interposition to deliver men from moral ruin.[383]
Like Socrates, he longed for a supernatural--a divine light to guide
him, and he acknowledged his need thereof continually.[384] He was one
of those who, in heathen lands, waited for "the desire of nations;" and,
had he lived in Christian times, no doubt his "spirit of faith" would
have joyfully "embraced the Saviour in all the completeness of his
revelation and advent."[385] And in so far as the spirit of Plato
survived among his disciples, we may be sure they were not among the
number who "mocked," and ridiculed, and opposed the "new doctrine"
proclaimed by Paul. It was "the philosophers of the Epicureans and of
the Stoics who _encountered_ Paul." The leading tenets of both these
sects were diametrically opposed to the doctrines of Christianity. The
ruling spirit of each was alien from the spirit of Christ. The haughty
_pride_ of the Stoic, the Epicurean abandonment to _pleasure_, placed
them in direct antagonism to him who proclaimed the crucified and risen
Christ to be "_the wisdom_ of God."

[Footnote 382: Butler's "Lectures on Ancient Philosophy," vol. ii. p.
61.]

[Footnote 383: "Republic," bk. vi. ch. vi. vii.]

[Footnote 384: Butler's "Lectures," vol. i. p. 362.]

[Footnote 385: Wheedon on "The Will," p. 352; also Butler's "Lectures,"
vol. ii. p. 252]

If, however, we would justly appreciate the relation of pagan philosophy
to Christian truth, we must note that, when Paul arrived in Athens, the
age of Athenian glory had passed away. Not only had her national
greatness waned, and her national spirit degenerated, but her
intellectual power exhibited unmistakable signs of exhaustion, and
weakness, and decay. If philosophy had borne any fruit, of course that
fruit remained. If, in the palmy days of Athenian greatness, any field
of human inquiry had been successfully explored; if human reason had
achieved any conquests; if any thing true and good had been obtained,
that must endure as an heir-loom for all coming time; and if those
centuries of agonizing wrestlings with nature, and of ceaseless
questioning of the human heart, had yielded no results, then, at least,
the _lesson_ of their failure and defeat remained for the instruction of
future generations. Either the problems they sought to solve were proved
to be insoluble, or their methods of solution were found to be
inadequate; for here the mightiest minds had grappled with the great
problems of being and