The Strand Study Bible
ACTS ACTS records show that the city of Athens had more than 30,000 idols – and that didn’t account for the thousands of miniature idols that were kept in people’s private residences. Rick Renner in A Light In Darkness notes: There were so many “gods” in this city that one Roman satirist of the First Century wrote that it was “easier to find a god than to find a man in Athens. 1 17:18 a The Epicureans , named after their founder Epicurus of Athens (341-270 BC), believed that the gods existed, but had no interest in the welfare of men. They therefore indulged themselves in all the pleasures of sense, and placed no difference between good and evil. They held an ethical theory based on the atomic physics of Democritus, who presented pleasure as the chief end of life. 2 The Epicureans were what we would call today theistic evolutionists (modern day deists). Their school stated, “that the world was made by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, which, having been in perpetual motion, at length, accidentally jumped into this frame.” 3 They did not believe in life after death. 17:18 b The Stoics , named after their founders: Zeno of Citium (c. 300 BC), Cleanthes of Assos (331-232 BC), and Chrysippus of Soli (c. 240 BC), believed that God was the world’s soul, which indwells all things, and that the happy life was that lived in accordance with nature.They thought themselves altogether as good as God, and indulged themselves in the pride of life. The Stoics were what we would call today humanistic environmentalists . Their theology stated that they were pantheistic (one with nature). 17:18 c Both groups (Epicureans and Stoics) took a dim view of Paul’s theology, calling him a “ babbler ” (a seedpicker; one who picks up scraps of undigested knowledge and scatters it around). 17:23 According to Diogenes Laertius ( The Lives of Eminent Philosophers ), 4 Plato ( Laws ), 5 and Aristotle ( The Art of Rhetoric ), 6 Epimenides (Titus 1:12) was responsible for the erection of this altar . Epimenides, who lived on the island of Crete, responded to a request borne to him from Athens by a man named Nicias, asking him to advise the city in the matter of a plague. Arriving in Athens (the world’s foremost collectors of gods), Epimenides ordered the council members of Mars Hill to bring him a flock of healthy black and white sheep and to be ready to release them on Mars Hill the next morning. The only other instruction Epimenides gave to the elders was to keep the sheep from grazing after their night’s rest - they must be hungry sheep. The purpose of Epimenides was to give any god concerned in the matter of the plague an opportunity to reveal himself and his willingness to help by causing “hungry” sheep that pleased him to lie down versus eating as a sign that he would accept those sheep if they were offered in sacrifice. Epimenides’ line of reasoning was that any god great enough to do something about the plague was probably great enough to smile upon them in their ignorance –if, of course, they were willing to acknowledge their pitiful ignorance and acknowledge Him. To the surprise of many within the council, a number of the sheep rested. The Athenians then offered them in sacrifice upon unnamed altars built especially for the purpose. Thus the plague lifted from the city and Epimenides became a household name in Athens. For more information on Epimenides, read Don Richardson’s work entitled Eternity in Their Hearts . 7 17:26 a According to the Bible, God made all nations from one ancestor. Interestingly enough, recent discoveries in genetics, found in the mitochondrial DNA of females and the Y-chromosomal DNA of males, have lead to the discovery that the genetic fingerprint of modern man can be traced back to a single male and a single female. This discovery lends amazing credibility to the Biblical account of humanity arising from one man and one woman (Gen 1:26-28 & 2:7). It also counteracts the claim of evolutionary connections between modern man and Neanderthals. 17:26 b Despite our best efforts to reach into space, God has “grounded” us ( the bound by thier habitation ). 17:27 God is not an impersonal force. Quite the contrary ( he be not far from every one of us ). He is a Person deeply concerned about maintaining intimate relationships with the people He created. 17:28 This quote ( For we are also his offspring) is found in the writings of Aratus and Cleanthes. 8 17:34 Dionysius the Areopagite was a member of the Greek court of Areopagus. 18:2 Claudius ruled Rome from AD 41-54. 1816
1 Renner, Rick. A Light In Darkness (Vol. I), Tulsa, OK, Teach All Nations, 2010, Print 2 “Acts.” Churchplantingvillage . 14 Jan 2008
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