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Acts 17:18
New Catholic Bible
Acts 17:18
New Catholic Bible
18 Even a few Epicurean and Stoic philosophers[a] argued with him. Some asked, “What is this man babbling about?” Others said, “Apparently, he is here to promote foreign deities,” because he was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.
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- Acts 17:18 Epicurean and Stoic philosophers: followers of the two prevailing philosophical systems. The Epicureans follow Epicurus (342–271 B.C.) in abandoning the search for pure truth by reason as hopeless and giving themselves over to present pleasures. The Stoics follow Zeno and Chrysippius (3rd century B.C.) and embrace a philosophy of self-repression because of human self-sufficiency. What is this man babbling about?: it seems to be a way of saying that the speaker is an eclectic, gathering ideas from all sources. Jesus and the resurrection: the Athenians misconstrue Paul’s words, thinking that he is speaking about Jesus and the goddess Anastasis, which means resurrection.
