We get lazy people who not only don’t like working, they won’t work. Then we have people who don’t need to work. Normally they are sufficiently well off, not needing to earn an income. But there is another type of person who does not work. This is called the sponger. This person lets the wife (or husband) go off to work and find his way (or her way) to friends where the day is wasted away. Note the verse in parenthesis:
Ac 17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
We shall return to this verse later … please read for context:
Ac 17:18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
1) What is philosophy? This is a deep question, one that requires considerable time, so to be brief, here are two answers.
(a) A secular understanding. ‘In its simplest form, the term “philosophy” means “love of wisdom.” In a broad sense, philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other.’
(b) A Biblical understanding. ‘Studying philosophy helps us fulfill the Great Commission by producing authentic Christian witness through behavior that exhibits a sound biblical worldview, and through that behavior it salts the world.’ At face value, both statements seem similar … yet there is a huge difference in understanding people from a Christian perspective. A follower of the Lord Jesus needs to understand what makes the non-Christian around him and in other cultures tick. The purpose for this is to establish a starting point of being able to share the Gospel in the context of world evangelism. As examples, this is the reason missionaries study other (world) religions and cultures.
2) Opposition philosophers.
Ac 17:18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.
These were rival groups.
(a) The Stoics claimed the Cypriot Zeno (340-265 BC) was their founder. They gathered in an area known as the “painted colonnade” where this “leader” would teach when in Athens. They lived in consistency with nature, they emphasized the rational faculty in humans as well as self-sufficiency. Religiously they pantheists. They believe … ‘the universe conceived of as a whole is God and, conversely, that there is no God but the combined substance, forces, and laws that are manifested in the existing universe.’ Further they believed in a world state where all truly free people have equal rights as citizens which helps to break down both national and class distinctions. They advocated high morals and a high sense of duty. Should one feel they could not live a life of sustained dignity, suicide was commended.
(b) The Epicureans were founded by Epicurus (340-270 BC). He was part of Athenian settlers on the Island of Samos (a Greek Island in the eastern Aegean Sea). He based his ethical theory on the ‘atomic physics of Democritus’ saying that pleasure is the chief end of life. He said, chief of pleasure would be a life free from pain, aggressive passions and superstitious fears … especially that of death. If gods existed, they believed these never took any interest in the lives of humans. Here we see the Stoics and Epicureans were very opposite forms of paganism. One can easily see how drastically far apart these philosophies are from Christianity.
3) Agreeing on opposition to Christianity. In Paul bringing the Gospel to Athens was seen as an intrusion, disrupting the status quo.
Ac 17:18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
They saw him as bringing an unknown religion amongst them and a threat to their existence because the one side was pantheist and the other at best agnostic.
(1) They joined together against Paul and his teachings. The same is true in our day. Nominal and Liberal Christian Churches join with non-Christian religions to stand against Biblical Christianity. When it comes to truth, opposites unite against God and His Word. As Christians we need to expect this. We need to understand that the attack is not against us but against the one, true, living God.
(2) There were two accusations levelled against Paul.
(i) He was called a babbler. There are two ideas that explain this word “babbler”. The first is a bird on the ground, greedily picking up bits of food (seed) before another bird could pick up more or a larger bird comes and changes the smaller bird away. (Eating greedily.) The second is of a man in the market place watching carts carrying goods such as apples or cabbage. If any falls off, he would rush and pick it up. (Scavenger.) This accusation saw Paul as a greedy scavenger, trying to pick up people, who through his teachings, were undecided about their “pagan religion” … that is, falling off their religious persuasion and being gobbled up by Paul into his “religion”.
(ii) He advocated foreign gods. This is the only place in the Bible where the term “foreign gods” is used in the context of “divine power, deity or divinity”. Every other time it’s used as a spirit inferior to God or for evil spirits and messengers of the devil. To them, Paul was advocating … announcing or proclaiming … different gods … gods unknown to them. This was most likely because the God Paul proclaimed was not represented amongst the pantheon of gods represented by the many idols he saw in the city and its surroundings. As Christians, we need to realize that those in other religions will feel the exact same way about our God when we proclaim the Gospel to them. Should this prevent us or silence us? Not at all. We know for certain that our God is the only true God. He is not like those demon gods people venerated and still venerate. They, like we did, need Jesus and His message of salvation from sin and eternal death.
Father, help us to be wise as we bring the Gospel into the lives of those who are alienated from You. Cause gentleness, love and understanding to be exercise so that we earn a platform to speak for You. Amen.