365. PAUL IN ATHENS
"His spirit was stirred in him"
After their release from prison, Paul and Silas bade farewell to the Philippian ecclesia and passed on to Thessalonica. Here Paul's preaching was accepted by Jews and a great multitude of the Gentiles. But the unbelieving Jews incited the people against them. Although this was quelled by the rulers, the brethren sent them away to Berea where Paul and Silas found the Jews more noble than those at Thessalonica for they searched the scriptures daily to see whether the new teaching was scrip tural. As a consequence many believed together with a good number of the Gentiles. But it was not long before the Jews of Thessalonica heard of Paul's success and, coming down to Berea, they stirred up the people. Again Paul's life was in danger and the brethren immediately sent him away by sea to Athens, while Silas and Timothy remained to strengthen the new ecclesia. On arrival at Athens, those who accompanied Paul returned to Berea with the commandment from Paul that Silas and Timothy should come to him speedily. The aim of this lesson is to demonstrate that we should use every op portunity and circumstance to preach the Truth.
Acts 17
PAUL ALONE IN ATHENS.
Athens was an important centre of Greek learning, art and worship. It was named after the goddess Athena. The Acropolis dominates Athens; it is a steep hill on which stood the Parthenon, a huge marble temple 70 metres long dedicated to Athena. Athens was full of idols and temples and one ancient writer records that some of the streets of Athens were so crowded with those that sold idols that it was almost impossible to pass through them.
Paul was downcast and anxious that Silas and Timothy would come to him soon. He was appalled by the widespread idolatry € he saw temples and idols devoted to every form of worship. There was even an altar with the inscription "To the Unknown God".
PAUL ANGERED BY THE IDOLATRY (Acts 17:16-17).
The sight of so many idols provoked Paul to preach. He therefore disputed with the Jews in the synagogue, while in the market place he preached daily to the Gentiles. The market place was an open square where people met to do business, discuss daily happenings or debate on philosophy and religion. The example of Paul in preaching alone in such a difficult environment should be noted by all. We, too, live in a society given over to "idolatry" and philosophy. This should not deter us from preaching, but like Paul we should be even more determined to confess the name of Jesus Christ and proclaim the coming Kingdom.
PAUL ENCOUNTERS THE PHILOSOPHERS (Acts 17:18-21).
Paul presented something new to the Athenians: the idea of a crucified man rising from the dead was surely different from anything they had heard.
Among those who heard Paul were certain philosophers known as the Epicureans and Stoicks. The Epicureans followed one, Epicureus, who held that pleasure was the highest good. They did not believe in life after death and so they reasoned that a wise man will enjoy the present. Their attitude was the same as many today, summed up in the words: "Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die" (Isa. 22:13; 1 Cor. 15:32).
The Stoicks on the other hand held that virtue was the supreme good, and that man should be free of passion, joy, grief, pleasure or pain. Hence they practiced self-discipline and denial, but became proud of their accomplishments.
Believing in the immortality of the soul there was no place in their philosophies for a saviour or the resurrection. Thus conflict with Paul's teaching was inevitable. "What will this babbler say?", some mocked, whilst others declared, "He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods" (Gk. 'daimons', which in Greek mythology were supposed to be lesser deities who mediated between the supreme God and man). Thus Jesus, being set forth as the mediator between God and man, was associated with them. The word "babbler" literally means a "seed gatherer", but was applied to people who picked up and passed on scraps of knowledge without sense or aim.
In order to know exactly what Paul was setting forth they brought him "unto Areopagus" or Mars Hill, a short distance from the market place (vv. 19-21).
The Areopagus was a bare rock some 120 metres high situated to the north of the market place. Steps led to seats hewn out of rock where judges sat in an open court. The legendary trial of Mars gave to the place its name.
THE GOSPEL CHALLENGES IDOLATRY (Acts 17:22-31).
Paul welcomed the opportunity to expound the Truth and expose the folly of the false religion of the Athenians. As he stood on the hill a panorama of Athens lay before him. Wherever he looked Paul saw the temples, idols and altars of the city. Before him, towering above on its pedestal on the rock of the Acropolis, was a bronze colossus of the god dess Minerva, armed with spear, shield and helmet as the champion of Athens. The massive pillared temple, the Parthenon, stood magnificently by, built in honour of the Greek goddess, Athena Parthenon, the goddess of wisdom. It was as though the city of idols was challenging Paul to state his case. Paul took up the challenge.
Paul began his speech by saying "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious" (RSV). Paul appealed to the men of Athens in order to gain a hearing. Had he begun by attacking the national gods in the midst of their sanctuaries he might have been in great danger.
Paul continued, "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions ('ob jects of your worship' RSV), I found an altar with this inscription, 'To the Unknown God'. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you" (v.23). The living God, the God of Israel, was clearly unknown to them, and so their self-confessed ignorance provided Paul with a pretext to speak to them about Him.
The speech of Paul can be summarised as follows:
Verse 24: Seeing that the "unknown God whom they ignorantly worship ped" made the world and was in fact the Creator of all things, He could not be confined to temples made by human hands. He was Lord of heaven and earth. He was thus greater than the numerous other gods they worshipped, whose shrines and temples could be seen about them (cp. the reasoning of Stephen, Acts 7:48-50). The Creator could not be confined to a mere temple of human construction (Isa. 66:1-2).
Verse 25: Furthermore, God was completely independent of His creatures in the sense that He needed nothing from them; rather they were depen dent on Him seeing He gave them life. Men could not put God in debt with lavish gifts, as He sustained all living things and made and possessed the earth and its fulness (cp. Mic. 6:6-8; Psa. 50:8-14).
Verse 26: God had created Adam from whom all nations have come. He is in complete control of His creation and His purpose has proceeded ac cording to His declared will. He has determined times and seasons for various events to take place, and the bounds of nations and empires He fixed and appointed (Dan. 2:21; 4:17; Jer. 27:5; Deut. 32:8).
Verses 27-28: God is not disinterested in His creation but would have all come to salvation. They could find Him if at least they would seek Him. He had confined knowledge of His purpose to Israel, for if He had not, judging from what had happened among the nations, the truth would have been lost completely. He could be found by all who sought Him. This must be so for He is near to all, for all live, move and exist in Him. This had even been acknowledged by one of their poets (Epimenides) who had spoken of man as the offspring of God € he had perceived the error of some of their beliefs and taught a view corresponding with the particular truth Paul is setting put.
Verse 29: Seeing men are God's offspring and are living and intelligent, they ought not to look upon God as something inanimate like silver and gold! (Psa. 115:4-8). This was plainly not logical. God and man, as Creator and created, were both alive and able to reason.
Verse 30: If the times of ignorance had been overlooked by God, the coming of knowledge brought them into a position of responsibility. The light of divine truth no longer was the prerogative of Israel alone; God was now taking out of all nations a people for His name and Paul had been specifically commissioned to relate the gospel of God's salvation in Christ to them (Acts 15:14; 9:15).
Verse 31: Mention of their responsibility implied judgment, and God had raised Jesus Christ from the dead as death's conqueror who will come to "judge the world in righteousness" € a citation from Psa. 96:13. (Notice how the train of thought in Psalm 96 presents a remarkable parallel with Paul's speech on Mars Hill; both culminate in the same statement). Thus God, the Creator (v. 24), has a purpose which is proceeding according to His appointed times; He must complete His schedule and that requires a day of judgment. The certainty of this is guaranteed by the established fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
INTERRUPTION AND DEPARTURE (Acts 17:32-34).
The apostle was heard with attention until he spoke about the resurrec tion. No doubt Paul would have continued and elaborated the way of salvation in Christ, but he was prevented because the idea of resurrection brought forth mockery from some. Others said with courteous indif ference, "We will hear thee again of this matter". Paul considered there was no point in remaining longer and so he departed.
The apostle's speech had not entirely fallen on deaf ears. We read that certain of the philosophers were keen to hear more of the new religion and ultimtely they believed. Among the believers was Dionysius, the Areopagite, who, as his title suggested, could have been one of the judges of the court of Areopagus and thus perhaps one of the leading men of the city. There was also a woman named Damaris and, although nothing fur ther is known of this woman, she too must have been prominent in Athens for her name to be singled out by Luke the historian. And then there were others who are not named.
Thus the apostle found that although the results of his preaching were not as spectacular as elsewhere, for the university environment was not a fruitful one for the Truth, yet nevertheless through Yahweh's grace the nucleus of an ecclesia was established.
Athens was renowned for worldly wisdom, but the gospel did not find a lodging place in the hearts of many of its citizens. Generally it is the poor in this world who are rich in faith and are called by the Father (cp. 1 Cor. 1:18-31; 3:19-20; Jas. 2:5).
LESSONS FOR US:
- Paul was quick to seize upon all opportunities to preach the gospel.
- Faithful preaching brings forth opposition, before which we should faithfully persevere.
- A good knowledge is necessary to effectively set forth the purpose of God, answer the objections of men and expose the folly of their beliefs.
- Though results of preaching might not be spectacular, we should not be discouraged. The Truth rarely lodges in minds swelled by the wisdom of the world.
- The fact of Christ's coming as judge is proved by his resurrection from the dead.
REFERENCE LIBRARY:
"Paul the Apostle" (W. H. Boulton) € Chapter 11
"Story of the Bible" (H. P. Mansfield) € Vol. 13, Pages 162-168
"The Christadelphian" (J, Carter) € Vol. 94 (1957), Pages 9-13
PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:
- Describe the kind of people who made up Paul's audience on Mars Hill
- What lessons do we learn from Paul's attitude and example in Athens?
- In what way does the world of today compare with Athens of Paul's day?
- List the challenges Paul faced when he went to Athens.
- What was the reaction to Paul's speech on Mars Hill and what lessons does this have for us?
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1. Relate briefly the events that took place when the apostle Paul went to Athens.
- Outline the argument in Paul's speech on Mars Hill and its effect on the people.
- How did Paul respond to the challenges he confronted when he came to Athens?