Paul Preaches in Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
19 Then they took him to the high council of the city.[d] “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)
22 So Paul, standing before the council,[e] addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man[f] he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your[g] own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them, 34 but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,[h] a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
6 comments:
How true that the God we worship is not just "another" God.
Greetings from Seoul, where he still lives.
Got to love Paul...He's in one of the most populated, modern cities of the world at that time and he's convicted by what he sees and hears. He isnt intimidated. He isnt distracted. He acts immediately the best way he knows how. He knows who he is and He knows what he has to do. Very cool.
I pray that I would remember who I am today and what God has called me to do. I pray that for all of us and that we would be men of action in a 'deeply troubled' world.
agreed, paul's sense of who he was and his personal mission never seemed to falter. in this case he didn't appear to be particularly "called" to go to athens, but just happened to be there waiting for his silas and timothy to arrive.
to follow on to clark's comment yesterday... "should we be stirring up a bit of controversy everywhere we go?"...
it is telling that the strong reaction to paul's message centered on the resurrection of Christ. i think we are sometimes more apt to stir up controversy in our support of sarah palin or our stand against abortion or universal health care, rather than the cross of Christ.
Very cool things in here. Oddly, I found myself reading the first paragraph with an accent :0)
Fellas, this erally jumped out at me - “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. - Aesome. Just what I was looking for. I had this very discussion with my boss just the other day.
JMB, enjoy Seuol.
Blessings
cas
>>This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
About the only thing cooler than Paul's "thinking on his feet" in making this association is God's hand in the Athenians' erection of the statue to the "Unknown god" in the first place. It was His way of leading the Greeks to Himself, with Paul's guidence. Really, how cool is that!
tba
TBA, that is cool...CAS, there is a lot we could meditate on in this passage...JLT, i agree with the idea of 'shakin things up'. That's the model Christ made for us...
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