Tag: greek

  • NO Divisions in our Church ?

    NO Divisions in our Church ?

    I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other.

    Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

    1 Corinthians 1:10 New Living Translation

    IMPOSSIBLE !’ you say. Impossible in Corinth.. and certainly impossible in our local Common Era Church.

    This is the challenge of the Apostle in his exhortation for the Corinthians who Paul has addressed so graciously in his introduction.

    1 Corinthians 1 – 4

    The Apostle’s approach, translated variously in 1 Corinthians 1:10 sets both the tone and outline of his epistle:

    • Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.. – KJV
    • Now I plead with you.. – NKJV
    • I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ.. – NLT
    • Now I urge you, brothers and sisters.. – CSB
    • Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you.. – 1 Cor 10a LSB

    παρακαλέω – parakaleō Lexicon :: Strong’s G3870 – parakaleō

    to call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation):—beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort(-ation), intreat, pray.

    How to sustain a CHURCH in the Gospel

    Paul loves these people of the Corinthian church to whom the apostle writes from Ephesus.

    He is beholden to this church he started across the Aegean in a city embracing every imaginable sin – Corinth, where many Greeks and some Jews received the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit through his witness.

    SO HOW IS PAUL TO APPROACH THESE CORINTHIANS SIMPLY BY SENDING A LETTER TO THEIR CHURCH?

    Corinth is a large administrative capital where important policies of ROME must be managed wisely every day.

    Even well-educated Roman Centurions and well-to-do families recognized the benefits of applying a Greek-style wisdom and logic to the goals of their everyday lives.


    The Jews and their religious traditions have an acceptable presence in Corinth as well.

    ANSWER:
    "The Wisdom of the Cross Purifies and Unites Believers, the Wisdom of the World Pollutes and Divides."
    - Kress Biblical Resources Overview Outline of
    1 Corinthians

    The Wisdom of the Cross

    TODAY we will examine Paul's initial approach ONLY from the beginning of 1 Corinthians.

    The Apostle will address more relationships of Christians and the CROSS later in his epistle, but Paul begins with the ROLES of certain people (ministers).


    The wisdom of the cross and Christian ministers

    Problem #1

    For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.

    1 Corinthians 1:11 LSB

    Rumor?

    Hearsay?

    YOU heard THAT about OUR church?


    A.D. 55 – the Corinthian Church

    What is evident here is that the Apostle has been and is in communication with this church he started back in Corinth. His sources are both reliable and concerned for the right outcomes of their church ministry.

    Kress Biblical Resources provides a helpful outline of Paul's approach to this problem of CHURCH QUARRELS.

    The Apostles first states
    • the report of divisions over Christian ministers, THEN
    • rebukes their divisions over Christian ministers, and finally
    • Paul provides the remedy for divisions over Christian ministers 
    ἔρις quarrels

    BEWARE, Christian leader (minister), these divisions could divide and conquer a church once faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.

    ἔρις éris, er'-is; of uncertain affinity; a quarrel, i.e. (by implication) wrangling:—contention, debate, strife, variance.
    Note the gravity of some headings from 1 Corinthians:
    • Sectarianism Is Sin – NKJV
    • Divisions in the Church – ESV
    • Taking Sides – Contemporary English Version
    • A Church Divided Over Leaders – NIV
    A.D. 49 – Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians

    Paul, in writing to the Galatians six years ago back in A.D. 49 included the same Greek word, translated as ‘strife,’ in a list of what NOT to do.

    Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

    Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 5:19-21 LSB

    Whether is was the ‘foolish‘ Galatians, these Corinthians or YOUR CHURCH, quarreling and strife are serious challenges of the flesh which work against ministers of the Gospel.

    Paul contrasts OUR expected behavior to such foolish quarrels.

    Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

    Galatians 5:24 LSB

    1 Corinthians 1:10-

    Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 1:12 NKJV

    https://talkofjesus.com/apollos-and-paul-apostles-crossing-paths

    Note Paul’s list from divisions include Christ in addition to Peter and Apollos, the powerful preacher who had followed Paul in Corinth.

    The Apostle then asks:

    • Has Christ been divided?
    • Was Paul crucified for you?
    • Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

    ALL with the same implication for Peter or Apollos or whatever PREACHER they might follow in the place of CHRIST.


    Paul disavows any loyalty to any other than Christ, taking no side of any Corinthian (or any other) claimant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Paul’s summary of the Corinthian Report

    I thank God that I baptized none of you…

    Paul mentions a recalled exception [v.14] of Crispus, Gaius, and [v.16] also the household of Stephanas which mentions later in his epistle.

    For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom or words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

    gar christos apostellō me ou baptizō alla euangelizō ou en sophia logo ina ho stauros christos kenoō

    1 Corinthians 1:17  οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλέν με Χριστὸς βαπτίζειν ἀλλ᾽ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ

    Again, the context of Corinth is Greek as an international language and philosophy of an authoritarian ROMAN EMPIRE which created the culture of the Corinthians and Judeans and everybody else.


    NEXT, God-willing, the Apostle’s rebuke of ministers

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  • A First Letter to the Corinthians Intro

    A First Letter to the Corinthians Intro

    in the year of our Lord ano Domini 55 [A.D. 55]

    & in the context of the culture of Corinth


    Intro

    PREVIOUSLY in this Talk of Jesus series from CHURCH LETTERS - IS HE WRITING TO ME? we have glanced at a few of Paul's LETTERS (Epistles) to the Church written during his just completed missionary journeys. 

    TODAY we continue with a brief look back at more letters already sent to the churches.
    And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: Acts 19:11 ASV graphic map of Third Missionary Journey of Paul

    WHAT THE CHURCH HAS READ SO FAR:

    Just a reminder that all dates from reliable sources may vary but are used for chronological context only.
    • A.D. 49 – JAMES, the half-brother of Jesus and leader of the church in Jerusalem writes his LETTER
      • James also sends out a letter to the churches concerning gentiles from the Council in Jerusalem.
    • A.D. 49 – Paul writes his letter to the Galatians (actually, several new churches in Galatia)
    • A.D. 50 – 1 THESSALONIANS
    • A.D. 51 – 2 THESSALONIANS

    • during the A.D. 50’s or A.D. 60’s (actual date unknown) – The GOSPEL OF MARK

    1:1 Ἀρχὴ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ

    The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God – Mark 1:1

    Consider the possibility that parts of the Gospel of John Mark, who had accompanied his uncle Barnabas and the Apostle Paul to Cypress, MAY HAVE been known even in Corinth where Paul has already travelled and whose FIRST LETTER we are about to examine.

    The GREAT COMMISSION of JESUS CHRIST to the CHURCH is recorded in the Gospel of Mark 16:15

    view of earth from moon

    1 Corinthians:

    This epistle was most likely written in the first half of A.D. 55 from Ephesus (16:8, 9, 19) while Paul was on his third missionary journey. The apostle intended to remain on at Ephesus to complete his 3 year stay (Acts 20:31) until Pentecost (May/June) A.D. 55 (16:8). Then he hoped to winter (A.D. 55–56) at Corinth (16:6; Acts 20:2). His departure for Corinth was anticipated even as he wrote (4:19; 11:34; 16:8).

    John MacArthur :: Bible Introductions – 1 Corinthians

    Paulus vocatus apostolus Christi Iesu per voluntatem Dei et Sosthenes frater

    1 Corinthios (1 Corinthians) 1 :: Latin Vulgate (VUL)

    in the context of the culture of Corinth

    CORINTH, ACHAIA is ROMAN; not Macedonian (as in the former Empire of Alexander the Great).

    Neither is the large city of Corinth simply Greek, as in ‘ancient Greece’ with ancient Athens whose glory had long ago been reduced to ruins.

    In 146 BC, the battle of Corinth signified a defining moment in the history of ancient Greece. Situated on the narrow strip of land connecting the Peloponnese to the mainland of Greece, Corinth was a city-state with a significant strategic and economic position.

    source:

    The language of Greek (thanks to the Great Macedonian Alexander) has become the international language of the Roman Empire.

    So in Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, Antioch and even in Jerusalem the GOOD NEWS and Epistles [Letters] typically were written and read in GREEK.

    Παῦλος κλητὸς ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ καὶ Σωσθένης ὁ ἀδελφός

    Α΄ Κορινθίους (1 Corinthians) 1 :: Textus Receptus (TR)

    Paulos klētos apostolos Jēsous Christos dia thelēma theos kai Sōsthenēs ho adelphos;

    To the church of God which is at Corinth,

    to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,

    with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

    1 Corinthians 1:2 NKJV

    Here in CORINTH we immediately read the opening of Paul’s Epistle written in Greek to the CHURCH, beginning with the Apostle’s universal greeting to ALL and specifically to the saints separated to the calling of Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Paul had been there and wrote back to encourage these Christians in Corinth.

    See if this A.D. first century city of CORINTH sounds vaguely familiar to any city of destruction in our 21st century the Common Era.


    Once again, the commentary of John Macarthur on the culture of Corinth.

    Even by the pagan standards of its own culture, Corinth became so morally corrupt that its very name became synonymous with debauchery and moral depravity.

    To “corinthianize” came to represent gross immorality and drunken debauchery. In 6:9, 10, Paul lists some of the specific sins for which the city was noted and which formerly had characterized many believers in the church there.

    Tragically, some of the worst sins were still found among some church members.

    John Macarthur Commentary – the Background and Setting of Corinth

    Here the Apostle writes to a chosen few SAVED from the surrounding sinful culture of CORINTH (and most every other city in their culturally correct Roman Empire) in a CHURCH separated in worship yet living and working with all of those destined to the wrath of God’s punishment.

    These Corinthian Christians were taught and sought to live in complete contrast to sinful lifestyles hopefully left behind. 

    Later in his letter Paul will describe their love [ ἀγάπη ] more fully.

    1 Corinthians 13:4-8a on LOVE of the Christian who follows Jesus Christ

    Although some contemporary Christians include parts of Paul’s list of LOVE in ceremonies of Christian marriage, the love of which Paul writes is not romantic or specifically marital in any way.

    These CORINTHIANS were recognized in the city for their uniquely personal LOVE –

    ἀγάπη – agapē love,

    sometimes translated as CHARITY for each other and for others.


    Their agapē LOVE stood against a CULTURE OF SIN characterized in acorinthianizedcity, fallen nation or evil empire.


    Paul later writes what he knows of their Corinthian challenges warning:

    Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

    Do not be deceived; 

    .. neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

    And such were some of you…

    1 Corinthians 6:9-11 excerpt LSB

    Starting with Encouragement

    Paul begins his Epistle with an agape-rooted encouragement.

    Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Grace, for which Christians should be so well recognized, written χάρις in Greek charis is:

    • that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
    • good will, loving-kindness, favour
    • of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
    CAN YOU THINK OF ANY GREETING WHICH ENCOURAGES MORE THAN 'GRACE?'

    I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all word and all knowledge,
    even as the witness about Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, beyond reproach in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Paul practically embraces these Corinthian believers in a personal prayer written for them.

    Could any introduction of LOVE and Grace be more encouraging?

    God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

    Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians 1:9 LSB [in context of 1:3-9]
    Theos is faithful, through Whom you were kaleō into koinōnia with His Son Ἰησοῦς Χριστός [iēsous christos] our kyrios.

    *Linked definitions of GREEK words from 1 Corinthians 1:9 from BlueLetterBible.org

    Reintroducing our Lord

    Paul begins his letter to a beloved church in a city caught-up in the sins of SELF and worshipping multiple gods of ME with encouragement in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    In the Apostle Paul’s two Epistles to the Corinthians he uses:

    • iēsous – 45x
    • christos – 111x
    • kyrios – 95x
    • θεόςtheos – an amazing 185x
    - king - only once in his second letter & not referring to Jesus
    - prophet - prophētēs - only once but referring to gifts of the saints
    - priest not at all in writing to the Corinthians

    TO:

    THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED ἁγιάζω – hagiazō – Paul uses this four times in this letter.

    Are YOU sanctified?

    ἅγιοςagios – sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):—(most) holy (one, thing), saint.

    That’s what the apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God asks the church of God which is at Corinth.

    (It's a good question for those claiming Jesus Christ facing a refining and sanctification of our sinful mortal flesh.)

    The Apostle Paul refers to the church as SAINTS, a most holy thing, TWENTY TIMES in his epistles to the Corinthians including his encouragement of the church in this introduction.

    To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

    τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορίνθῳ ἡγιασμένοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ κλητοῖς ἁγίοις σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ αὐτῶν τε καὶ ἡμῶν·
    1 Corinthians 1:2 NIV, TR –

    The Apostle Paul has many more things to write to the Corinthians (and to you, God-willing).

    To be continued…

    Talk of JESUS .com

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  • Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

    Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

    The Lord’s apostle to the gentiles — Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, a Roman citizen of CILICIA — has hurriedly fled Thessaloniki and Berea MACEDONIA sailing south along the Aegean coast of ACHIA to Athens.

    sailing from Macedonia through the Aegean Sea to Achia, home of ancient Athens and a larger city of Corinth

    Sailing from Macedonia to Athens

    Although fleeing the Jews we must think of Paulos as a ROMAN citizen on some sort of commercial Roman ship traveling from Macedonia to Achia. Yes, the destination of his ticket in Athens – a city of a 300 year old fading glory – but the more important city of Roman Achia is now Corinth.

    What is more important here along Paul’s nearly 300 mile journey here is the context of culture so evident as he sails to Athens and then walks through the entrance of a city steeped in its former Hellenist glory.

    Previously we addressed the ‘Greek‘ influence of Alexander the Great and Macedonian culture.
    Statue of Alexander the Great atop a fountain in Thessaloniki, Greece. In Acts 17 Paul fled from there to Berea on his second missionary journey;

    This modern-day statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, Greece partially demonstrates this Macedonian’s lasting influence even since his death in 323 B.C.

    Paul would have no sooner left port in Macedonia than all would have viewed the great mountains of Greek mythology on their starboard side.

    Google Earth View of Mount Olympus, Olympus mountains toward Berea
    (We will approach these gods Zeus and others upon arrival in Athens.)
    Mount Olympus, highest peak in Greece
    Mount Olympus – Highest peak in Greece, home of Zeus and the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses

    As we noted earlier the apostles’ journey along this mountainous coast of about 300 miles takes them from Macedonia (with its Alexandrian history) to Achia, the Roman region of strategic importance which includes Corinth on an inland isthmus and the port of Athens, formerly devastated by war but brought back to prominence by Rome as a ‘free city.’

    Approaching Athens

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    As their commercial Roman sailing ship rounded mountains descending into the Aegean on their approach Athens, Paul would have seen ruins of the destroyed Acropolis appear on the hill to their starboard side prior to their ship docking in port.

    acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”). – source – Flickr (same as photo)

    Upon arrival, as we noted last time, Paul sent his Berean brothers back to let the church know that he had arrived safely — again a 300 mile return trip while the Apostle Paul takes in the sights of this ancient ruined Greek city of Hellenist influence and lessor free city of Rome gaining the attention of its Emporer (a Caesar and god of the people).

    Visitors to the Athens of A.D. 50 would have walked along streets lined with monuments and statues as they ascended the hill into the city and its agora (marketplace).


    Unknown gods and goddesses

    Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

    Acts of the Apostles 17:16
    Thomas Cahill - SAILIING THE WINE DARK SEA - Why the Greeks Matter

    NOTE: Although I have researched several sources as a background for Paul’s Acts 17 speech in Athens, you will find this one most useful and detailed. – Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    https://thomascahill.com/books


    YOU and I cannot fully understand Paul’s more contemporary knowledge of his first century A.D. context of clashes between Hellenist, Roman and Hebrew cultures; however after a brief overview of the text we will take a glance at Athens through the A.D. 50 eyes of all.


    Acts of the Apostles 17:

    Acropolis -

    17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles,

    and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.

    18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are speaking? 20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.”

    Luke now inserts a parenthetical glance at our 1st century A.D. philosophers of Athens.

    21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)

    Luke's account continues from ACTS 17:22 'So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus..
    
    We will listen to the apostle to the gentiles addressing the men of Athens next time, but first some CULTURAL CONTEXT.

    The Jews (in the eyes of Athens)

    The acts of Saul of Tarsus persecuted Christians until on a road to Damascus the Lord anoints the Apostle to the gentiles

    Saulos of Tarsus frequented the synagogues of his Hebrew brothers first in many other cities. He is a Pharisee who had believed in the Resurrection even prior to meeting the risen Messiah Jesus (same as Joshua in Hebrew) live and in Person.


    This belief in the resurrection of JESUS, Ἰησοῦς in the common Greek language, yᵊhôšûaʿ or Joshua in Hebrew, held by some Pharisees and some Essenes but not the Jewish sect of the Sadducees attracted Pharisaic Jews and proselytes to Christ’s fulfillment of Hebrew Scripture.

    Jews were merchants who mostly seemed to fit into the Pax Romana like any other religious culture except for one strange belief: Jews only had One God.

    An even more strange belief of some Jews about what happened to the body after death seemed somewhat ghoulish. (Just imagine some neighbor walking around Athens after he died — laughable!) What a strange belief of some of these Jews.

    For the Jews, who had little or no belief in the immortality of the soul, only salvation in one’s body could have any meaning.

    Thomas Cahill, Why the Greeks Matter, p.260

    The ‘peace’ of Rome accomplished in Athens by conquest was tenuous. Athenians and Romans were somewhat suspicious of Jews who the Emperor Claudius had just expelled from Rome.

    Therefore, just as Saul of Tarsus had fled Macedonia secretly and swiftly, Jews in Achia and other cities of the Roman Empire most likely worshiped somewhat ‘under the radar’ in A.D. 50 so as to peaceably blend in with other Greeks.

    As to Jewish cultural traditions of the past, Hellenist and Roman alike would have admired the great Jewish Empire of Solomon which was even more ancient than the centuries-old fallen glory of Alexander of Macedon who also conquered all of the world including the ancient cities of Greece.

    To the Hellenist eyes of Athenian philosophers Jewish wisdom differed from their own ancient Greek wisdom. Paul understood both.

    .. a Hebrew mode of argument .. proceeds by assertion and contrast rather than step-by-step reasoning [of ‘Socratic method’]

    Thomas Cahill, excerpt ibid. p.165

    17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles


    Dialogue with men in the Agora

    .. and in the marketplace G58 every day with those who happened to be present.

    You might think that based on previous witness in other cities the apostle would have steered clear of the agora where everybody who’s anybody gathers in town.

    But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, – Acts 16:19 LSB

    Acts of the Apostles Missions trips of Paul, Barnabas, Silas and several others

    Paulos, sent out by Christ to the world of the Greeks, is a Roman citizen with a public duty, a Greek-speaking orator with a heart for the One God revealed in Hebrew Scripture and by the Messiah and the Spirit of the Living God.


    This visitor to Athens brings a unique perspective to Roman authorities and citizens of this free Roman city in addition to an appeal to traditional and classic Greek values represented in-part by their many gods.

    The agora in Athens is crowded with Gentiles EVERY DAY.

    ἀγορά

    1. any assembly, especially of the people
    2. the place of assembly
    3. market place, street

    The Greek or Hellenist or Roman agora is a multi-purpose public place.

    For: public debating, in-person democratic elections, trials, for buying and selling and all kinds of business


    Aristotle & the pantheon of Athenian gods of philosophy

    Classic Greece is long gone. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., his student Plato in 347 B.C. and Socrates had accepted his death sentence of hemlock for disbelief in the gods of Athens way back in 399 B.C.

    ~A.D. 50

    Acts 17:18

    And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.

    Who are these endless debaters of the Agora?

    Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?”

    Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

    Classic Schools of Philo-sophy [love of wisdom]

    Roman and Hellene aristocratic families would send their young men to Athens. It’s schools included: Cynicism, Stoicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism and others. Among these that Paul would have encountered:

    Stoics taught virtuous detachment from the physical things of the world (a sort of monastic approach). Epicureans taught to love of life and pleasure much to the liking of most powerful Roman and well-healed Greek men celebrating so many festivals of various gods with little thought of wisdom at all.

    In fact, over the centuries since the esteemed Greek philosophers Athens and other Hellenist cities had had so many varied festivals and pantheons of gods that no man could truly remember them all.

    THE LOVERS OF WISDOM continually TALKED about gods and religion as a contest between PHILOSOPHERS seeking advantage over their opponent without seeking the TRUTH of the LOGOS which the Apostle Paul was about to present.

    And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus

    Acts of the Apostle Paul in ATHENS — To be continued…