Acts 17:10-18 Berea, and Greek philosophers in Athens

Acts 17:10-15 Paul and Silas in Berea. The believers in Thessalonica sent Paul and Silas away to Berea, about 80 km away. The Jews in Berea were much more receptive than in Thessalonica and met daily (not just on the Sabbath) to study the Scriptures to determine for themselves if what Paul was telling them, the gospel, was true. Many came to the conclusion that this was so and believed, as well as many non-Jews. We aren't told how long this lasted, but evidently the Jews from Thessalonica were checking up on Paul, a notorious trouble-maker (Acts 24:5). So as soon as they (the Thessalonian Jews) stirred up trouble in Berea, the believers sent them away. It appears that at this point the traveling evangelists split up. Silas and Timothy remained in Berea, but the Berean believers took Paul to Athens, a little over 500 km by land. This is hilly terrain, the route rather circuitous. Paul then asked his escorts to return to Berea and send Silas and Timothy as soon as possible.

Acts 17:16-18 Paul in Athens. Paul did not waste any time. He talked to the Jews in the synagogue, to those who were in the marketplace (most likely on business), and with Greek philosophers of the Epicurean and Stoic schools. The gospel was evidently completely outside the pagan philosophers' realm of experience.

          Stoicism's view of the universe relies on formal logic to weave physics and ethics into a unified whole. It is entirely naturalistic, allowing no place for anything that includes spiritual or emotional sources. The universe's operation is defined by causal physics. Ethics are derived from what is. As a result, Stoics believe life is best lived by aligning oneself to the universe. Perhaps the best known attribute of Stoicism is their approach to this life, developing and practicing self-control to enable them to overcome emotions and think logically and clearly. For a Stoic, virtue consists in a will that is in agreement with nature, according to Bertrand Russell. Stoicism was quite popular among the Greek and Roman leadership; elements of Stoicism persist to this day.

          Epicurean philosophy is also materialistic and naturalistic, allowing no place for superstition or divine intervention. It differs from Stoicism in that it defines pleasure as the greatest good, but pleasure was defined by Epicurus as a modest life based on knowledge of how the world works and limiting one's desires. This approach leads to a state of tranquility, freedom from fear, and the absence of bodily pain. Epicureanism differs from hedonism in that Epicurus defined freedom from pain as the highest pleasure. Although this sounds to most of us as being very close to Stoicism, in the day of Paul, Epicureanism and Stoicism were considered opposing philosophies.

          The commonality between the Stoics and Epicureans is that both rejected pagan mythology, and religion in general, as a means of understanding the universe, due to its explanation of events by supernatural causes. They also rejected ethics based on supernatural revelations or commands. They were well acquainted with Greek and Roman mythology, and probably were also aware of Jewish traditions. However, they had not heard of Jesus and the resurrection and so considered this to be a new religion, but from their perspective, subject to the same objections as all of the other religions they were acquainted with.