Paul in Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens
Acts 17:1–34
Paul and his missionary team continue to proclaim the word of God throughout Macedonia and Greece despite persecution and a mixed reception from Jews and Gentiles. In Athens, Paul encounters a new challenge to evangelization in the widespread idolatry and faulty philosophical worldviews prevalent there. Paul’s major speech to the Athenians takes an approach different from his earlier speeches to Jews. Without initially mentioning Jesus, he focuses on the living God, who created and will judge the world. His mission as “a light to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:47) requires that he speak in terms familiar to the philosophically minded pagans in Athens. When he finally mentions Jesus as a man whom God raised from the dead and through whom God will judge the whole world, Paul runs into resistance from his Greek listeners, who refuse to accept the notion of resurrection.
Paul in Thessalonica (17:1–9)
1When they took the road through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2Following his usual custom, Paul joined them, and for three sabbaths he entered into discussions with them from the scriptures, 3expounding and demonstrating that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that “This is the Messiah, Jesus, whom I proclaim to you.” 4Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas; so, too, a great number of Greeks who were worshipers, and not a few of the prominent women. 5But the Jews became jealous and recruited some worthless men loitering in the public square, formed a mob, and set the city in turmoil. They marched on the house of Jason, intending to bring them before the people’s assembly. 6When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city magistrates, shouting, “These people who have been creating a disturbance all over the world have now come here, 7and Jason has welcomed them. They all act in opposition to the decrees of Caesar and claim instead that there is another king, Jesus.” 8They stirred up the crowd and the city magistrates who, upon hearing these charges, 9took a surety payment from Jason and the others before releasing them.
NT: Luke 4:16; 23:2; 24:25–27, 44–47; Acts 18–19
[17:1]
The main east-west road in the Roman Empire was the Via Egnatia, which ran from Byzantium (later Constantinople, now Istanbul in Turkey) to the Adriatic Sea. Paul and his team apparently follow this road westward from Philippi to Thessalonica, another Macedonian city. Although Luke used “we” in the account of the slave girl who harassed Paul in Philippi (Acts 16:17), he makes no claim to be with Paul and Silas after their arrest or during their departure from Philippi. In his account of events in Thessalonica, Luke continues the third-person “they,” possibly to signal that he remained behind in Philippi. The next appearance of “we” will again be in Philippi (20:6), after Paul’s ministry in Corinth and Ephesus.
There was no mention of a synagogue in Philippi, and most of Paul’s activity there was with Gentiles. But Thessalonica does possess a synagogue of the Jews, and Jews will be the initial focus of his attention in this city.
[17:2]
Luke reminds us that Paul’s usual custom in each new city was to begin his mission in a synagogue. Indeed Luke highlights Paul’s similarity to Jesus, who also “went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day” (Luke 4:16). In Thessalonica for three sabbaths, Paul makes persuasive arguments (as in 18:4, where he attempts “to convince both Jews and Greeks”) based on the scriptures. Luke does not tell us which Old Testament passages Paul uses, but other evangelistic speeches in Acts refer to psalms of David, such as Ps 16 and 110 (see Acts 2:34–35; 13:35), and to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant passages (Isa 42; 53; Acts 8:28–35; 26:23).
[17:3]
As Jesus himself does in Luke 24:26–27, Paul expounds on Scripture to show that according to God’s plan, the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. The Messiah was to triumph not by military might but by taking on himself all human sin and evil, humbling himself even to “death on a cross” (Phil 2:8), thus reconciling to God the human race that had been alienated from him since Adam’s disobedience (see Rom 5:12–19).
Paul’s argument follows a form in Greek †rhetoric that Aristotle called an “enthymeme,” a logical argument in which one of the three steps (major term, middle term, conclusion) is implied rather than stated. Paul’s starting point (the major term) is that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. The implied middle term is that Jesus did suffer and rise from the dead, an event that was confirmed by Jesus’ apostolic eyewitnesses. Paul’s conclusion, then, is direct: “This is the Messiah, Jesus, whom I proclaim to you.”
[17:4]
As usual, many but not all of Paul’s Jewish listeners are convinced by his proclamation. These join Paul and Silas and, presumably, begin preparing for baptism. Other converts include a great number of Greeks who were worshipers of the God of Israel and numerous prominent women, like the convert Lydia in Philippi.
[17:5]
In contrast to the “prominent women” who open their hearts to the gospel are the worthless men loitering in the public square who are recruited by some of the Jews to form a mob and set the city in turmoil. Luke attributes the opposition of these Jews to their jealousy at Paul’s success in winning converts. The mob tries to find Paul and Silas at the house of Jason, an otherwise unknown Christian convert (possibly the same Jason mentioned in Rom 16:21). The intention is to drag them to be tried before the people’s assembly. In Thessalonica the whole body of citizens carried out judicial functions.
[17:6–7]
Not finding Paul and Silas, the mob drags Jason and some of the other Christians before the authorities. Luke uses the correct term for Thessalonica’s civic authorities: city magistrates (Greek politarchēs, literally, “ruler of the city”). He is consistently well-informed about the political background of the events he is relating.
The mob accuses the Christians of creating a disturbance all over the world or “undermining the civilized world” (or having “turned the world upside down,” RSV). The irony in this charge is that the gospel does indeed turn the world and its values on its head (see Luke 1:52–53). The mob makes the further political accusation that the Christians all act in opposition to the decrees of Caesar. Both Jews and Christians’ loyalty to the state was called into question because of their unwillingness to participate in emperor worship and other civic pagan religious ceremonies.
Their particular charge is that the Christians claim instead that there is another king, Jesus. As the Jewish authorities had accused Jesus before Pilate (Luke 23:2; see John 19:12), the Thessalonian mob misrepresents the Christian claim that Jesus is the Messiah-king as meaning king in a worldly sense. This charge accuses the Christians of constituting a political threat to the authority of the Roman emperor.
[17:8–9]
Although the accusers stirred up both the crowd and the city magistrates, these authorities do not overreact, as did those at Philippi (16:22–23). Rather, they follow Roman legal procedure: upon hearing these charges, they demand a surety payment, or bail, from Jason and the others before releasing them. If the Christians provoke any further trouble, they will forfeit this money; but they are not beaten or imprisoned without cause.
Reflection and Application (17:1–9)
The Christian claim that Jesus is Lord and King, to whom we owe absolute allegiance, was perceived by many people in the first century as a threat to the established Roman civil order. This perception was partly correct and partly incorrect. Christians are obliged to be good citizens, and to cooperate with civil authority as long as it does not overstep its bounds, but they do not accept the contention that the state has absolute power, as Caesar claimed. Jesus directed his listeners to “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God” (Luke 20:25). Jesus was accused of opposing taxes to Caesar (false in light of 20:25) and of maintaining “that he is the Messiah, a king” (23:2). But he insisted that his kingdom was not of this world, which is why his followers did not resist his arrest (John 18:36).
Paul teaches that Christians are to respect government authority but also to recognize that all authority, including that of the state, is established by God and therefore subject to and limited by God’s authority (Rom 13:1–7). State authority has the good purpose of maintaining the public order, which is necessary for individuals and peoples to flourish. Therefore Christians are to pay taxes and to honor civil authorities (Rom 13:7). But there will be times when they must “obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Paul in Beroea (17:10–15)
10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas to Beroea during the night. Upon arrival they went to the synagogue of the Jews. 11These Jews were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all willingness and examined the scriptures daily to determine whether these things were so. 12Many of them became believers, as did not a few of the influential Greek women and men. 13But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had now been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea also, they came there too to cause a commotion and stir up the crowds. 14So the brothers at once sent Paul on his way to the seacoast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens, they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
NT: Acts 9:24–25
[17:10]
To avoid further trouble, the Thessalonian community immediately sends Paul and Silas to Beroea, about fifty miles to the west. The decision to transfer the two missionaries during the night, under cover of darkness (as in Acts 9:24–25), shows how serious they consider the opposition in Thessalonica. At Beroea, Paul and Silas first go to the synagogue of the Jews, as they have in every city where there was a synagogue.
[17:11–12]
In contrast to many of Paul’s previous audiences, the Beroean Jews receive the word with great eagerness. Luke describes them as more fair-minded, literally, “more noble” (RSV), than the Jews of Thessalonica. Their nobility consists in their open-mindedness and the fact that they search the scriptures daily to see if the good news about Jesus is consistent with God’s earlier revelation. By looking at what the Old Testament itself has to say, they test the central Christian claim that Christ fulfills the Scriptures in his life, death, and resurrection (see Luke 24:44–47; John 5:39). As a result of their biblical investigations many Beroeans, both Jews and Greeks, become believers.
[17:13–15]
The contrast between the receptive Jews of Beroea and the hostile Jews of Thessalonica becomes sharper when the latter, hearing about Paul’s preaching in Beroea, travel the fifty miles to cause a commotion and stir up the crowds against him. In response, the Christians once again prudently send Paul packing, while Silas and Timothy remain to strengthen the fledgling church. Paul continues to be the lightning rod for Jewish hostility, perhaps because he is the most effective speaker. Paul’s escorts bring him to Athens, but since his preference is always to minister as a team, he gives instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
Fig. 15. View of the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, from the Areopagus where Paul preached (Acts 17:19–34).
LennieZ/Wikimedia Commons
Reflection and Application (17:10–15)
Today many Jewish converts to the Catholic faith can identify with the experience of the Jews of Beroea, who “received the word with all willingness and examined the scriptures daily to determine whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Rosalind Moss, a Jew who came to faith in Christ in 1975 and later entered the Catholic Church, writes about the first time she heard the Scriptures explained in light of Christ:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder,
and his name will be called
Wonder Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6)
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with his stripes we are healed. (Isa 53:4–5)
Paul in Athens (17:16–21)
16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he grew exasperated at the sight of the city full of idols. 17So he debated in the synagogue with the Jews and with the worshipers, and daily in the public square with whoever happened to be there. 18Even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged him in discussion. Some asked, “What is this scavenger trying to say?” Others said, “He sounds like a promoter of foreign deities,” because he was preaching about ‘Jesus’ and ‘Resurrection.’ 19They took him and led him to the Areopagus and said, “May we learn what this new teaching is that you speak of? 20For you bring some strange notions to our ears; we should like to know what these things mean.” 21Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new.
OT: Sir 3:20–24
NT: Rom 1:19–32; 2 Tim 4:3–4
[17:16]
By the time Paul arrived there, Athens had lost much of the importance it had centuries earlier as Greece’s leading city and the birthplace of Greek philosophy. Nevertheless, its reputation as an intellectual and religious center endured, and the monuments of its past glory in the form of statues and temples of the gods made a striking impression. Luke gives readers an inside glimpse into Paul’s profoundly negative reaction to idol worship in Athens before he quotes Paul’s more diplomatic public comments in his speech on the Areopagus. While Paul is waiting for Silas and Timothy, he grows exasperated (“deeply distressed,” NRSV; “revolted,” JB, NJB; “provoked,” RSV) at the sight of the city full of idols. Idolatry dishonors the true God and leads people into degrading beliefs and practices (see Rom 1:19–32).
[17:17]
Because of his zealous reaction, and perhaps because he has time on his hands as he waits for his companions, Paul debates not only in his usual place and time, in the synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 13:14, 44; 17:2; 18:4) with his usual listeners, Jews and †worshipers of the God of Israel, but also daily in the public square (or “marketplace”) with whoever happened to be there. In the square, Paul’s method would have looked a good deal like the philosophers of his day who challenged the behavior or beliefs of people passing by.
[17:18]
The two most popular Greek schools of thought in the first century were those of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (see sidebar). Paul engages them in discussion as a fellow philosopher, but they cannot make sense of his message. Some mockingly refer to him as a scavenger, literally, “seed-picker,” applied to idle babblers or empty talkers who pick up and pass on scraps of information. Others think he is introducing foreign deities. Perhaps they misinterpret Paul’s preaching about ‘Jesus’ and ‘Resurrection’ (Greek anastasis, which sounds like a female name) as promotion of a pair of deities.
[17:19–20]
The philosophers lead Paul to the Areopagus, or Hill of Ares (from Ares, the Greek god of war, and pagos, “rocky hill”). Since Mars is the Roman name for Ares, the place is sometimes referred to as Mars Hill. This was where the governing council of ancient Athens traditionally met. The audience asks Paul to explain his new teaching, since they find some of his notions to be strange and want to know what these things mean. Their question underlines how foreign the biblical message is to the pagan worldview.
[17:21]
An ancient stereotype about Athenians was that they were preoccupied with telling or hearing something new. To a person always seeking novelty, serious reflection and the sincere quest for truth are equally alien. Yet the penchant for intellectual fads is not limited to those living in ancient Athens. Paul warns in 2 Tim 4:3–4, “The time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity [literally, “with itching ears”] will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.”
Paul’s Speech in Athens (17:22–34)
22Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious. 23For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines, I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and all that is in it, the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, 27so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being,’ as even some of your poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ 29Since therefore we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination. 30God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent 31because he has established a day on which he will ‘judge the world with justice’ through a man he has appointed, and he has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead.”
32When they heard about resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We should like to hear you on this some other time.” 33And so Paul left them. 34But some did join him, and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
OT: Gen 1:26–28; 2 Chron 32:19; Isa 44:9–20; Jon 4:11
NT: Luke 12:47–48; 23:34; John 2:19–21; Acts 3:17; 7:47–50; 2 Cor 6:2; 1 Tim 1:13
Catechism: God creator of all, 287, 301; last judgment, 1038–41; resurrection, 992–1001; natural revelation, 32, 2566
[17:22]
Although Paul is repulsed by the sight of so many idols in the city (17:16), he begins his speech in the Areopagus diplomatically: “I see that in every respect you are very religious,” literally, “revering of divinities,” but the Greek can also mean “very superstitious.” Paul may be deliberately playing on this ambiguity. He is appealing to common ground with his listeners, describing them positively as very religious. However, some in the crowd might hear an implied critique of Athenian popular piety as being superstitious, a view that many philosophers would share.
[17:23]
Paul carefully seeks an opening for his presentation of the gospel. His reference to his looking carefully at your shrines would be understood by his listeners in a positive sense. He mentions that he noticed an altar inscribed, “To an Unknown God.” Although this is the only record of an Athenian altar with this particular inscription, other ancient sources indicate the presence in Athens of altars that did not name any particular god. The presence of such an altar, Paul asserts, shows that the Athenians unknowingly worship the only God there is, the God whom Paul will now proclaim to them. In this way, Paul is able to present the gospel as an extension and correction of what they already know, rather than as a total rejection of their previous religious understanding.
[17:24]
Paul begins his proclamation of the gospel by addressing the Athenians’ mistaken religious ideas, just as he did when the people of Lystra attempted to worship him and Barnabas as gods (Acts 14:15–17). The key to his clarification is the doctrine of creation, the bedrock Judeo-Christian doctrine that is found in the first verse of the Bible and the first article of the creed: “God . . . made the world and all that is in it.” As creator, God is the Lord of heaven and earth, absolute master over all that he has made. This biblical understanding of creation means that God is not one being among other beings in the world. Rather, he is absolutely transcendent over all he has made, and the entire universe depends on him at every moment for its existence. It follows that, in stark contrast to pagan ideas, God does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands. Stephen had made a similar point about God’s temple in Jerusalem (Acts 7:48). The expression “made by human hands” recalls Old Testament diatribes against idols, which are human-made in contrast to the living God (2 Chron 32:19; see John 2:19–21). Paul’s words also echo the heroic mother in 2 Macc 7:28: “Look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence.”
[17:25]
The transcendent God is not served by human hands as if he needs anything. This means that his creating and sustaining the world have no ulterior motive but are free acts of love and generosity. According to some pagan creation myths, the gods created human beings as their slaves, to serve them by growing food and sacrificing animals. On the contrary, Paul emphasizes, God needs nothing that humans could possibly provide, because it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything (see Ps 50:7–15). What could we possibly give to our creator, who gives us our very existence and everything else we have?
[17:26]
Paul further emphasizes the unity of the whole human race, which God made from one couple, Adam and Eve (Gen 1:26–28), and is now spread over the entire surface of the earth (Gen 1:28). The common ancestry of all human beings is the foundation for Paul’s teaching on original sin in Rom 5:12–19; 1 Cor 15:21–22.
God fixed both the ordered seasons of the year (see Gen 8:22) and the geographical boundaries of the regions in which various peoples dwell (see Gen 10). Thus God is master of both nature and human history. Paul is drawing on the biblical teaching that God “set up the boundaries of the peoples” (Deut 32:8). This does not mean that international borders are established by God but that the division of the human race into distinct peoples, languages, and cultures is not by pure chance but is part of God’s providence for human beings.
[17:27]
The beauty, complexity, and order of God’s creation was intended to arouse human curiosity, with the result that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him (see Wis 13:5; Rom 1:20). That human beings ought to “seek the Lord” is a fundamental teaching of Scripture. Without the benefit of revelation, the search for God is like a blind person’s groping. Yet some Gentiles do succeed in discovering God, which is possible because indeed he is not far from any one of us. Not being part of the world, God is able to be present to everyone and everything in the world.
[17:28]
Paul’s speeches in Acts are always adapted to the understanding of his audience. Whereas his preaching to Jews is based explicitly on Scripture, here speaking to Gentiles he refers instead to their own writers and philosophers. The statement “In him we live and move and have our being” may be a quotation from the Greek poet Epimenides (sixth century BC), whom Paul also quotes in Titus 1:12. It is not a statement of pantheism, which claims that everything is God or a part of God. Rather, Paul proclaims that God is fully present to us at every moment of our lives, and we are utterly dependent on him.
Paul next cites another Greek poet, Aratus (born about 310 BC), who wrote, “We too are his offspring.” Paul does not interpret Aratus as claiming that we are physically descended from God, as, for example, in the myth that Hercules was sexually begotten by Zeus. Rather, he means it to be understood in the light of Gen 1:26, where God creates human beings in his image and likeness (see Luke 3:38). In this sense God is the Father of all human beings. “Have we not all one father? / Has not the one God created us?” (Mal 2:10). Yet, as Paul affirms elsewhere, we become God’s children in the fullest sense by being reborn in Christ as adopted sons and daughters of God (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:5–6; see John 1:12–13).
[17:29]
Paul now mounts a full-scale attack on idolatry: “We ought not to think that the divinity [literally, “the divine”] is like an image fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.” The term for “image” here is not the word for humans created in God’s image in Genesis (eikōn), but rather charagma, a crafted likeness such as an idol. The foolishness of worshiping products of human art and imagination is a common theme in Old Testament critiques of idolatry, as in Wis 13:10 (see also Isa 44:9–20):
But wretched are they, and in dead things are their hopes,
who termed gods things made by human hands:
Gold and silver, the product of art, and images of beasts,
or useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
Some Greek philosophers made similar arguments against the worship of idols.
[7:30–31]
Paul makes a clear distinction between the times of ignorance, in which God overlooked human errors concerning divine truths, and now, the time of fulfillment and complete revelation through his Son, the risen Messiah and Savior. God previously showed forbearance toward idol-worshiping Gentiles because of their excusable ignorance. Paul said the same to the pagans of Lystra: “In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways” (Acts 14:16). God was similarly forbearing to Jews who did not accept Jesus before his resurrection (Luke 23:34; see Acts 3:17; 13:27). These affirmations are part of a broader biblical theme of God’s patience with human ignorance (Jon 4:11; Luke 12:47–48; 1 Tim 1:13).
However, now that God has given the fullness of revelation in the risen Christ, he demands, or “commands” (RSV, NRSV), that all people everywhere repent of their erroneous views. The creator of the world has now established a day on which he will “judge the world with justice” to reward the good and punish the evil (see John 5:27–29; Rom 2:3–10; 2 Cor 5:10). Although all will be judged for their deeds, salvation is available as a free gift of God to be received in faith (Acts 15:11; Eph 2:4–8). God will judge human beings by a man he has appointed, one who shares our nature and thus understands our struggles and temptations (see Heb 2:18). God has confirmed Jesus’ authority to judge by raising him from the dead. Jesus’ exaltation to God’s right hand enables him to share in God’s role as judge of all people. Whereas the apostles’ sermons to Jews stress Jesus as Messiah and Lord (Acts 2:29–36; 5:31), the sermons to Gentiles emphasize Jesus as judge, sharing in the authority of the creator God (Acts 10:42; 24:25).
[17:32]
The Athenians’ attentive hearing of Paul’s argument comes to a halt as soon as he mentions resurrection of the dead. For the ancient Greeks, the idea of the body’s being raised was considered both absurd and repugnant. Some Greek philosophers, such as Platonists, held that the soul is immortal. But they viewed the body, with its physical cravings, as a prison that impedes the soul’s faculties of intellect and will. At death the soul finally attains freedom by being released from the body. The biblical view, in contrast, is that the human being is a union of soul and body, or better, an embodied soul (see Ps 16:9; Matt 10:28). To survive death merely as a soul is not to be a complete human being. Thus true salvation must be salvation of the whole human person, soul and body.
The audience’s difficulty in grasping Paul’s preaching of the resurrection leads to a divided response, as when he preached to Jews, though here expressed in a more typically Greek way: some began to scoff, but others expressed a mild interest: “We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
[17:33–34]
Though some listeners join Paul and become believers, not many conversions result from his preaching in Athens. Two converts are singled out by name: Dionysius, a member of the Court of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris. The fourth-century church historian Eusebius reports that Dionysius became the first bishop of Athens. Although nothing else is known of Damaris, she may also have been a prominent member of the church in Athens, like Lydia at Philippi, since some manuscripts describe her as “respectable” and “honorable.”
Paul’s preaching in Athens appears less successful than most of his other sermons in Acts. A common but doubtful theory holds that Paul’s mixed results at Athens led him to drop the strategy of adapting his message to his audience and instead to preach only “Jesus Christ, and him crucified”; then 1 Cor 2:1–5 is cited in support of this view. However, Paul’s sermon on the Areopagus, as recounted by Luke, is not based on the kind of rhetorical eloquence or human wisdom that he rejects in 1 Corinthians. Moreover, the point most rejected by the Athenians, the resurrection, is one on which Paul does not give ground in the least (see 1 Cor 15).
Reflection and Application (17:22–34)
Paul’s proclamation of the gospel in Athens contains lessons for our evangelizing today. Paul openly discusses his faith with people in the public square. He does not wait for people to come to church, as we may be inclined to do, but rather goes out in search of the lost like the good shepherd (Luke 15:4–7). Convinced of the truth and necessity of the gospel, Paul is not afraid or ashamed to bring his faith into the conversation, despite the unfamiliarity and even strangeness of the Christian message to the people with whom he is talking (see Rom 1:16). Instead, he does his best to explain and defend his beliefs.
When Paul is invited to speak, he finds something positive to say about the sincere religious striving of those to whom he is speaking, although he knows their beliefs to be deeply erroneous. He looks for common ground, even affirming something true in their religion that he can use as a starting point for sharing the gospel. As he says in 1 Cor 9:22, “I have become all things to all, to save at least some.” The message is essentially the same as what he preaches to Jewish audiences—the proclamation of Jesus as Lord—but he tailors his approach to his pagan audience, which must first grasp the notion of a single all-powerful creator God before understanding his Son Jesus as Savior. Paul quotes pagan poets to support his argument, yet corrects his audience’s mistaken ideas about divinity. He explains the necessity of repentance and tells them the sober truth about future judgment. He boldly asserts Jesus’ resurrection, though he surely knows that this assertion will cause many Greeks to scoff. Finally, he is not discouraged when only a few receive his message. With evangelical fortitude, he sets out for his next mission, in the city of Corinth.
