty. And the duty of all people was to live in harmony with nature, which as I just said, contained the divine.
When we read Paul’s speech for the first time tomorrow, we’ll see how he tries to draw on each tradition, take what he can affirm from both, while also challenging both with the Good News of the Risen Jesus. Tune in tomorrow. This time, I promise we’ll get to it.
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