The Concept

Paul starts off in the ancient Greek city of Thessalonica visiting the synagogues as usual. At first, things are going really well as many Jews along with God-fearing Greeks and prominent women in the city respond to the gospel and become Christians. Unfortunately, some Jews had a rather different response. That response came in the form a mob that went after Paul and his travel team. Fearing for Paul’s life, some local believers send Paul on to Berea under the cover of night.

Now to the famous Bereans (citizens of Berea) who for the last 2000 years have been praised for their disciplined approach to the scriptures. Although Paul finds them eager to learn, they also search the scriptures (Moses and the Prophets) to verify whether Paul is telling the truth or not. Again, many Jews and prominent Greeks become Christians.

Just as Paul is making great progress, word gets back to the Jews in Thessalonica that Paul is “making trouble” in Berea. And so, in one of the worse cases of déjà vu in Church history, the same mob-makers from Thessalonica travel south to Berea to make trouble for Paul. Fortunately, the same believers who hurried Paul out of Thessalonica are present. Now experts at Apostle-hiding, they whisk Paul away to Athens while Silas and Timothy stay behind in Berea. Instructions are given to meet Paul in Athens ASAP.

So, by the time Paul is in Athens, he’s feeling more like a man in exile than he is an evangelist. Still, as Pastor Mark Batterson of National Community Church (NCC) points out, “Paul did more while he was waiting than most of us do while when we’re doing!”. Disturbed by the presence of idol worship everywhere, Paul shifts into high gear. Acts 17:17 tells us that Paul actually extended his ministry beyond the synagogues to include places of commerce where he engages with “those who happened to be there”. No focus groups, no polling, no protests, no fancy stunts, no music concert, or drama team. It’s just Paul going one-on-one with whoever’s around. Hmm… wonder if there’s a lesson for modern times…

This may sound crazy to us today… but then again, it sounded crazy to the Greeks Paul encountered too. So much so, that Stoic and Epicurean philosophers heard about it and started a buzz in the city about Paul’s very unique but strange message. Since Athens was crawling with wanna-be intellectuals as well as bona-fide scholars, people were curious about this outsider’s views. In fact, they were curious enough to invite him to the Areopagus (aka Mars Hill), where a sort of academic jury heard ideas and weighed their validity.

Now we join Paul at Mars Hill ready to address those who are in attendance. Historically, those who were officials at Mars Hill were actually court officers who usually heard murder cases. But it’s important to note that Paul is not on trial here. He is merely on hand to explain his views on God, the gods, and most importantly, Jesus. The stage is set in a scene where debate, learning, and philosophy are central. Paul rises to the occasion in spectacular fashion.

Acts 17:22-34 (New International Version)

1. Athens is full of idols and yet, Paul doesn’t condemn them for that. Why not?
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   This is a tough question to answer. Paul would have been right to condemn their idolatry. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wasted no time accusing the world of idol worship and the foolishness of it (Romans 1:18-24). I think that the difference here is that Paul knew he’d lose the crowd there if he started off negative. However, this is not to say that he was more concerned with numbers than he was with the truth. Paul clearly confronted them with the truth that the true God cannot be made by human hands (like their idols were). But he did it in a very diplomatic way that suggested to them this simple fact: they already knew that the statues were not divine since they already believed “we are his offspring”... and obviously people are not decended from statues. I think the bottom line is that Paul knew that sometimes the message is lost in the delivery. So keeping this in mind, he took a direct, but diplomatic route. The larger lesson for us is that if we ever offend others, it should be with the truth and not with the style that we proclaim that truth.

2. In an earlier verse from this chapter, the scripture makes reference to Paul being “distressed” at the sight of all the idols. Yet he mentions that he “looked carefully” at the idols in verse 23. Is there an application for us today?
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   Yes, I do think that there is a lesson to be learned in from what some may have overlooked as “throw away” statements. What amazes me is that Paul gets beyond his complete hatred of idols to examine them carefully. It seems that the only possible reason he’d be investigating them is to be able to discuss them at length with those who worship the idols (or at least who/what the idols represent). Therefore, rather than seeming like a rabid dog attacking what he has little knowledge on, he chose personal and spiritual discomfort in order to better address the audience he found himself in.

3. Why didn’t Paul quote from Moses or the Prophets?
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   It’s important to remember that at this time, the entire Bible is not yet complete. However, we must also recall that even Jesus Himself declared that He had not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Therefore, the writings of Moses and the Prophets still stand as authoritative. And yet, Paul didn’t quote from them. Clearly Paul believed in what we now call the Old Testament. We know this because earlier in Acts 17, we find him reasoning with Jews in Thessalonica that the Christ must suffer (Acts 17:1-3). But before these Greeks, no mention of the Scriptures. Is Paul ashamed or embarrassed of them? Certainly not. I believe the reason is simply that these Greeks were completely unfamiliar with Moses and the Prophets. The saying “all truth is God’s truth” applies here as well. Paul argued effectively using truth that his audience was familiar with. With the Greeks he used Greek writings and with the Jews he chose the Scriptures. Without question, today’s Christian seeks to introduce everyone to the word of God as written in the Bible. But there may be times when we’re simply seeking to get a foot in the door. This may have been such a time for Paul and we need to have that sense of timing too.

4. Paul does quote from a nameless poet. Is that poet a Christian, Jew, or Greek? How did Paul even know about this poet to begin with?
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   Paul says, “As some of your own poets have said…”. Since he’s speaking to Greeks, we should not assume that Paul was quoting fellow believers. Clearly the poet Paul quoted was Greek (most scholars point to a man named Epimenides as the source Paul quoted). That poet probably had no concept that his words would one day be used to introduce the Jewish Messiah to his hometown of Athens. But Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit I presume, saw nothing wrong with taking the opportunity afforded by this poet to spread the gospel. To learn how Paul was even familiar with Greek poetry takes a little bit of guess work, but guess work doesn’t always mean illogical conclusions. Here’s my take: We often forget that the man Paul who gave us huge portions of the New Testament was first a man named “Saul of Tarsus” (Acts 9:11). Tarsus was a city in modern day Turkey which was dominated by Greek culture as was most of the Mediterranean world. Therefore, it make sense to assume that Paul, although a Jew by faith, Hebrew by heritage, and Roman citizen by law, was immersed in Greek culture which would include poetry. In Paul we see the perfect combination of Greek, Roman, and Jewish worlds. Is it any wonder he was known as “The Apostle to the Gentiles”?

5. The end result of Paul’s address is found in verses 32-34. What do these verses- especially verse 32 say about the effectiveness of Paul’s approach?
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   It is so important to note that there is a mixed reaction to Paul’s sermon address. The resurrection did cause some to sneer as we should expect. Still, the door was open for Paul to return for another opportunity to explain his faith. That’s probably the best that anyone could hope for in a town where there was previously little to no knowledge of Jesus as the Christ of God. Even if Paul didn’t return, there were now members of the Areopagus (Dionysius)who sat on the council who were now believers along with a number of others including a woman named Damaris. This is significant because now influences for Christ are no longer coming from the outside but are now inside the council itself. So now, the effect of the gospel preached by Paul is observable in a life well-lived as opposed to a one-time or even semi-annual visit by a big-name evangelist.