Stoics

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(porch scholars). Members of a Grecian philosophical school, or sect, founded by Zeno, 308 B. C., who taught in the stow, or porch, of the Agora at Athens. They held to a high morality, proud independence of spirit, fateful, in place of providential, superintendence, wisdom as the source of happiness (Acts 17:1818Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18)). Paul encountered both Stoics and Epicureans at Athens, and, on being taken into Areopagus by them, delivered to them the oration (Acts 17:22-3122Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:22‑31)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

A sect of the philosophers of Greece, founded by Zeno, and named after the Stoa, the porch at Athens where the philosopher assembled his pupils. He taught that there was one Supreme Being, but many subordinate gods, and that man had similar faculties to the gods. Intellect was to be their guide, and pleasures and pains of the body were not to be regarded. From this sect the English word “stoic” is derived. Pantheism, fatalism, and pride were the leading features of the stoics. Some of such were among the audience Paul addressed at Athens (Acts 17:1818Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. (Acts 17:18)).

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

1. Epicurus, the founder of the sect which bore his name, was born at Samoa about 340 B.C. He early adopted the atomic theory of Democritus, and taught philosophy in Athens for nearly forty years, his place of instruction being a beautiful garden in the heart of the city. According to the Epicureans the universe consists of matter and space. Matter is uncreated and indestructible. It is composed of minute atoms, infinite in number and imperceptible to the senses. These atoms may change in mutual relation and in combination, but they cannot be annihilated. They are perpetually moving in space, and are constantly undergoing transpositions of form, but are regulated by no law save that of blind chance. Epicurus believed in the existence of the gods, but this belief was practically no better than atheism, since he denied that the gods had any part in the operations of nature. There was in his system no room for conscience, no place for moral obligation. Pleasure was the chief object of life. Though it is claimed that the ideal of Epicurus was not pleasure of a degrading nature, and that he taught a strict morality, yet the system inevitably tended to sensuality, and had natural attractions for those who were fond of debasing pleasures. It made no provision for a future life, for it knew of no other life than this. Its creed may be briefly summed up in this: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
2. The Stoics were founded by Zeno of Citium in the fourth century before Christ. Their place of meeting was in the “Painted Porch,” or Siva, of Athens, whence they derived their name. They believed in two fundamental principles, the active and the passive. The passive was matter, the active was God. They were pantheists, denying the independent existence of the soul, and affirming that all souls were emanations of Deity. They also taught that God and man were both alike inexorably subject to Fate. In opposition to the Epicureans they held that men ought to have no regard to pleasure, but to act only for the right. They were not agreed in their views of a future life. Some believed that all souls were absorbed into Deity at death; others that they maintained their separate existence until a general conflagration of the universe took place; others still, that only the good thus maintained a separate existence.

Related Books and Articles:

843. Epicureans Stoics