Acts 17:16-34
In Athens
16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." 21(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." 33At that, Paul left the Council. 34A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
St. Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens...Paul was greatly distressed to see that the city of Athens was full of idols... He reasoned in the synagogues with the Jews and the God fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace, day by day with those who happened to be there...
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute what Paul was teaching...Some of them called him a babbler and asked, "what is this babbler trying to say?"...This was an insult to Paul...A babbler was a seed-picker, and gives one the image of a small bird picking up seeds and scraps in the marketplace...These philosophers, the Stoics and the Epicureans taught and/or were believers in philosophy...The Epicureans believed that God was inaccessible and the universe happened by chance...Their lives were a process of chance...They saw no purpose in life, and believed that pleasures minus pain was their happiness...Stoics believed that God is everything...He is the world, the soul, and absolute reason...Logic and reason were the high goals for the Stoics...The Stoics searched for enjoyments that gave one the most permanent satisfactions...
The Stoics and Epicureans wanted to hear more about the "foreign God" was advocating...They heard him preach the good news about the resurrection of Jesus...The Stoics and Epicureans took Paul to the Areopagus, which was the pulse of the Athenian religion and education...The ideas Paul was teaching were strange to the Athenians...All the Athenians and the foreigners there spent most of their time doing nothing but talking and listening about the latest ideas of the day...
Paul stood up in his first meeting of the Areopagus and told the men of Athens that he saw them as a very religious city and group...As Paul had walked around the city, he saw many objects of worship...Paul had even seen an altar with an inscription to an unknown god...Paul told the Athenians that what they worship as something unknown, he would proclaim to them...He proclaims the living God to them...God who made the world and everything in it is the LORD of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands...God is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He is the One who gives all men life and breath and everything else...From one man, Adam, He made every nation of men, including Greece and the city of Athens...God determines the times set for them and the exact places for them to leave...God did this so that man would seek Him, and perhaps reach out to Him and find Him...God is all around, but not far from each one of us...For in Him, we live and move and have our being...As some of your own poets have said, we are His offspring...And because we are His offspring, we should not think of Him in terms of gold and silver and stones, or an image made by man's design and skill...In the past God has overlooked the Gentiles ignorance about idols and stone images...But now He commands all people, both Jew and Gentile to repent...For He has set a day in the future when He will judge all the world with justice by the Man, He has appointed (this Man is Jesus)...He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead...
When the Areopagus heard about the resurrection of the dead, some Athenians sneered...Others said we want to hear more on this subject...Paul left the Areopagus, but a few followed him and became believers...Among the new believers were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others...
Athens was famous for its philosophy, education, learning, and the fine arts...But in Paul's time the city was full of idols...Paul was treated with more civility in Athens than in other cities...The Athenians would listen and debate other thinkers...The subject of God is one which we (and others) should give our greatest attention...
God is divine...God has divine providence...There is magic and miracles all around us everyday...But as Paul tells He is all around, but at the same time He is near us, not far from us...By sending Jesus and raising Him from the dead has given us proof that Jesus is the Light, our Messiah, our salvation...When He returns He will perfectly judge the world...