I’ve been reading New Testament History by F.F. Bruce. Some of his writings brought to mind recollections that the early Christians were considered atheists because they refused to believe in the pagan gods. I can’t remember if this pops up anywhere in scripture, but I did want to include some of what F.F. Bruce says about the commonalities between the Epicureans, Christians, and Atheists here:
Epicurus’s doctrine was completely materialist; living beings and lifeless things alike were produced by the fortuitous concourse of atoms. When men and other living beings died, the atoms of which their souls consisted immediately dispersed and all sensation ceased; by this denial of the immortality of souls Epicurus hoped to liberate men from the fear of death. He did not deny the existence of gods; they too were composed of fine atoms and lived in the spaces between the worlds, enjoying perfect blessedness, undisturbed by concern for mankind or worldly affairs…
…Lucian, the satirist of Samosata (second century A.D.), couples Epicureans and Christians as people who were unlikely to be taken in by charlatanry; when Alexander the oracle-monger institutes his fraudulent mysteries, a preliminary proclamation is made: ‘If there be any atheist or Christian or Epicurean here spying on our rites, let him speedily begone!
F.F. Bruce, New Testament History pp. 42, 43
How far have we drifted when as Christians we are now considered gullible fools? Not all of this is simply from the proclamations of atheists that such is the case: it has its basis in reality. It is odd, in this time, to see the past coupling Christians and Atheists as those who would not fall for trickery and ungodly deceit. And yet we have televangelists. Don’t tell me we have a God while Benny Hinn still lives (*sarcasm*).
