Anti-Epicurean Polemics in the New Testament Writings

Stefan Szymik analyses New Testament texts in terms of polemic and anti-Epicurean rhetoric. To what extent and how did Epicurus and his philosophical thought influence the first Christian Churches? How did Christians react to Epicureanism? Although the New Testament only includes one account of an encounter between the Apostle Paul and the Epicureans (Acts 17:18), the probability of their contacts was high, given the popularity of Epicureanism in the Roman Empire in the first century CE. As a vital component of Hellenistic-Roman culture, Epicureanism should be taken into account in research on the New Testament, becoming a point of reference and part of the content of comparative analyses.

Stefan Szymik, Rev. Prof. Hab. Dr., is Professor of Theological Studies and serves as a member of the Department of Exegesis of the Gospels and Apostolic Writings, Institute of Theology, at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.