During the course of his famous address given on the summit of Mars' Hill at Athens, the Apostle Paul, wisely fastening upon the elements of truth to be found in the religion or philosophy of his audience, affirmed that in God "we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (Acts 17:28). This passage of itself is sufficient to suggest that in the thought of the apostle there were non-Christian writings current in the Graeco-Roman world which paved the way for the gospel which he preached. Indeed, there is now general agreement that in the verse just cited Paul quotes from two Greek authors, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being" coming from the writings of Epimenides; while, "For we are also his offspring" is derived from the Phaenomena of the Greek natural philosopher, Aratus. Following the line of thought suggested by the apostle, we discover additional evidence of a similar character.
Christians readily admit that the prophets of the Old Testament period predicted the advent of the Messiah, but it is less well known that the Roman poet Virgil, in his Fourth Eclogue, foretold the birth of a wonderful child, who was to inaugurate a new era of peace and of joy. Indeed, so remarkable are the parallels between this poem and certain portions of Hebrew prophecy, that it is often described as "The Messianic Eclogue." Pilate gave expression to the restless yearning of the age when he raised that momentous question, "What is truth?" (John 18:38), for there were many who, faced as they were by countless conflicting opinions, desired some definite authority in morals and in religion—just such a revelation of truth as came in the gospel of the Nazarene.
The people of the Graeco-Roman world were also reaching out as best they could for healing and for salvation. When Christianity appeared they were continually applying the name "Saviour" to the gods which they worshiped, while they laid especial stress upon Asclepius, the pagan god of healing (cf. Angus: "Environment of Early Christianity," p. 135).
