Stoics

The Stoics were a school of Greek philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 334–262 B.C.) who taught in the Stoa Poikile (painted porch) at Athens — hence the name. They are sometimes described as "the Pharisees of Greek paganism" for their ethical rigorism, emphasis on duty and virtue, and belief that the wise man lives according to reason and is indifferent to pleasure and pain. They affirmed a single divine reason (logos) pervading all things and the brotherhood of all rational beings under one universal law.

Paul encountered Stoic philosophers at Athens alongside Epicureans, and both groups brought him to the Areopagus to explain his teaching (Acts 17:18). His speech on the Areopagus deliberately engages Stoic language — the quotation "for we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:28) comes from the Stoic poet Aratus — as a point of contact before introducing the distinctively Christian assertions of creation, resurrection, and judgment. The Stoic framework of a divine logos that orders all things provided both preparation for and sharp contrast with the incarnation of the Logos in Jesus Christ.