Acts 17:18

Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, " What does this babbler want to say? " Others said, " He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods, " because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.

1. Epicureans -

1. John Gill describes them - These were so called from Epicurus, the son of Neocles, who was born 342 years before Christ, and taught philosophy at Athens, in his garden; the principal tenets of which were, that the world was not made by any deity, or with any design, but came into its being and form, through a fortuitous concourse of atoms, of various sizes and magnitude, which met, and jumbled, and cemented together, and so formed the world; and that the world is not governed by the providence of God; for though he did not deny the being of God, yet he thought it below his notice, and beneath his majesty to concern himself with its affairs; and also, that the chief happiness of men lies in pleasure. His followers were called "Epicureans"; of which there have been two sorts; the one were called the strict or rigid "Epicureans", who placed all happiness in the pleasure of the mind, arising from the practice of moral virtue, and which is thought by some to be the true principle of "Epicureans"; the other were called the loose, or the remiss Epicureans, who understood their master in the gross sense, and placed all their happiness in the pleasure of the body, in brutal and sensual pleasure, in living a voluptuous life, in eating and drinking, &c. and this is the common notion imbibed of an Epicurean.

2. B. W. Johnson writes that for the Epicureans "a man's best course was to get as much pleasure out of life as possible. With them pleasure was the chief good."

2. Stoics - The Stoics were the opposite.

1. John Gill describes the Stoics - "The author of this sect was Zeno, whose followers were so called from the Greek word "Stoa", which signifies a portico, or piazza, under which Zeno used to walk, and teach his philosophy, and where great numbers of disciples attended him, who from hence were called "Stoics": their chief tenets were, that there is but one God, and that the world was made by him, and is governed by fate; that happiness lies in virtue, and virtue has its own reward in itself; that all virtues are linked together, and all vices are equal; that a wise and good man is destitute of all passion, and uneasiness of mind, is always the same, and always joyful, and ever happy in the greatest torture, pain being no real evil; that the soul lives after the body, and that the world will be destroyed by fire."

2. "The Stoics were fatalists, believers in a sort of pantheism, and insisted on self-righteousness."

3. Luscombe's Summary - The Epicureans believed that what ever brings pleasure is good. In modern vernacular - If it feels good, do it. The Stoics believed that denial of pleasure was the chief virtue. In other words - If it brings pleasure, it is wrong.

4. Paul is called a "babbler" here. The Greek word is for a bird that is a "seed picker." It was used about one who was "lounging about the market place and picking up a substance by whatever may chance to fall from the loads of merchandise." (Thayer's Greek Lexicon)

5. Others just thought he was introducing them to a "new" god, named Jesus. They had heard of hundreds of gods but this was a new one. They were interested, or, at least curious.