College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Acts 17:14-34
IN ATHENS. Acts 17:14 b - Acts 17:34.
a.
The brethren from Berea go with Paul as far as Athens and take back a command for the coming of Silas and Timothy. Acts 17:14 b - Acts 17:15
and Silas and Timothy abode there still.
But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.
Acts 17:14 b, Acts 17:15 When once here Paul instructed them that they should return and charge Timothy and Silas to come as quickly as possible. The time of their arrival in Athens would be determined by the news from Thessalonica.
b.
Paul is provoked in spirit and reasons in the synagogue. Acts 17:16-17.
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met him.
Acts 17:16-17 Waiting in Athens. That seems to be the phrase descriptive of what Paul was doing in this pagan metropolis. This would suggest the thought that he had not originally decided to make this a point of work in his evangelistic efforts. But what would a Christian do while thus waiting? To Paul, Christ was his whole life; for me to live is Christ. Christ is all.
In the large town of Thessalonica he found the synagogue and preached Christ; in the rural town of Berea, he did the same. And in the immense city of Athens he also reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons. The only difference Athens made with Paul was that it stirred him with the deepest indignation to look upon the city full of idols. The idols referred to were of course, the many statues that lined the streets and filled the squares. As one writer observed, a statue looked out of every cave near Athens. These images were of the various Greek gods and goddesses as well as likenesses of many of the famous warriors and statesmen. Paul was surely right in thus evaluating them, for although these carved figures were not worshiped, they advertised the multiplicity of gods who were.
How different is the response of men to similar circumstances. To many, such a condition would have been so overwhelming in magnitude as to make it seem impossible to do anything for Christ, but not for Paul. It only caused a great desire to arise in his heart that the truth be known in this place. This found expression not only in the synagogue services but everyday in the market place. The town was full of idlers, and in such a large city there was no trouble in securing a hearing from those on the street. In the Agora or public market (the same place Socrates had used for his teaching) Paul talked until they came to call him a babbler.
643.
When were Silas and Timothy to come to Athens?
644.
What was Paul's first work for Christ in Athens?
645.
What were the idols?
646.
Where else did Paul preach besides the synagogue?
c.
The contact with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Acts 17:18-21.
And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.
And they took hold of him, and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by thee?
For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
(Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)
Acts 17:18-21 In such a town as Athens it was inevitable that Paul should encounter some of the many philosophers. The Epicurean and Stoic teaching had a great following in this place; a sizable sect of each was meeting in the city. We will not take the space here to go into the history and beliefs of these two philosophies. Suffice it to say that the Epicureans believed that the highest good from life could only be secured in pleasure. Their founder suggested that the pleasures to be sought should be in the intellectual realm, but his followers failed to take his advice and sought the highest good in all types of pleasures, the most natural and common being in lust. The Stoics on the other hand held that the highest good could be found in a complete self-discipline amounting to the denial of the natural and necessary desires of man. One philosophy produced degenerates, the other suicides.
Well, it so happened that representatives from either side stayed one day to hear Paul. They were intrigued, their curiosity was aroused, and although totally ignorant of the very fundamentals of Christianity they none the less were interested in this Jew who so earnestly set forth this strange teaching. What was Paul teaching here? Was he dabbling with the principles of the two opposing philosophical thoughts? No, No! He was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. He preached in plain understandable terms in this place what he had preached wherever he went. And this we also need to do today. Of course it would not be expected that they would all understand or accept. Some called him a babbler, others said that he was a preacher of foreign divinities, but all heard him and all were interested. So interested, indeed, that they literally hurried Paul up to the steps of Mars-' hill, up to the open air amphitheatre where these philosophers and others might gather around while Paul stood before them to tell more about this new teaching.
A description of the attitudes of these men:. their greatest orator had hurled at them the reproach that, instead of flinging themselves into timely and vigorous action in defense of their endangered liberties, they were forever gadding about asking for the very latest news; and St. Luke-every incidental allusion of whose brief narrative bears the mark of truthfulness and knowledgerepeats the same characteristic under the altered circumstances of their present adversity. Even the foreign residents caught the infection, and the Agora buzzed with inquiring chatter at this late and decadent epoch no less loudly than in the days of Pericles or of Plato. (Farrar, ibid p. 302).
Surely we could say here that Paul was making application of his attributes of love. He was to say love hopeth all things, and that love believeth all things. These Athenians became more insolent than they were interested. Paul was surely standing as Pansainias stated on the stone of impudence, where men had to defend their facts while the listeners sat around.
647.
Which two philosophical schools did Paul encounter? What did they teach?
648.
What did these philosophies produce? Why?
649.
What did Paul preach to these men?
650.
What is the Agora? Mars Hill?
651.
What was the matter with the attitude of the Athenians?
d.
Paul's message on the unknown God. Acts 17:22-31.
And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are very religious.
For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you.
The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;
that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us:
for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:
inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Acts 17:22-31 Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are very religious. As G. Campbell Morgan remarks, this entire address is conciliatory. The whole speech is directed toward gaining the ear and heart of those who listened. Here is a brief outline of Paul's message to the Athenians:
THE UNKNOWN GOD
Introduction: Acts 17:22 b - Acts 17:23.
The observance of idols.
Proposition:
Characteristics of the Unknown God.
I.
Creator of all. Acts 17:24-26.
1.
Made all things
2.
Lord of heaven and earth
3.
Dwells not in any one place
4.
Not served by men's hands
5.
The maker of nations
II.
Within reach of all. Acts 17:27-29.
1.
In Him we live, move and have our being
2.
We are His offspring or creation
3.
Cast away then these idols and worship the true God
III.
Gives salvation to all. Acts 17:30-31.
1.
The days of ignorance are over
2.
Men now should repent and turn to Christ
3.
This to be done in lieu of the final judgment
Consider the following comments upon this outline:
Introduction: Acts 17:22 b - Acts 17:23 a.
He begins his message on a common ground. The thought is: I am to bring you a religious message and I deem it quite appropriate for, In all things I perceive you are very religious. To be more specific in this general thought, and at the same time to lead into the proposition of his address, he says: For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship I found also an altar with this inscription: To an Unknown God.
The proposition: What therefore ye Worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you. It might be well to read Acts 17:18 b and Acts 17:23 b together to get the full import of Paul's defense. Acts 17:18 b, and some said, what would this babbler say? Others, He seemeth to be a -setter forth of strange gods-', Acts 17:23 b. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you. What a fine, pointed, winsome approach.
I.
CREATOR OF ALL. Acts 17:24-26.
This unknown God, the one whom all of you are really reaching out to find, is the one who has made all things; the world and all things therein. Thus, we could say of Him, that He is Lord of heaven and earth. This at once cuts out all gods of the various elements and forces connected with this earth or the heavens above. Being such a great God, He would not be found in some house of human construction. How ridiculous for God to create all things and then be confined to some object of His creation! Man is totally dependent upon God for all that he has; God upon man for nothing.
II.
WITHIN REACH OF ALL. Acts 17:27-29.
This unknown, but knowable God, created man to begin with, and then from this one man brought forth the many nations that are now on the face of the earth. These peoples all enjoy Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. They all live in the very part of the globe best suited to their needs. Now, in these things which this unknown but knowable God has given is the means of discovering something of His character. Paul was to say elsewhere that. The things that are made declare His everlasting power and divinity (Romans 1:20). In thus using their senses and analyzing the things that are made in the light of whence they came they could feel after and find him.
But lest these men conclude that God was in some far off place and was to be thought of in a completely objective manner, Paul hastens to tell them that He is nearer than the very air we breathe, for He is the source of life and the sustainer of life. It naturally follows then that we are the offspring of God. To add force to this wonderfully new idea Paul quotes from two of their Grecian poets, Aratus and Cleanthes, who said in essence: For we are also his offspring. This being so, and we know that it is, it must also be that all images of man whether of gold, silver, stone or wood, however wonderfully carved and artistically fashioned, could never be a representation of deity.
III.
GIVES SALVATION TO ALL. Acts 17:30-31.
Paul says here as Peter said in Acts 3:17, I know that in ignorance ye did it. In times past the conditions described could be attributed to ignorance but a new day has come, a new hour has struck. God only overlooked those times because He looked beyond them to this day, this time. In this day, and in this message there is a remedy for all the ignorance and sin of the days past.
Now the application, now the demand upon the hearers, now the action from the message. This great God who created and sustains all things asks you and all men everywhere, in the light of your knowledge, and of the coming judgment to repent! Think it over. Change your mind and life. You are not right in the sight of this great God. Your beliefs, your philosophies, your life is at variance with His being and truth. It is imperative that you do this. God has set a day in His calendar when He will call all men before His bench of righteous judgment to be examined by His law. This God will not do this Himself but through His Son, the man whom He has set apart for this task. It is certain that this one will carry out this work, and all men can believe it is so, for God brought Him out of the grave for that very purpose.
That was enough. A burst of coarse derision interrupted his words. The Greeks, the philosophers themselves could listen with pleasure, even with some conviction, while he demonstrated the nullity of these gods of the Acropolis at which even their fathers four centuries earlier had not been afraid to jeer, but now that he had got to the point. While Paul discussed round their altar the doctrine of an unknown God, while he enunciated philosophies, even though his enunciations contradicted their philosophies, they listened; but when he said, -Now He commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent, inasmuch as He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness-', they mocked. Men often find an intellectual excuse for refusing to be moral when God demands morality. Paul, discussing an altar and a theory of God, will fail unless he says, -But now. Repent-'. That is the point where men begin to mock, and postpone. (G. Campbell Morgan, pp. 424-425).
652.
What is the meaning of the term conciliatory?
653.
What was the stone of impudence?
654.
The theme of the message?
655.
From memory give the three divisions of the sermon.
656.
How does Paul begin his message?
657.
What is the proposition?
658.
How can we say that God is Lord of heaven and earth?
659.
If He is Lord of heaven and earth what does that fact do with the gods of the Greeks?
660.
What is the relationship of man and God, God and man?
661.
From whence came all the nations on he face of the earth?
662.
How did Paul state that man was to feel after and find God?
663.
God bears what relationship to life?
664.
Where did Paul secure his quotation from their poets?
665.
What naturally follows from the conclusion that we are God's offspring?
666.
In what way did God overlook their ignorance?
667.
What was the demand upon the hearers? Why?
668.
Why was it so imperative?
669.
What connection does the resurrection have with the coming judgment?
670.
What caused some to mock?
671.
Who was converted?
e.
The results. Acts 17:32-34.
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again.
Thus Paul went out from among them.
But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Acts 17:32-34 But not all mocked and not all postponed. Some believed, among them was a prominent man of the city, -Dionysius the Areopagite.-' Here was a Christian official of the very place where others mocked. There always seems to be women among the converts,.. Christianity was surely a glorious boon for them. There were no doubt others, but one who stood out above the others was a woman named Damaris.
We find out from the Thessalonian letter that Silas and Timothy did meet Paul in Athens and that Paul was much refreshed by the news of the young evangelist. Timothy was soon sent back to Thessalonica and Silas to somewhere else, possibly Derbe. Paul left Athens as he came, alone.
Because there are some among us that say Paul made a failure in Athens, I would like to remind them of the facts of history, which say that the church in Athens was one of the strongest congregations of the empire in the second and third centuries.
672.
What does the epistle to the Thessalonians add to our knowledge of the work in Athens?
673.
What facts of history disprove the idea that Paul made a failure in Athens?