Superstition and Eschatological Ideas in the Early Imperial Philosophy

Superstition, Atheism and Eschatological Ideas At first glance, it may seem surprising that Christians, who, like the Jews, advocated for one God, were charged with atheism. Similarly, the charge of atheism had previously and contemporaneously been addressed to the Epicureans. For example, Plutarch’s description of a position that denies divine involvement in the world in his De superstitione likely reflects the Epicurean viewpoint. Plutarch’s essay De superstitione is not, as often supposed, a critique of religion tout court, but rather a critique of an insufficient understanding of God/the divine. Considering this, it is not by chance that we find an explicit association between Christians and Epicureans in the works of Lucian of Samosata (cf. Alexander the False Prophet 25; 38). This paper will argue that in both cases the core issue was not the denial of the existence of the gods, but rather the correct interpretation of the divine and its providential nature.