3. What were the Epicureans and the Stoics noted for, and how is a similar attitude seen today?

³ The Epicureans are mentioned. They believed that gaining the greatest pleasure without the bad effects of overindulgence was the chief aim in life. Paul was “declaring the good news of Jesus and the resurrection,” which ran counter to their idea of “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we are to die.” (Acts 17:18; 1 Cor. 15:32) The one boundary they sought to avoid crossing was anything that threatened to deny their pursuit and attainment of pleasure. No, they were not seeking the true God within the boundaries that He set.

4. Why was Paul taken to the Areopagus, and how would he view this?

⁴ The general attitude toward Paul was unfavorable. They “took to conversing with him controversially,” and called him, a “chatterer” and a “publisher of foreign deities.” They led him to the Areopagus, possibly so as to give him a trial hearing. Paul would be pleased for this opportunity to give a good witness, and we are glad that his speech on that occasion was recorded for our benefit. We will be interested to see how he tackled the problem of the “unknown” and the related question of boundaries. Imagine that we are there listening to him.​—Acts 17:18-22.