Page 40 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

The various schools of philosophy formed communities of
“believers” around a revered master and his teachings. They had
their “interdenominational” rivalries and conversion stories. The
various schools provided the worldview and practical guidance
for life that religion does for many today. (Ferguson, 300)

Cairns adds some further insight into the content of their philosophy:

Both Socrates and Plato in the fifth century B.C. taught that this
present world of the senses is but a shadow of the real world in
which the highest ideals are such intellectual abstractions as the
good, the beautiful, and the true. They taught that reality was not
temporal and material but spiritual and eternal. (43)

Paul’s experience in Athens at Mar’s Hill when he met with a group
of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (Acts 17:18) indicates the honor
the Greeks gave to philosophy and polytheism. This environment gave
rise to many hungry hearts who were seeking for the truth. Greek and
Roman systems of philosophy and religion helped people to come to
the conclusion that they could not find the true God merely through
intellectual and religious practices; instead, they needed a personal
relationship to a loving God. This is why the New Testament book of
Romans was written. It is a masterful message written by Paul to the
people of Rome and to the larger Roman Empire, which included both
Jew and Gentile, to prove they could only come to the truth by having a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Romans 10).

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