Philosophy

An ideology or system of values which seeks to understand and, through rational argument, to investigate the nature and meaning of reality. Scripture exposes the emptiness of philosophy based purely upon human wisdom, while affirming that, at its best, human wisdom points towards God, and can serve as a preparation for the gospel.

The gospel represents the height of human reason

Acts 17:18–23

The quest for understanding

Ecclesiastes 7:25; Acts 17:18–21 See also Job 34:2–4; Ecclesiastes 1:13, Ecclesiastes 7:27, Ecclesiastes 7:29–8:1, Ecclesiastes 12:12

I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.

The benefit of received wisdom

Job 15:17–18; Proverbs 1:2–4; Ecclesiastes 12:9–11

The limits of human enquiry

Job 11:7–9; Ecclesiastes 8:16–17 See also Job 38:36–37; Psalm 145:3; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 55:8–9; Acts 17:23; Romans 11:33–34; Isaiah 40:13; 1 Corinthians 1:20–21

Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens— what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol— what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth — though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night — I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

The danger of philosophical speculation

Colossians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:20–21 See also Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:20; 1 Timothy 1:4, 1 Timothy 6:4; Titus 3:9

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,” which some have professed and thus swerved away from the faith. Grace be with you all.

True insight is given by God

Job 12:13; Ecclesiastes 2:26; Matthew 13:11 parallel Luke 8:10; 2 Timothy 3:7

True meaning is found in relationship with God

Acts 17:24–28 See also Ecclesiastes 12:1; Revelation 4:11

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’

Epicureanism

Paul meets some Epicureans in Athens

Acts 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.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Epicureans' assessment of Paul and his message

Acts 17:18, Acts 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.

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Epicurean and Stoic philosophers bring Paul to the Areopagus

Acts 17:19–20

So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”

The response of Epicureans and others to Paul's preaching

Acts 17:32

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”

Docetism

Docetism questions the reality of the incarnation

2 John 1:7 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 John 2:22–23JHN 1 John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14ROM Hebrews 8:3; Philippians 2:6–8; 1 John 4:10

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Docetic views are identified as heretical

1 John 4:1–3 See also John 6:53–56

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time.

Gnosticism

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

1 Timothy 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. Genesis 1:31; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 19:1; Acts 17:24; Colossians 1:15–17; Revelation 4:11; Romans 8:20–21; Ephesians 1:9–10; Colossians 1:19–20

For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,

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

Acts 17:26 Genesis 1:26–27, Genesis 2:7; Psalm 8:3–8; Romans 6:12–13, Romans 8:22–23, Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:12–18, 1 Corinthians 6:19–20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 8:10–11; 1 Corinthians 15:35–44; 2 Corinthians 5:1–4; Philippians 3:20–21; 2 Timothy 2:16–18

From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

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

John 1:14 Luke 24:36–43; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 1:1–3, 1 John 4:2–3; 2 John 1:7; John 19:33–34; 1 Corinthians 2:8; Philippians 2:6–8; Colossians 1:19–22; 1 John 5:6

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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 Corinthians 3:18–20; Colossians 2:8, Colossians 2:18–19; 1 Timothy 6:20–21; 1 Corinthians 1:18–25; Colossians 1:19–20, Colossians 2:2–4, Colossians 2:8–10; 2 Peter 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: Matthew 15:10–11 parallel Mark 7:14–15; Romans 14:5–6; Colossians 2:16–17, Colossians 2:20–23; 1 Timothy 4:1–5; 1 Corinthians 6:12–20; Galatians 5:13; Colossians 3:5–14; Titus 1:15–16; 1 Peter 2:16; 1 John 1:5–6, 1 John 2:3–6, 1 John 3:3–10; Jude 1:4

Stoicism

Paul encounters the Stoics in Athens

Acts 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.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Stoics ridicule Paul

Acts 17:18

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Stoics misunderstand Paul's message

Acts 17:18

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

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

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

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

Response of the Stoics to Paul's message

Acts 17:32–34

When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.” At that, Paul left the Areopagus. But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.