What Does “in Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being” Mean?

Athens. The very name evokes famous philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. And in the book of Acts, Athens became the scene of an encounter between Greek thinking and Christian beliefs.

The apostle Paul had fled to the city from persecution in Macedonia (Acts 17:13-15). But instead of laying low, Paul continued his mission to spread the gospel to all men (see “Become All Things to All Men”). While waiting in Athens for his companions, he conversed with a gathering of Greek philosophers (verse 18) and made an intriguing statement about God.

Paul said, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (verse 28). What did he mean?

To understand fully, it helps to have a little background on Epicureanism and Stoicism, the two branches of Greek philosophy represented in that exchange. These two schools of philosophy were popular during the first century, and Athens was their home base.

What is Epicureanism?

This often-misunderstood philosophy is not just about hedonism or self-indulgence. The term may be loosely used that way today, but that is not the essence of the ancient philosophy.

The philosophy pursued pleasure—which it defined as tranquility and the absence of pain—as life’s ultimate goal. It viewed virtue—not debauchery—as the practical means to achieve that goal.

The biggest divergence between Epicurean belief and what Paul taught is apparent in the words of Lucretius, an Epicurean writer, in his De Rerum Natura: “There is this one fundamental point we need to begin from: a divine force never made something out of nothing” (I, 149-150).

To the Epicureans of Paul’s day, the universe was not created, and the gods were neither interested in nor involved with human affairs. This concept left human beings on their own to carve out their own individual destinies.

What is Stoicism?

This philosophical school was very influential in the first century. With its emphasis on reason and rational thought, Stoicism “claimed it had the resources to address the problems of human life” (Yale University Press, “What Is Stoicism?”).

By the time of Paul, Stoics saw the universe as a living thing, and their god as its life force, according to the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. This god was not an approachable, personal God, as with Christianity, but an unknowable force.

Like the Epicureans, the Stoics did not seek guidance or help from a personal god. Instead, the Stoics struggled to attain virtue, taking control of what was possible and letting go of what was out of their control.

The philosophy’s claim to provide the necessary understanding for life is, of course, at odds with Christianity, which teaches that without Christ we are in bondage to sin and death (Romans 3:9-20). Stoics taught that though it was extraordinarily difficult to achieve true virtue, it was possible for some.

What was the Areopagus?

Shortly after Paul began speaking with the Epicureans and Stoics, they took him to the Areopagus (Acts 17:19). Why, and what was the Areopagus?

The word Areopagus is Greek for the Hill of Ares, a Greek god. The Roman equivalent for this god was Mars, so the location is also called Mars Hill.

At one time, the Areopagus had been the seat of government. By the time of Paul, the Romans had reduced the power of the court located on the hill, but allowed the Athenians to retain control over religion and education.

Though not stated explicitly in the biblical text, Paul’s appearance before the archons, or magistrates, at the Areopagus seems to have been to determine whether he would be allowed to continue preaching the gospel message.

Unfortunately, Luke—the author of Acts—does not give us details about the ultimate decision of the court. When Paul mentioned the resurrection of the dead, “Some mocked, while others said ‘We will hear you again on this matter’” (verse 32), and Paul seems to have left Athens shortly after this meeting. There is no evidence that more than a handful of Athenians became Christians (verse 34).

What did Paul say to the philosophers in Athens?

God was not far from them, just as He is not far from any of us. None of us live, or move, or continue to exist without Him. Apart from God, life is without meaning, without joy and without substance. In Paul’s day the once-influential Athens was no longer as important, but its temples and statues continued to bear witness to its past glory. Expositor’s Bible Commentary suggests its population may have been no more than 10,000 (Vol. 9, p. 473). However, it did have a synagogue—perhaps only one, based on the use of the definite article “the” with “synagogue” (verse 17). Paul did meet with Jews and interested Greeks there.

It was not in the synagogue, though, that Paul encountered the Epicureans and Stoics, but in the market. He would not have expected them to understand Scripture or to be very familiar with any biblical teachings.

To establish common ground with them, he began with a reference to an altar he had seen in their city. It was dedicated “to the unknown god” (verse 23).

Mention of this inscription would have brought to mind the Cretan poet Epimenides. These educated men would have been familiar with the poet, who received credit in legend for saving Athens from pestilence. According to that legend, he identified numerous locations where the Athenians should dedicate altars to unknown gods, thus saving the city from plague.

This pseudo-historical detail linked the altar “to the unknown god” with the poem Paul was about to quote. He quoted part of a quatrain from Cretica, a work by Epimenides: “in Him we live and move and have our being” (verse 28).

Why did Paul quote Cretica?

The quatrain praises Zeus, the highest god in the Greek pantheon. Paul, however, used it to help them understand a little about the God they did not know—the true God. He showed that God is a powerful being very much interested in and involved with humanity.

His preceding discussion of the nature of the true God (verses 24-27) already stood in opposition to their beliefs. Neither the Epicureans nor the Stoics thought of the divine realm as anything like what Paul claimed.

The Epicureans believed in gods who functioned mainly as “ethical ideals” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Stoics believed in a god that is one and the same as the universe itself.

Of course, neither philosophy was consistent with biblical teaching. The God of the Bible is very different, and Paul wanted these philosophers to understand that difference.

What does “in Him we live and move and have our being” mean?

How should we understand the thrust of Paul’s message to the philosophers? What did that quote mean in biblical terms? Again, Paul was emphasizing the nature of the true God, who is not impersonal and unknowable, who is not unconcerned about humans or ignorant of us.

The essence of the first part of the line from Cretica is that we owe our very lives to the Creator. God created us and all the physical world, and He breathed life into us (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:7). Without God, we would not exist. Nothing would exist.

It is “in Him we live” (emphasis added throughout).

Our ability to accomplish anything also comes from God. James warned the Church that in their planning they should recognize they could accomplish only what “the Lord wills” (James 4:15).

The book of Proverbs has a similar piece of advice about our dependence on God. It tells us, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

It is “in Him we . . . move.”

The God of the Bible not only created the universe and all that is in it, but also sustains it through the glorified Christ (Hebrews 1:2-3). It is in Christ that “all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).

We cannot do anything, or even continue to exist, apart from God. As Jesus told His disciples the night before His crucifixion, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6).

Therefore, it is “in Him we . . . have our being.”

What was the point Paul was making on Mars Hill?

According to Luke, the author of Acts, the Athenian philosophers gathered at the Areopagus with Paul “spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing” (verse 21). They were always searching for truth, but apparently always ready to dismiss it.

Paul told them, just prior to quoting Cretica, that the God they did not know was interested in them, contrary to their beliefs. It is God’s intent that all men, at some point, “should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).

God was not far from them, just as He is not far from any of us. None of us live, or move, or continue to exist without Him. Apart from God, life is without meaning, without joy and without substance.

Unfortunately, the account in Acts suggests that these men failed to believe Paul’s message, and it seems they prevented him from continuing to teach these truths.

What about you? Do you believe God doesn’t care about you, or that He is unapproachable? Or do you believe that you live and move and have your being in God?

Learn more about the true God and His desire for a relationship with you in our free study program Journey 1: Knowing God.