Acts 17:16-34
Speaking To The Unchurched
- Athens 17:18-21
500 years past its prime.
Still the biggest city for the development of education, culture, and philosophy.
Home of Aristotle, Plato, Socrates.
Idolatry- Athens was given over to idolatry
ANCIENT QUOTE- It’s easier to find a god in Athens than to find a man.
There were over 3,000 temples that were dedicated to different gods and goddesses.
No other ancient city was so full of idols.
Idolatry- the worship of things created. Master passions of men and women.
Lust- Aphrodite
Drunkenness- Bacchus
Power, anger, violence- Zeus
Stoics- pantheists: God is in everything.
At death, the person is assimilated into the great world of spirituality which includes all things.
Moral sincerity.
High sense of duty. Disciplined.
They were thinkers. Those who reasoned.
Proudly dignified. Handle life with quiet strength.
Suicide preferable over diminished dignity.
THE STOICS- Strong work ethic, disciplined, and a strong sense of duty.
The first two leaders of Stoicism committed suicide.
It is dangerous to be a thinker, a critic, a philosopher, if you do not believe in Ultimate truth.
Life becomes an endless search for possibilities, but with nothing to rest upon or believe in.
They believed in Fate, and that life was to be endured.
All human affairs were governed by fate.
Thus it became easy to become cynical about life.
Performance oriented.
Any good and wise man was equal to Jupiter himself.
Endure life.
JFB- a celebrated school of severe and lofty pantheists, whose principle was that the universe was under the law of an iron necessity, the spirit of which was what is called the Deity: and that a passionless conformity of the human will to this law, unmoved by all external circumstances and changes, is the perfection of virtue.
Epicureans- pleasure seekers
Sought to live a life free of physical, moral emotional pain.
Avoid conflicting or troubling thoughts.
Go with the flow, take it easy, kick back.
Live life free of disturbing passions, fears (including fear of death)
Acknowledged the existence of gods.
Believed that the gods had no interaction with men.
They believed in Chance, and that there was no rhyme or reason to life.
No purpose, no God, just existence to be enjoyed.
John Lennon- “Imagine”
Death brought annihilation, no existence in any form.
Pleasure oriented.
Enjoy life.
JFB- A well-known school of atheistic materialists, who taught that pleasure was the chief end of human existence; a principle which the more rational interpreted in a refined sense, while the sensual explained it in its coarser meaning.
Their view of Paul- Babbler, “seed picker”.
One who had no original thought, but gathered bits and pieces of philosophy and mixed them together.
Others thought Paul proclaimed a foreign god.
They enjoyed hearing new ideas, but not with a view towards embracing them.
They enjoyed the mental stimulation.
2 Tim. 3:7 always learning & never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Discussion wasn’t for the purpose of finding truth to embrace.
Discussion was only for the purpose of debate and intellectual musing.
NOTE- Many say that they are seeking truth, but they are not ready or willing to commit to truth.
Many people read a multitude of books, engage in stimulating discussion, and debate many ideas.
They learn much about any things, but aren’t really changed by any of those ideas, for they don’t embrace them as ultimate truth.
They are people who do mot seek truth, but they seek something new to think about.
- Paul 17:16, 17
Provoked- to sharpen, to stimulate, spur on, urge, to irritate, arouse to anger
Paul wasn’t moved by the beauty and the art of the Greek culture in Athens.
He was moved by the hopelessness of the people putting their faith in idols that could not help them.
Paul saw past the façade of culture, and saw the desperate situation the Athenians were in.
Matt. 9:36-38 36But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Reasoned in the synagogue- spoke to Jews from the scriptures.
Reasoned with Gentiles apart from quoting scripture. They did not accept O.T.
9:22 Areopagus, Mars Hill- Where the Supreme Court of Athens met.
This was the place where truth was determined.
The Athenians were considered the most religious of all people.
Their “religious” life was the living out of their passions.
Paul starts out by noticing their world, and uses their lives as a starting place.
Paul doesn’t reason with them from the O.T., but starts from their point of view.
NOTE- Paul is courteous and respectful.
9:23
Notice Paul’s play on words: The unknown God that you worship w/o knowing.
So many people worship that which they do not know.
John 4:22 22You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship…
The Greeks were pantheists.
Everything was deified.
600 years earlier, there was a terrible plague in Athens.
A man named Epimenides decided that they would allow a flock of sheep to roam throughout Athens.
Whenever a sheep lay down near a temple, they would sacrifice to that God.
If a sheep lay down far from a temple, they would sacrifice to the Unknown God.
Paul is talking to them in a way that will draw them in.
He is about to offer them “new information”.
He speaks to them as they are able to receive.
9:24 Epicureans believed that the world just came together.
Kind of like the Big Bang theory.
God created all, and is greater than His creation.
The Greeks had trouble distinguishing God from His creation.
Many pantheistic groups see God in the trees, rocks, animal kingdom, etc.
“Mother Earth” is worshipped. “Love Your Mother” bumper sticker.
This speaks of a Personal God, rather than an abstract God who is one with His creation.
9:25 The Greeks brought food and drink to their gods.
God provides for man, and sustains man.
9:26 The Greeks thought themselves above all other races of people.
The Athenians had a foolish notion that they were self-produced, and were the aboriginals of mankind.
God has created all man equally, and He determines their lives, times, and boundaries.
God is in charge, and rules His creation.
This goes against the mindset of the self-made man.
9:27 God’s desire is that we would recognize that He is Creator, and exists above His creation.
That we would recognize that He provides for all mankind.
Matt. 5:45 for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
That we would recognize the universality of mankind.
That we are all ought to acknowledge God, and that we are all equally dependent upon Him.
in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him,
If you enter a dark room, and you know that there is a light switch, you will feel for it, grope for it, b/c you know that it is there, and that it will help you.
That mindset was foreign to both the Stoics and the Epicureans.
Stoics- stiff upper lip, endure life, just get through it. Ruled by fate.
Don’t expect help from a personal God.
Epicureans- There is no God to reach out for. Just avoid pain and enjoy life.
He is not far from us- The Greek mindset thought that gods were displeased and angry towards man, and that it was difficult to get their attention.
Isaiah 59:1, 2 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
The Problem- Not that God is far away from man, but man is far away fro God b/c of sin. Sin binds man, and distorts and falsifies man’s view of God.
9:28 God is not far away, but is undeniably close to mankind regarding His presence and sustenance of man.
9:29 Paul appeals to these supposedly wise philosophers of Athens.
He shows them the folly of their thinking.
God is infinitely higher than His creation.
He is infinitely higher than man, or anything that man might make.
The Athenians were surrounded by beautiful art, but were deceived into thinking that it clearly represented the gods.
The logic of his argument is powerful.
9:30 Their illogical arguments have been dismantled.
Ignorance has been replaced by clear thinking.
False philosophies have been exposed by truth.
The Athenians on Mars Hill are called to change the direction of their lives.
They are called to step away from their man made philosophies, & embrace truth.
9:31 Paul now introduces judgment by Jesus Christ.
He says this on the Areopagas, the place where the Greeks judged men on trial.
He enforces that idea of judgment by speaking of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
Paul speaks in order to see people repent from their man made ideas, and turn their lives over to Jesus Christ, who will come and judge humanity.
John 5:22, 23, 27 22For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 27and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
Paul starts w/God as the Creator of all, and he ends w/God as judge over all.
III. The People’s Responses
9:32
The Greeks were fond of the idea of the immortality of the soul, but not of the idea of the resurrection of the body.
The Greeks focused upon and valued the present life.
Resurrection from the dead showed the vanity of the temporal life.
“We will hear you again on this matter.”
This was a quick way of escape.
They could feign interest in Jesus, and soothe their own consciences.
Many people say, “I will think about it; we will talk on another day”.
Perhaps sincere, or perhaps just slightly interested.
Acts 24:25 25Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”
9:33, 34
Dionysius- a member of that ruling committee that decided who could or couldn’t spread new thoughts throughout Athens.
A man could only be a part of the Areopagus if he was well born and well educated.
Ancient tradition says that Dionysius became the pastor of a small church in Athens.
Damaris- Women were not usually present for these discussions unless they were present as a mistress to one of the members of the Areopagus.
Compare Athens, Thessalonica, Corinth.
Before Athens, Paul had been in Thessalonica. It was a working class city.
He had many converts there, and a strong church was established.
After Athens, Paul went to Corinth.
It was also a working class city, and a church was firmly established there.
Paul would go on to write multiple letters to these two churches.
Letters which would become part of Holy Scripture.
The Thessalonians received the word “in much affliction”.
The Corinthians were a base and immoral group.
Neither city was considered as cultured or as intelligent as Athens.
Yet the gospel was received and churches were established.
There is no record of any letter to Athens
There was no strong Christian church ever established there.
We never read of any strong Christian movement coming forth from Athens.
The so called wisdom of the Greeks in Athens became their downfall.
God, who is infinitely great and self-sufficient, has manifested himself as the maker of the world, the creator, preserver, and governor of men. He has assigned them their portion, and dispensed to them their habitations, and the various blessings of his providence, to the end that they should seek him in all his works.
Turn to 1 Cor. 1:18-31