7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.[b]11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Reasons for Writing
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven because of Jesus’ name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have had victory over the evil one. 14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one.
9 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit[a]— 2 that I have intense sorrow and continual anguish in my heart. 3 For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off[b] from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, and the promises. 5 The ancestors are theirs, and from them, by physical descent,[c] came the Messiah, who is God over all, praised forever.[d] Amen.
Galatians 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Paul Defends His Gospel at Jerusalem
2 Then after 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2 I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles—but privately to those recognized as leaders—so that I might not be running, or have run the race, in vain. 3 But not even Titus who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 This issue arose because of false brothers smuggled in, who came in secretly to spy on the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. 5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you.
6 Now from those recognized as important (what they really were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism[a])—they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, 8 since the One at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas, and John, recognized as pillars, acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I made every effort to do.
Freedom from the Law
11 But when Cephas[b] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.[c]12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas[d] in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”[e]
15 We who are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners” 16 know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.[f] And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ[g] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will[h] be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter[i] of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild the system[j] I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ[k]20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body,[l] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
The Areopagus (/ˌæriˈɒpəɡəs/) is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" (Ancient Greek: Ἄρειος Πάγος). In classical times, it was the location of a court, also often called the Areopagus, that tried cases of deliberate homicide, wounding and religious matters, as well as cases involving arson of olive trees.[1][2] Ares was supposed to have been tried by the gods on the Areopagus for the murder of Poseidon's son Halirrhothius (a typical example of an aetiological myth).
Some writings by Epicurus have survived. Some scholars consider the epic poem De rerum natura (Latin for On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius to present in one unified work the core arguments and theories of Epicureanism. Many of the scrolls unearthed at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum are Epicurean texts. At least some are thought to have belonged to the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus.
Epicurus was an atomicmaterialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following the Cyrenaic philosopherAristippus, Epicurus believed that the greatest good was to seek modest, sustainable pleasure in the form of a state of ataraxia (tranquility and freedom from fear) and aponia
(the absence of bodily pain) through knowledge of the workings of the
world and limiting desires. Correspondingly, Epicurus and his followers
shunned politics because it could lead to frustrations and ambitions
which can directly conflict with the Epicurean pursuit for peace of mind
and virtues.[1]
Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism
insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal, the
concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest
pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from
"hedonism" as colloquially understood.
Epicureanism flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and during
the Roman era, and many Epicurean communities were established, such as
those in Antiochia, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Herculaneum. By the late 3rd century CE Epicureanism all but died out, being opposed by other philosophies (mainly Neoplatonism) that were now in the ascendant. Interest in Epicureanism was resurrected in the Age of Enlightenment and continues in the modern era.
Stoicism, a school of thought that flourished in Greek and Roman antiquity. It was one of the loftiest and most sublime philosophies in the record of Western civilization. In urging participation in human affairs, Stoics have always believed that the goal of all inquiry is to provide a mode of conduct characterized by tranquillity of mind and certainty of moral worth.
Aratus, (flourished c. 315–c. 245 bc, Macedonia), Greek poet of Soli in Cilicia, best remembered for his poem on astronomy, Phaenomena.
He resided at the courts of Antigonus II Gonatas, king of Macedonia, and Antiochus I of Syria. The Phaenomena, a didactic poem in hexameters, is his only completely extant work. Lines 1–757 versify a prose work on astronomy by Eudoxus of Cnidus (c. 390–c. 340), while lines 758–1154 treat of weather signs and show much likeness to Pseudo-Theophrastus’ De signis tempestatum. The poem became immediately popular and provoked many commentaries, the most important of which is by Hipparchus (c. 150 bc) and is still extant. In form, the Phaenomena belongs to the Alexandrian school, but the author’s Stoicism adds a strong note of seriousness. It was admired by Callimachus and enjoyed a high reputation among the Romans. Cicero, Germanicus Julius Caesar,
and Avienus translated it; the two last versions and fragments of
Cicero’s survive. One verse from the famous opening invocation to Zeus
became even more famous because it was quoted in the New Testament
(Acts 17:28): “For ‘in him we live and move and have our being’; as even
some of your own poets have said, ’For we too are his offspring.’”
