Paul, taking Silas as his companion, went over the former ground in Asia
Minor, and at Iconium ordained a disciple, named Timothy, whose father
was a Greek, but whose Jewish mother and grandmother had faithfully bred
him up in the knowledge of the Scriptures. A Greek physician, named
Luke, likewise at this time joined him; and with these faithful
companions, he obeyed a call sent him in a dream, and crossed over into
Macedon, where he gained many souls at Philippi and Thessalonica, but
the Jews stirred up such persecution, that he was forced to go southward
into Greece. Athens was no longer a powerful city, but it served as a
sort of college for all the youths of the Roman Empire who wished to be
highly educated; and it was full of philosophers, who spent their time
in the porticos and groves, arguing on questions of their own--such as
whether, this life being all of which they were sure, it was best to
live well or to live in pleasure. The Stoics were the philosophers who
upheld the love of virtue and honour; the Epicureans said that it was of
no use to vex themselves in this life, but that they might as well enjoy
themselves while they had time.
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