As Paul eagerly waited for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him in Athens, his spirit became stirred within him with grief and anger at the sight of such an outwardly beautiful city that was submerged in idolatry. Such inward distress led Paul to gospel action, and he reasoned with everyone in Athens that he could: Jews and God-fearers in the synagogue and every casual passer-by he encountered in the marketplace.
Two competing philosopher groups in Athens, the Epicureans and Stoics, also engaged with Paul, some ridiculed him as a pseudo-philosopher; but others, more cautious, perceived that Paul was a proclaimer of gods that they had not yet encountered because of his preaching about Jesus and the resurrection. These philosophers led him out to the Areopagus, where they asked him to explain the new teaching he was presenting.
In his response, Paul explained the nature of God against the backdrop of the Athenians’ own terminology. He first acknowledged that the Athenians had a reputation for their devotion to religion. To illustrate this point, Paul described an altar he had discovered to an unknown god; and he said that he would now declare to them the answer to the most basic question of life: Who is God? To answer that question, Paul began with a statement about THE God, setting this God above all else, the God who is both Lord of heaven and earth, and who cannot be contained by earthly, handmade structures. This God needs nothing from the creatures; in fact, He is the One who gives every facet of life to the creatures.
This is THE God who formed the nations of the earth from one man Adam and caused the nations to spread out all over the earth, with nations rising and falling according to God’s ultimate control over His creation. And He had created humanity with the nature that they were created to seek after God, in the hope that they might find Him … although their ability to find Him was no greater than a blind person groping about in the darkness. And yet, despite the transcendence of such an infinitely magnificent God and despite the blinded eyes of the pagan nations, God is also immanent with His Creation … not disinterested! All of mankind is inextricably connected to its Creator.
The Athenians’ own poets had acknowledged this reality and also that they were the offspring of the Divine. Using this quote, Paul explained that since man bears the likeness of Yahweh (not Zeus), they cannot fashion an unalive object as a representation of Him. Before the full knowledge of God came in Jesus Christ, God had demonstrated forbearance with the heathen nations. But NOW that God’s plan of redemption through Jesus had come, God commands all people everywhere to repent, because this God decreed a definite day of judgment for all mankind who will be judged by His appointed agent Jesus. This day of judgment is all the more certain because God had raised Jesus from the dead.
Paul’s statement about the resurrection led some of his hearers to mock him; but others said that they would like to hear more from Paul later about this matter. With that, Paul left the Areopagus, never to return to Athens. But some embraced Paul’s message, attaching themselves to him as disciples. 2 notable converts were Dionysius (1 of the 12 judges of the Court of the Areopagus) and Damaris, a woman who must have played an important role in the churches of that area.
You can listen to this teaching on Acts 17:16-34 by clicking on the following link: The “Philosophy” Of A Seed Picker
