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Socrates statue in front of the Academy in Athens, Greece
Some of the ancient Greek philosophers, who belonged to the Epicurean and Stoic schools of thought, rejected Paul’s teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while he was preaching in Athens, Greece, The mocked him for several reasons:
He accused them of being too superstitious
He condemned their idolatry
He told them that there will be a judgement day
He told them that Jesus Christ arose from the dead
The last point was a major factor in the Greek thinkers' disbelief in the Gospel, because they reasoned the resurrection from the dead, and life after death, were absolutely ludicrous.
"Thessalonika, the second largest city of greece. In front the old city wall, in the background the aegean sea and mount olympus"
Paul was spreading the Gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in northern Greece, debating and reasoning the Holy Scriptures, in towns such as Thessalonica and Berea.
He was with Silas, and converted a great multitude of Messianic Jews, some of who joined Paul and Silas on their journey. But the non-believing Jews, moved with envy, stirred up the people and chased them out of town.
But the Christians sent Paul to Athens, by way of the Mediterranean Sea.
Ancient Athens was then a coastal urban area. And Much like it is today, it was both the capital and the largest city of Greece. When Paul was there, the country was still under Caesar and the Roman Empire's control.
Known for its pagan mythology, philosophy and centers of learning, Athens was named after Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.
The extremely wise Paul was waiting for Timotheus and Silas to arrive at Athens, when his spirit was stirred, and he became aggrieved to see the Greek's idolatry.
He started disputing with them, reasoning, teaching, preaching, daily, in the synagogues and the market.
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. And some said, what will this babbler say? He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18)
This was a dangerous situation for Paul, being accused of preaching non-Greek gods.
A native of Athens, Socrates was sentenced to death there, after being convicted of impiety against Greek gods, some 400 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
The Epicureans and Stoics welcomed Paul to speak at Mars Hill, aka the Areopagus.
Translated, "Hill of Ares," this was a place to hold court, similar to the Jewish Sanhedrin, a place for Paul to be informally judged on whether or not he conformed to the Greek style of paganism.
The Areopagus was near the Acropolis - a pagan center of worship, replete with forts and residences for the elite.
Acropolis of Athens in Greece
He had noticed an altar in Athens dedicated, with an inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
He scolded the Athenians:
"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device." (Acts 17:29)
He went on to explain that there was only one God the Creator, who is not a graven image. That the Lord has appointed a Judgment Day. That Jesus was resurrected from the dead.
Paul's Gospel sermon was mocked to scorn, by some of the philosophers, but piqued the interest of others.
One of those who believed in the Gospel was a man named Dionysius, who was a judge at the Areopagus Court. He became the first Bishop of Athens.
View of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) and an Orthodox Church in Athens.
With a belief system similar to Israel's Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, Epicureanism in Athens rejected any possibility of an afterlife.
Paul's message included the gift of Eternal Life, given to whosoever believes in the risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Epicureans believed in the soul, just not the soul of Christ. They suggested that the soul is mortal and material, just like the body. (Matthew 22:23)
They advocated the pleasure principle. Their founder and sage, Epicurus (341–270 BC) explained his philosophy like this:
"When we say that pleasure is the end and aim, we do not mean the pleasures of the prodigal or the pleasures of sensuality, as we are understood to do by some through ignorance, prejudice or wilful misrepresentation."
"By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. It is not by an unbroken succession of drinking bouts and of revelry, not by sexual lust, nor the enjoyment of fish and other delicacies of a luxurious table, which produce a pleasant life; it is sober reasoning, searching out the grounds of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul."
— Epicurus, "Letter to Menoeceus"
The Porch of the Caryatids in Acropolis of Athens, Greece.
Again, Athens was named after Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom.
But the Greek wise men were not so wise after all. They were pagans who had no sacred texts or Holy Scripture. They attributed natural causes for lightning, earthquakes and other Almighty God-generated phenomena.
Lucretius, a Roman Epicurean, De rerum natura, argued that Christianity’s belief in divine creation and divine providence are irrational.
Paul's accusations against the Greek thinkers was right on cue. He came at the perfect time to set them free from their irrational, superstitious, idolatrous and pagan ways.
And he led some Athenians to Christ, helped to establish a church there, preparing them to face Judgment Day and to obtain eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Long live the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Socrates, the man credited with founding western philosophy, Socrates ((470–399 BC) was born and lived his whole life in Athens.
He was sentenced to death for godlessness, not worshiping the Greek gods.
he calls for philosophy and the pursuit of knowledge to be the principal way of worshiping the gods.
But Socrates prayed to the rising sun, a form of worshiping the sun god, as done in the Greece-preceding ancient Egyptian civilization.
His student Plato, and Plato's student, Aristotle, are giants in western philosophy.
Morally Superior?
If some atheists come off as being morally superior to God, then that is because atheism is a philosophy that individuals are morally superior to God. Because atheists deny God’s standard of morality. This is a grave mistake that will last into eternity if not corrected.
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