Epicurus (342–270 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher who taught that the goal of man should be a life of pleasure, regulated by moderation. He also taught that the universe came into existence by the spontaneous joinder of atoms and that there is no afterlife.
Epicurus himself not only teaches atheism, but teaches along with it incest with mothers and sisters. . . . Epicurus and the Stoics teach incest and sodomy, with which doctrines they have filled libraries. Theophilus (c. 180, E), 2.112
Epicurus, too, very greatly preferred pleasure to truth. He supposed that faith was a preconception of the mind. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.350
The Christian view . . . is more worthy of honor than the Epicurean, for it preserves you from annihilation. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.177
The Epicureans hold the opinion that the soul dies. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.246
Epicurus, indeed, in his fairly widely known doctrine, has asserted that death does not concern us. He says that whatever is dissolved lacks sensation, and that which is without sensation is of no concern to us. Tertullian (c. 210, W), 3.221
Epicurus, however, propagated an opinion almost contrary to everyone. He believed atoms and the vacuum to be the originating principles of all things. He believed the vacuum to be the place that would contain the things that will exist. And he believed atoms to be the matter out of which all things could be formed. He also believed that God and all of the elements derived their existence from the concourse of atoms. . . . He says that God does not have providential care of anything. In fact, he says that there is no such thing at all as providence or fate. Rather, he says that all things happen by chance. Hippolytus (c. 225, W), 5.21
Epicurus saw that good people are always subject to adversities, poverty, labors, exile, and loss of dear friends. In contrast, he saw that the wicked were happy, were exalted with influence, and were loaded with honors. . . . Therefore, when Epicurus reflected on these things, . . . he decided there can be no Providence. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.86
I cannot here be prevented from again showing the folly of Epicurus. For all of the ravings of Lucretius belong to him. . . . Epicurus saw in the bodies of animals the skill of a divine plan. However, in order to be consistent with that which he had imprudently assumed before [i.e., that there was no Creator], he added another absurdity on top of the first. That is, he said that the eyes were not produced for seeing, nor the ears for hearing, . . . since these members were produced before there was the use of sight and hearing. Lactantius (c. 304–313, W), 7.287