Acts 17:16-34
Paul In Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate 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. 19 Then 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? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like 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.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what 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 human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any 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 human design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.31 For 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 everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 At that, Paul left the Council. 34 Some of the people 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.
John 17:6-19
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
John 14:6
Jesus and Truth
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 18:36-38
Jesus and Truth
36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked.
Around the world, people have many different beliefs...The world follows many religions and belief systems even long ago...As St. Paul walked around the city of Athens, he took in there varying ideas of religion...So St. Paul decided to stand up two thousand years ago in a meeting of the Areopagus and told those living in Athens, "People of Athens!...I see that in every way you are very religious."...
St. Paul believed in God's Word...And he knew that God's Word was Truth...So, St. Paul knew a lot about Truth, and what was in Truth or in a Truth...So St. Paul knew that the Truth would set him free...
Different people have faith in different things, even still today...Some people still believe in unknown gods, and some people believe in the idols of material things, or things that make them feel comfortable, or things that make them feel good or feel better, or things that they are knowledgeable of and things that they know about...
So, as in Paul’s case, as today, we are challenged by the varied and different beliefs, and different faiths...So, an important question you must ask yourself, I believe, is why do I believe in anything?...Why would you believe in the religion or faith that you do?...The answer is you should believe in things that are true...You should open your heart, your mind, and your soul and open them up to the truth...Isn't the Truth what you want to believe in and your belief system?...
To me, it is no coincidence that Jesus while praying for His Disciples before His arrest and death, said that God's Word is Truth...And Jesus ask God to sanctify them, and to set them apart and be holy...They would lead to His Name to being heard around the world...And it is no coincidence that Jesus said, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, because He is the Absolute Truth...And it is no coincidence that Jesus said that He came to this world to testify to the Truth, and thus testify to God's Word, which is testifying to the Truth...