Bobbieaware Posted November 4, 2017 Posted November 4, 2017 9 minutes ago, bluebell said: I'm actually speaking about Acts 17. Sorry for the confusion. I thought so.
clarkgoble Posted November 5, 2017 Posted November 5, 2017 On 11/4/2017 at 9:01 AM, bluebell said: I was confused and was actually referring to Acts 17, where Paul teaches the men of athens and says "we are the offspring of God." Sorry for the confusion. Ah yeah. That's actually Paul quoting a pagan hymn. It's the idea of man being in the image of deities. The teaching was popular among the Stoics especially by the philosopher Epictetus. "Slave, will you not endure your own brother, that has God to his forefather, even as a son sprung from the same stock, and of the same high descent as yourself? And if you are stationed in a high position are you therefore forthwith set up for a tyrant? Remember who you are, and whom you rule, that they are by nature your kinsmen, your brothers, the offspring of God." Whether or not one thinks Paul's doing some bad proof-texting here depends upon what you think Paul understood about the relationship of humans to gods. 2
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