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Category: Acts for a 21st c. Church

Acts of the Apostles + a History of Christ’s Church

Acts of the Apostles 1-28

Acts of the Apostles:
+ The first century Church SHARED Christ while suffering severe persecution.
+ Luke records a historic account of the Church which gives 21c Christians a context to SHARE the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Read more about the Early Church & add your COMMENT on Scripture.

ACT now.

+ SHARE the Gospel history witnessed in the CURRENT chronological SERIES from ACTS of the APOSTLES.

Lectures about God in Athens’ University of Idols
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD

TODAY’S LECTURE

At the Areopagus –

Visiting Professor of Philosophy & Religion

Παῦλος – paulos

πολίτης Ταρσεύς Κιλικία

Citizen of Tarseus in Cilicia

The Hill of Ares or Mars’ Hill, depending on language reference of Greek or Roman for the god of war.

The Apostle Paul is about to make an important speech to the Romans and Hellenists studying in Athens in ~A.D. 50 at the university lecture hall of the day which sits atop a hill facing the crumbling 5th c. B.C. temples of Athena and many idols.

(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)
Acts 17:21 LSB
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To best understand the 1st century Roman-Hellenist culture of Athens read our two previous posts.
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Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. – Acts of the Apostles 17:16

Approaching Athens 2 – Addressing gods and goddesses

Brief summary of Greek mythology
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD
Acts 17:
God who made the world
α – θεός (theos) does not live in temples made by man
β – ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos) – mankind, timelines & nations
γ – ἐγώ (egō) in Him we live and move and exist
δ – οὖν – therefore as God’s offspring
ε – θεός νῦν παραγγέλλω – theos is now declaring
ζ – ἄνθρωπος πανταχοῦ μετανοέω – ALL men everywhere repent
η – ἡμέρα κρίνω οἰκουμένη – a day he will judge righteousness
Α – πίστις – assurance
Ω – ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν – by raising Him from the dead!
παντοκράτωρ – THE ALMIGHTY
Acts 17:

Visiting Professor Paulus teaches on the topic of an unknown God addressing stoics, epicureans and other religious professors of idolatrous worship graciously.

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
Acts 17:22b ESV

Those claiming Christ in this 21st century A.D. would do well to address unbelievers and idolaters with the same grace as Paul employed in the first century A.D. in the beginning of his apostleship into all the world of the gentiles.

What is Paul’s outline of a logical approach to the proclamation of the GOOD NEWS of JESUS CHRIST?

The Apostle to the Gentiles points toward the incarnation of Christ as a pivotal recent event in the timeline of human history as part of GOD’S timeless plan for mankind.

God who made the world

Therefore,
the One whom you worship without knowing,
Him I proclaim to you:
ACTS 17:23b NKJV – of the Apostle Paul in the Areopagus

The religious men and other men of Athens, as well as religious Romans adding their own iconic monuments to the Athens’ landscape of religious festivals, admittedly could not possibly know every god.

Therefore, Paul begins from their own documented conclusion. They need to hear what I have to proclaim about the TRUE GOD Romans and Greeks do not know.

(And God is NOT just the God of the Hebrews worshiped in Jerusalem.)

Who IS the GOD WHO MADE THE WORLD?

(Certainly not Zeus who was not in the beginning, nor the goddess Athena — but Paul does not even need to state this accepted timeline from mythology which does not worship the very God of creation.)

α – θεός (theos) does not live in temples made by man

24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

β – ἀνθρώπινος (anthrōpinos) – mankind, timelines & nations

26 And he made from one man every nation (ethnos) of mankind (anthrōpos) to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way towards him and find him.
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Although contemporary twisting of imagery limits such use of an archaic word, I like the more literal translation of this picture of man groping for God, as a blind person reaches near for that which can be touched.
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.. in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us
Acts 17:26a NKJV & others

γ – ἐγώ (egō) in Him we live and move and exist
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Now our Professor of Theology, Paul of Cilicia, quotes two poets likely studied by the university he addresses -- NOT Hebrew poets such as David or Solomon -- NOT Jesus, whose many teachings have become well-known these past twenty years -- but GREEK or Hellenist poets revered by the university of classical thought in Athens. 

One is likely from Crete, where earlier along with Barnabas, Paul professed Christ to the gentiles. Paul also quotes a classical Greek poet from the forth century B.C. - source
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Paul's introduction of the One God (of the Hebrews) is non-confrontational, providing an outline of God's plan to have all people of all cultures and all nations seek and find the Living God at a time appointed by Him.
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Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
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Paul could have quoted Jesus here, who quoted David, but instead the Apostle to the Gentiles quotes their own learned teachers. 
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δ – οὖν – therefore as God’s offspring

The question never-the-less remains the same: WHAT IF GOD created YOU?

(It’s not simply a question of ONLY the FIRST MAN {adam}, therefore the Apostle leaves no room for arguments of philosophers backing him into a creation corner.)
- What if we are SONS (& DAUGHTERS) of the Living God?
- WHAT IF GOD CONSIDERS ME FAMILY?
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
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Do you think of your own mother or your own father as one of these idolatrous worshiped things? Of course not!

YET if you belong to GOD's own family with your LIVING human father and mother as progeny of the LIVING GOD and Creator of all life, how can you worship your loving God like a stone, a man-made myth or self-breathed thoughts?
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30 The times of ignorance God overlooked,

ε – θεός νῦν παραγγέλλω – theos is now declaring

but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

30 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,
Acts 17:30 CSB

ζ – ἄνθρωπος πανταχοῦ μετανοέω – ALL men everywhere repent
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The apostle to the Hellenists and Romans proclaims a STRONG authoritative choice to listeners in the Areopagus: GOD 'winked' (says the King James Version) but now commandeth all men every where to repent!
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REPENT, therefore, sons and daughters of the Living God!
For YOU are no longer ignorant.

And WHY should you REPENT? 
WHY turn back to the Living God?
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η – ἡμέρα κρίνω οἰκουμένη – a day he will judge righteousness

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed;
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Can WE SAVE the earth anymore than WE can save our own FLESH and BLOOD from DEATH and destruction?
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But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:7 LSB
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SO is this professor of the unknown god proclaiming that his teaching must be given authority over all other schools of thought about our gods?

WHO IS THIS MAN Paulus of Cilicia claims will JUDGE all of mankind?
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Α – πίστις – assurance

and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:12 διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον & again, Paul’s letter to Roman believers 5:15 ESV

Ω – ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν – by raising Him from the dead!

He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
Acts of the Apostles 17:31b CSB

All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Gospel of Luke 10:22 ESV

I and the Father are one.”
Gospel of John 10:30 ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν

παντοκράτωρ – THE ALMIGHTY

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Revelation of the risen Jesus Christ to John 1:8 ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ὁ παντοκράτωρ
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CLICK HERE: For more information about Jesus Christ and Inerrant TRUTH: Our reasoned Biblical Faith.
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ACTS of the Apostles – To Be Continued…

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
May 2, 2023
Approaching Athens 2 – Addressing gods and goddesses
acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”).

Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. – Acts 17:22

The Apostle’s introduction and approach are most gracious in addressing a crowd of men whose religious celebrations of their gods and goddesses would seem most sinful to every Jew in Athens.
Addressing Athena & the men who idolize her
Ἄρειος πάγος – From Ares
The Hill of Mars, Roman god of War
ancient Greek gods & goddesses
Lord Zeus & other gods
The Hellene Pax Romana from the bringer of War
Springtime in Athens
A classical culture that wasn’t what you thought.
Hellenist worship
the UNKNOWN GOD
Acts 17 – Paul Addresses the Areopagus
Addressing Athena & the men who idolize her

The Apostle Paul, a Roman citizen who has also been speaking with the Jews of Athens has been brought to the Areopagus in town to address a ruling council of Hellenist leaders and crowds of interested listeners. His already spirit provoked about the overt and godless idolatry he observed [v.16]

Athena, goddess of the city is prominent to all but she is just one of many revered gods and goddesses of the myths of ancient Greece.

The Areopagus a rocky height in the city of Athens, opposite the western end of the Acropolis toward the west to which these men of the city agora have brought Paul is not only an ancient military outpost but has an idolic connection to Greek mythology as well.

Ἄρειος πάγος – From Ares

(the name of the Greek deity of war)
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Recall, however, that Rome has long-established its rule of law and officials in the FREE ROMAN CITY of Athens ACHAIA.
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The Hill of Mars, Roman god of War
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Allow me to set the mythological stage of the GREEK & ROMAN gods behind the history of Athenian & Roman worship and festivals with music suited to the continuing 'religion' celebrating the passions of men as idols of worship.
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Mars Bringer of War – Listen

This hill belonged to (Ares) Mars and was called Mar’s Hill; so called, because, as the story went, Mars, having slain Halirrhothius, son of Neptune, for the attempted violation of his daughter Alicippe, was tried for the murder here before twelve gods as judges.
Lexicon :: Strong’s G697 – areios pagos – BlueLetterBible.org commentary on Mars Hill

We cannot fully appreciate the dilemma and provocation of the spirit of the Apostle to the gentiles without recognizing as Paul did the seriousness of the sinful culture of idolatry of these men of Athens to whom he now will address himself concerning this ‘strange teaching’ of One God and the resurrection.

So before we proceed with Paul’s speech let’s take a quick look at the mythology behind these compelling legends of gods such as Mars, Neptune, Zeus, Apollo and goddesses such as their patron mother of Athens – Athena.

ancient Greek gods & goddesses

(Try to keep score on the who’s doing what with whom as best you can.)

As earlier in Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens I will mostly consult the extensive research of historian Thomas Cahill. – RH

Lord Zeus & other gods

“Zeus, who controlled rain and clouds.. ..was Lord of the Sky and greatest of gods, but not the oldest.” [p.17]

12 Olympians (including Zeus) ruled from ‘heaven’ atop Mount Olympus.

These Olympians had overthrown prior gods called the Titans.

Before that, according to Greek mythology, the TITANS had been formed by FATHER HEAVEN and MOTHER EARTH.

Father Heaven and Mother Earth had emerged from:

(Pay close attention now)

primordial CHAOS whose

2 children: DARKNESS and DEATH

gave birth to LIGHT and LOVE

NIGHT is the mother of DAY

which made possible the appearance of FATHER HEAVEN and MOTHER EARTH.

δεισιδαίμων Scandalous religious worship of gods

The Olympian Zeus was son of the Titan god Chronos. ZEUS, who has taken the lordship of the throne of heaven, is known for ‘perpetually falling in love, wooing and usually raping beautiful women, both mortal and immortal, who would then give birth to gods and demigods… [Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, p.17]

The goddess Hera is Zeus’ wife! And HERA naturally gets jealous. Plus in an additional soap-opera-esque twist, the goddess Hera is also Zeus’ sister!

IF (unlike Paul) you are unaware of where ATHENA fits in here, this hometown goddess is one of the 12 Olympians which include:

Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes.
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Without pursuing these Greek gods and goddesses further (many long forgotten, as Paul & Roman inscriptions will note) their idolic family-tree and extra-worldly adventures come from ancient Greek literature, including Theogony, a poem by Hesiod from ~700 B.C. 
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The Hellene Pax Romana from the bringer of War

Who are the ROMAN gods of the Roman free city of Athens?

Derived from the Greek words ‘πᾶν’ pan – all, and ‘θεός’ theos – god, pantheon literally means ‘of all gods’.
The British Museum [source for the following list of gods]

King of the gods is Zeus – or his Roman equivalent, Jupiter – who rules over Mount Olympus and is the god of thunder and lightning, as well as law and order.

Hera or Juno.. is the goddess of marriage, childbirth and fertility.

Ares or Mars
This Romano-British statuette shows Mars, the god of war, fully decked out in his characteristic armour, missing the original spear and shield he would once have held.

Athena or Minerva – Ares’ [Mars’] half-sister is the Greek goddess Athena. Goddess of reason, handicraft, wisdom, and war, she is the daughter of Zeus

Aphrodite or Venus [very popular idol of men and women alike in every century]
Goddess of love, sex, and beauty, Aphrodite – or Venus – is said to have emerged from the white foam generated when the Titan Cronos [father of ZEUS] threw the severed testicles of his father, Ouranos, into the sea.

Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretized Roman goddess counterpart Venus, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory.

Hermes or Mercury
The messenger of the gods was Hermes, known as Mercury in ancient Roman religion, and he was also a pastoral god, protecting livestock and travellers.
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Do you recall how on their first missionary journey they thought that Paul was Hermes who spoke for Zeus i.e. Barnabas?
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The gods have become like men

And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city [Lystra in Pamphylia], brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. – Acts of the Apostles 14:13
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YOU could learn much more about these Greek and Roman gods, many long forgotten -- and never gain any more wisdom of the One God who sent men like Paul into all the world with the Gospel of the Savior of sinners and hope of the resurrection, Christ JESUS!
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Springtime in Athens
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Disclaimer: Although this single illustration of typical events in Roman-ruled Athens is extra-Biblical and may not have taken place specifically during Paul's visit, I provide general descriptions mostly from SAILING THE WINE-DARK SEA to set the cultural stage for Paul's speech with some level of the Apostle's 1st century understanding of his audience. 

Paul's stop in Athens may have been in A.D. 51, perhaps even in the spring.
Claudius, Emperor of Rome, had changed the calendar back in A.D. 46 and by A.D. 43 had conquered much of Europe including Great Britain. - RH
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A classical culture that wasn’t what you thought.

The ANCIENT 5th century B.C. cultural of Athens had been that of a ‘democracy’ dependent on slaves. Democracy for ‘all’ was for ‘free’ MEN only, and that only of two basic Greek higher classes, one a ‘high office’ and the others ‘lower’ offices – a sort of competing middle class of free men who directly ruled over the affairs of Athens.

Athenians probably numbered no more than a quarter million, of which as many as 100,000 may have been slaves.. This would leave a citizen population of little more than twenty percent.
‘Why the Greeks Matter’ p.115

The political experiment of Athenian democracy (of its 20% citizenry) would end, of course, with their conquering by Alexander the Great. Later a similar political experiment of a Roman Republic would also fail as conquering heroes of the people made themselves to be Caesars and gods of the people.
Europeans.. are full of spirit but are somewhat lacking in intelligence and skill.. Asians.. though intelligent and skilled.. lack spirit.. The race of the Greeks, however, which occupies the center of the earth.. being both spirited and intelligent.. Thus does this race.. continue to be capable of ruling all humanity.
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(Of course no sensible proponent of democracy could today speak of race rather than culture or imply any inequality of those incapable of governing themselves. Let the humanist religion of philosophy bring reason to all religions of humankind with equal participation of all flesh in the rituals of all gods celebrated together in the pax of humanity.

But this of course is a 21st c. religious take on ancient wise ways of 'classical' philosophers such as the excerpt quoted here from Cahill.) - RH
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excerpt [The Politician and the Playwright p. 129 – How to Rule] from ARISTOTLE
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Picture the Classical Greek citizens of Athens (and their slaves)or Hellenist Athenians in built back better ruins of their past with a Roman citizen Paul brought to their curious attention in A.D. 51:
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“The continual buzz of conversation, the orotund sound of the orators, the shrill shouts from the symposia–this steady drumbeat of opinion, controversary, and conflict could everywhere be heard. The agora [marketplace].. was an everyday marketplace of ideas..

The word the Athenians used for their Assembly was Ekklēsia, the same word used in the New Testament for Church..”
Thomas Cahill – Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea p.118

Hellenist worship

At the springtime Dionysia, the Athenian festival in honor of Dionysus, three days.. began with a solemn religious procession of leading citizens, distinguished visitors, and all the choruses.. led by officials carrying.. sculpture of erect penises, symbols of the god, to his temple…
Why the Greeks Matter, Thomas Cahill pp. 129-130

Into the this idolatry walks a Roman citizen, Paul, who is invited to address the assembly of leading men of Athens, to whom the Apostle begins his logical argument with exceeding grace.

the UNKNOWN GOD

Whether god or goddess..

Acts 17 – Paul Addresses the Areopagus

23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything…

NEXT: the Logic of Paul’s Theology

To be continued…
April 21, 2023
Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens
The Lord’s apostle to the gentiles — Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, a Roman citizen of CILICIA — has hurriedly fled Thessaloniki and Berea MACEDONIA sailing south along the Aegean coast of ACHIA to Athens.
Sailing from Macedonia to Athens
Approaching Athens
Unknown gods and goddesses
Acts of the Apostles 17:
The Jews (in the eyes of Athens)
Dialogue with men in the Agora
Sailing from Macedonia to Athens

Although fleeing the Jews we must think of Paulos as a ROMAN citizen on some sort of commercial Roman ship traveling from Macedonia to Achia. Yes, the destination of his ticket in Athens – a city of a 300 year old fading glory – but the more important city of Roman Achia is now Corinth.

What is more important here along Paul’s nearly 300 mile journey here is the context of culture so evident as he sails to Athens and then walks through the entrance of a city steeped in its former Hellenist glory.

Jews in Berea receive and believe the Gospel

Previously we addressed the ‘Greek‘ influence of Alexander the Great and Macedonian culture.

This modern-day statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, Greece partially demonstrates this Macedonian’s lasting influence even since his death in 323 B.C.

Paul would have no sooner left port in Macedonia than all would have viewed the great mountains of Greek mythology on their starboard side.
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(We will approach these gods Zeus and others upon arrival in Athens.)
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Mount Olympus – Highest peak in Greece, home of Zeus and the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses

As we noted earlier the apostles’ journey along this mountainous coast of about 300 miles takes them from Macedonia (with its Alexandrian history) to Achia, the Roman region of strategic importance which includes Corinth on an inland isthmus and the port of Athens, formerly devastated by war but brought back to prominence by Rome as a ‘free city.’

Approaching Athens

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As their commercial Roman sailing ship rounded mountains descending into the Aegean on their approach Athens, Paul would have seen ruins of the destroyed Acropolis appear on the hill to their starboard side prior to their ship docking in port.

acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”). – source – Flickr (same as photo)

Upon arrival, as we noted last time, Paul sent his Berean brothers back to let the church know that he had arrived safely — again a 300 mile return trip while the Apostle Paul takes in the sights of this ancient ruined Greek city of Hellenist influence and lessor free city of Rome gaining the attention of its Emporer (a Caesar and god of the people).

Visitors to the Athens of A.D. 50 would have walked along streets lined with monuments and statues as they ascended the hill into the city and its agora (marketplace).

Unknown gods and goddesses

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
Acts of the Apostles 17:16

NOTE: Although I have researched several sources as a background for Paul’s Acts 17 speech in Athens, you will find this one most useful and detailed. – Roger@TalkofJesus.com

https://thomascahill.com/books

YOU and I cannot fully understand Paul’s more contemporary knowledge of his first century A.D. context of clashes between Hellenist, Roman and Hebrew cultures; however after a brief overview of the text we will take a glance at Athens through the A.D. 50 eyes of all.

Acts of the Apostles 17:

17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles,

and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.

18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are speaking? 20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.”
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Luke now inserts a parenthetical glance at our 1st century A.D. philosophers of Athens.
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21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)
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Luke's account continues from ACTS 17:22 'So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus..

We will listen to the apostle to the gentiles addressing the men of Athens next time, but first some CULTURAL CONTEXT.
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The Jews (in the eyes of Athens)

Saulos of Tarsus frequented the synagogues of his Hebrew brothers first in many other cities. He is a Pharisee who had believed in the Resurrection even prior to meeting the risen Messiah Jesus (same as Joshua in Hebrew) live and in Person.

This belief in the resurrection of JESUS, Ἰησοῦς in the common Greek language, yᵊhôšûaʿ or Joshua in Hebrew, held by some Pharisees and some Essenes but not the Jewish sect of the Sadducees attracted Pharisaic Jews and proselytes to Christ’s fulfillment of Hebrew Scripture.

Jews were merchants who mostly seemed to fit into the Pax Romana like any other religious culture except for one strange belief: Jews only had One God.

An even more strange belief of some Jews about what happened to the body after death seemed somewhat ghoulish. (Just imagine some neighbor walking around Athens after he died — laughable!) What a strange belief of some of these Jews.

For the Jews, who had little or no belief in the immortality of the soul, only salvation in one’s body could have any meaning.
Thomas Cahill, Why the Greeks Matter, p.260

The ‘peace’ of Rome accomplished in Athens by conquest was tenuous. Athenians and Romans were somewhat suspicious of Jews who the Emperor Claudius had just expelled from Rome.

Therefore, just as Saul of Tarsus had fled Macedonia secretly and swiftly, Jews in Achia and other cities of the Roman Empire most likely worshiped somewhat ‘under the radar’ in A.D. 50 so as to peaceably blend in with other Greeks.

As to Jewish cultural traditions of the past, Hellenist and Roman alike would have admired the great Jewish Empire of Solomon which was even more ancient than the centuries-old fallen glory of Alexander of Macedon who also conquered all of the world including the ancient cities of Greece.

To the Hellenist eyes of Athenian philosophers Jewish wisdom differed from their own ancient Greek wisdom. Paul understood both.

.. a Hebrew mode of argument .. proceeds by assertion and contrast rather than step-by-step reasoning [of ‘Socratic method’]
Thomas Cahill, excerpt ibid. p.165

17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles

Dialogue with men in the Agora

.. and in the marketplace^G58 every day with those who happened to be present.

You might think that based on previous witness in other cities the apostle would have steered clear of the agora where everybody who’s anybody gathers in town.

A cultural clash at the Agora in Roman Philippi

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, – Acts 16:19 LSB

Paulos, sent out by Christ to the world of the Greeks, is a Roman citizen with a public duty, a Greek-speaking orator with a heart for the One God revealed in Hebrew Scripture and by the Messiah and the Spirit of the Living God.

This visitor to Athens brings a unique perspective to Roman authorities and citizens of this free Roman city in addition to an appeal to traditional and classic Greek values represented in-part by their many gods.

The agora in Athens is crowded with Gentiles EVERY DAY.

ἀγορά –
1. any assembly, especially of the people
2. the place of assembly
3. market place, street
- Source: BlueLetterBible.org
The Greek or Hellenist or Roman agora is a multi-purpose public place.

For: public debating, in-person democratic elections, trials, for buying and selling and all kinds of business

Aristotle & the pantheon of Athenian gods of philosophy
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Classic Greece is long gone. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., his student Plato in 347 B.C. and Socrates had accepted his death sentence of hemlock for disbelief in the gods of Athens way back in 399 B.C.
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~A.D. 50

Acts 17:18

And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.

Who are these endless debaters of the Agora?

Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?”

Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

Classic Schools of Philo-sophy [love of wisdom]

Roman and Hellene aristocratic families would send their young men to Athens. It’s schools included: Cynicism, Stoicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism and others. Among these that Paul would have encountered:

Stoics taught virtuous detachment from the physical things of the world (a sort of monastic approach). Epicureans taught to love of life and pleasure much to the liking of most powerful Roman and well-healed Greek men celebrating so many festivals of various gods with little thought of wisdom at all.

In fact, over the centuries since the esteemed Greek philosophers Athens and other Hellenist cities had had so many varied festivals and pantheons of gods that no man could truly remember them all.

THE LOVERS OF WISDOM continually TALKED about gods and religion as a contest between PHILOSOPHERS seeking advantage over their opponent without seeking the TRUTH of the LOGOS which the Apostle Paul was about to present.

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus

Acts of the Apostle Paul in ATHENS — To be continued…
April 14, 2023