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7. Paul at Athens (Acts 17:16-34)
ACTS 17:22-29
22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. 23 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 you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, 25 neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. 26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might 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, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.
Athens is a grand and beautiful city, but Jerusalem is greater. The hillocks around Athens, the plains and the sea, are tuned like charming music. But Jerusalem looks like an altar, surrounded by hillocks and mountains of judgment and grace. Paul stood in the very heart of Greek art, at the center of Athenian culture, in the shadow of the Parthenon, beside the temple of Minerva. He strove to live for the one true God, the Creator, the Almighty, and the All-ruling. Paul did not preach Christ crucified, for his hearers would not have understood forgiveness, and they were not seeking it. He did not reveal all the principles of his faith, nor did he respond to the people’s requests. In addition, he did not convey his spiritual insight to them, which remained hidden from his hearers. He preached to them that they might be saved. He started with the first step, the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. The wise preacher endeavored to free the Athenians from their belief in many gods. He wanted to lead them to recognize the singleness of God, to show them their accountability before Him, in order that they might inquire about His will. Only then could they repent and tremble in fear before His holy Person.
Paul did not condemn the philosophers and scholars for their spiritual ignorance. He humbled himself before their superficial religiosity, and honored their good intent, even though he was greatly upset by their many gods. The apostle could distinguish between lost persons and their lost condition. He did not reject the lost seeker, but offered to him the object of his persistent seeking. All men inwardly long for God. But sadly, they neither know Him, nor are they able to come to Him with their sins.
Paul stood up in the midst of the arrogant geniuses and boldly stated that he knew the unknown God. This unknown God, of whom he preached, had remained hidden to them. The strange thing is that the Athenians, in their religious zeal, did not wish to omit from their worship any deity with whom they might not be acquainted. So they had built an altar to the unknown god, where they offered sacrifices to keep themselves from his anger. Paul used this pagan altar as a connecting link between their idolatry and his faith. Using it he pointed out to his hearers that there is but one Almighty God, who manages, even today, heaven and earth, the clouds and the winds. He holds in His hands seas, the expanses, and stars. He has even numbered the very hairs of our heads. We are all in dire need, in the midst of our technological age, to deeply penetrate into the glory and greatness of this great God, the Creator of all things. We must truthfully realize that the new sciences of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy are but means to explain His unlimited power. The living God is greater than our mind, and higher than our understanding. He created our small skull to house our brain. We are all creatures, but He is a creating Spirit. We are separated from Him because of our sins. This is the relationship between man and God. We all need to know God the Creator anew, and must direct our thoughts toward Him, so that we may not deify science, technology, men and money, thereby forgetting the one true God.
The great God is not in need of worship or sacrifices, for He is holy and great in Himself. He is not dependent upon the help of men, and does not ask for food or sacrifices. Moreover, He is not confined to or imprisoned in temples and churches. His Spirit is not petrified into idols or strange stones. Our God is free and glorious. He carries out his designs in creating life continuously in men, animals, and plants. Even the new stars are formed according to His will, from light, misty gases, before they are condensed into a solid. He who pays homage to the Creator does the first duty toward Him. Our acts of thanksgiving and worship are inevitable if we recogniz His glory. In this manner Paul attempted to free his hearers from their belief in golden idols and marble temples. He tried to lead them to God, the great Creator.
The apostle then pointed to the One who is All-ruling, who intervenes in the history of peoples. He created us from Adam, gave commandments to every nation, and caused people to prosper, in spite of the power of sin living in their bodies. Whoever keeps and regards His holy laws remains. But he who leaves God is drowned in the luxury of selfishness. The merciful God gives to every tribe and every people time for reflection, time for realization of talents and success. He fixes for them the limits of the places where they should live. He who loses the respect of God also loses his human rights. The most important duty of all peoples is to seek God and glorify Him. The end of our ambition cannot be money, dignity, power, or science, but the living God Himself. Every man who is not directed toward God is lost. Do you seek your Lord, or does your life rotate around itself? Do you run after perishable goals, or do you stand fast in the one who is the All-giver? He alone is the daily Creator of life, the one who manages peoples in accordance with their actions.
The great God does not sit upon the clouds of the sky, nor does He dwell in temples made of stone, for He is a Spirit, and is everywhere present. He is not absent or far from us, nor unapproachable to anyone of us. He is near to you. He hears every word you say, and knows your every thought. Your conscience is uncovered before Him. It shows every spot in it, like the temple of man´s body appearing before the electric light of the physician’s instrument. You cannot hide anything from Him. Your conscience reveals your sin.
He who recognizes God’s calling to us, even while we are sinful, and trembles before the love of God, worships Him, who has made us in His own image. To explain this primary relationship between God and man, Paul quoted from a Greek philosopher, saying: “We are the offspring of God”. This statement is awesome. The source of our being does not arise from nothingness, dead matter, or evil. We come from God, and are in Him. He is our course and destination. Our thoughts must be directed only toward God, otherwise we sin. Neither images of art, nor stately buildings sparkling like gold in the light of the sun, nor any system of philosophical ideas reveal the glory of God to this world. Every man is the offspring of the Most High, and is called to have His image realized in him.
PRAYER: O holy God, You created the universe, and You maintain it in Your patience. In You we live, and in Your mercy we continue. We thank You for Your great love. Please direct our thoughts, at all times, toward You.
QUESTION:
- What were the three main ideas in the first part of Paul’s sermon before the philosophers of Athens?