Pt1-13-PAUL AND THE POETS

PAUL AND THE POETS "As certain also of your own poets have said, For
we are also His offspring"--Acts 17:28.

IT is interesting to find Paul quoting Greek poets. Because of the fact that in his address to the Athenians and in certain Epistles Paul cites lines from Classic authors, learned writers have argued as to the extent of Paul’s knowledge of ancient literature, some taking the view that the apostle must have had a liberal education in the literature of Greece, others claiming that his allusions prove no more than that certain Classic lines had become proverbial. This is not the place to state the pros and cons of such a controversy, but it is of some profit to know who the "certain poets" are, and to consider Paul’s reason for introducing them into his address to the Athenians.

There are two passages in extant Greek literature which include Paul’s line, or words giving the same idea. Aratus, who lived in the earlier part of the third century before Christ, wrote an astronomical poem "Phænomena", which was popular in ancient times. Cicero translated it into Latin. This poem, which contains the very words cited by Paul, was written at the request of the King of Macedon, and was considered of sufficient importance to merit a commentary in four volumes by Hipparchus, a great astronomer. One personal detail is of special interest. His place of birth was Soli, in Cilicia, very near to Paul’s early home.

Cleanthes, a philosopher, was the author of the second poem. This is entitled "Hymn to Zeus", and commences:

"Most glorious of the Immortals, many named, Almighty forever,
Zeus, Ruler of Nature, that governest all things with law,
Hail! for lawful it is that all mortals should address Thee.
For we are Thy offspring, taking the image only of Thy voice,
as many mortal things as live and move upon the earth.
Therefore will I hymn Thee, and sing Thy might forever." This hymn is the only remnant of his writings, but some facts of the author’s life are known. He was born at Assos in Troas, about 300 B.C. In youth he became a boxer, but began to take an interest in philosophy. He attended lectures under Crates and Zeno in Athens. He was charged by the authorities of the city with having insufficient means of support, but he proved, to their delight, that he earned enough money to study philosophy in the daytime by carrying water at night! Upon the death of Zeno, Cleanthes became head of the Stoic school.

Both Aratus and Cleanthes were Stoics. This is an important fact, for it shows that while these poets used the words cited by Paul they employed them in a pantheistic sense. Stoic philosophy was an ethical system chiefly, but theology was included, the doctrine being taught that "God was a certain living force immanent in nature".

Whether Paul was expert in Greek literature and philosophy or not, he certainly knew his audience in Athens, and made his speech accordingly. As was pointed out in a previous study, he did not denounce the beliefs of his hearers, but sought a point of contact, and led their thoughts towards the knowledge of God in Christ. He had observed their altar dedicated to an unknown God; he knew their vague and imperfect notions of the Creator; and he enforced his argument by showing that these Stoic authors had written better than they knew. Addressing the Christians in Rome, Paul tore the mask off paganism and exposed its hideous travesty of the Divine Nature. Speaking to a pagan audience in Athens, he found what good there was to find and used it to win his hearers. It was in this way that Paul was all things to all men that by any means he might save some. This is no plea to dilute the truths of Christianity, as some writers on comparative religion do in seeking common factors in the beliefs of men; rather is it a plea to illumine with the light of heaven the dim avenues walked by those who are feeling after God.