It is strange how fashion in clothes comes round again.
Flared trousers were a '60s phenomenon and here they are again 40 years later looking cool.
The same is true of ideas and religious beliefs. They get repackaged again and again sometimes hundreds of years later.
In the first century the apostle Paul visited Athens and met with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, who represented two different world views of the day.
The Epicureans were agnostic. thinking that everything happened by chance, that the greek gods were not in control, and the end of life was simply death, extinction with no afterlife. Their philosophy was, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow, we die."
The Stoics believed that the gods controlled everything. Everything was fated and fixed. Life was bleak and harsh, because the gods were cruel and hardhearted. You had to grin and bear it. Life was lived with detachment.
If you don't have God in your life, those views are both options. You decide either to make pleasure your aim, or you say that life is tough and you just have to be tougher. Both of these philosophies bring pride. Epicureans take pride in pleasure, bragging about their alcohol intake or how many sexual conquests they have made. Stoics take pride in their character, in how tough and resilient they are.
These were bright, intelligent people, and hearing Paul preach about Jesus and the resurrection they made fun of him and wrote him off. These men wanted to hear something new and sophisticated not that God had come to earth in Jesus and that those who repent of their autonomous pride and believe in Him have everlasting life.
With all their wisdom, they hadn't found what they were searching for. Seems like History repeats itself.
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