Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: worship

Am I not free? Religion 1 Corinthians 9
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

1 Corinthians 9:1 New Heart English Bible

Freedom and Religion

Eric Kress outlines two main points of application from the previous chapter of 1 Corinthians 8:
- a. The caution concerning your exercise of freedom (v.9-12)
- b. The care you must take when contemplating the use of your freedom (v.13)
Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8

Paul’s 4 questions intertwined in context and application

Paul’s four-fold point (in the Apostle’s letter without chapter and verse) begins:

οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος

‘Not am I free?’ literally begins the Greek text.

OR the King James begins:

οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος

‘Am I not an apostle?’

1 Corinthians 9:1 Bibles

We won’t want to miss that the Apostle’s pivotal questions follow his concern regarding the idolatry of Corinth and communion between the saints of the Corinthian church with the revelers of the city.
- Am I not free?
- Am I not an apostle?
- Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
- Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
  - 1 Corinthians 9:1 NIV
Freedom of religion
```
A hypothetical case contemplating the use of our freedom:
```
Suppose for a moment that most every Sunday you go to some local church with an identifiable ‘christian‘ NAME like:
- such and such FREE church or
- Our evangelical denomination brand church
- City name Christian church
- Korinthian cathedral and parish?
Won’t most of the people who know you in town also know that:
- you claim to be a saint,
  - part of you so-named christian church
- worshiping some god JESUS
- preached by some Apostle Paul
- AND in this church occasionally inviting YOU
  - (of another sect celebrating other gods)
  - to go gather in community with these worshipers of One JESUS Christ their Lord?
Therefore in Paul’s setting of Corinth around A.D. 55:

Shouldn’t these Corinthian christians come join our religious feasts and live the life of revelry and worship we do with our gods?

Why should they?

As we have learned previously in Paul’s letter, his question is not so much:
- where the Corinthian saints go join in the community as much as
- how they exercise their freedom publically as witnesses of Jesus Christ our Lord.
To the Jews and by the Law food sacrificed to idols would seem to be the unlawful offence against the Lord God. (The Messiah Jesus [Yeshua] after all was hailed as the King of the Jews.)

Community feasts and festivals were, after all, organized by Jews (a small minority in the city), Roman citizens, Hellenists or perhaps adherents of some other foreign religion.
```
In a Common Era context, (perhaps Orthodox or Latin Catholic) religious communions and idolic festivals resemble that of the larger communities of like A.D. first century Roman Corinth.
```
Authority of an Apostle

4 Have we no right to eat and to drink?

5 Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?

8 Do I say these things according to human authority?

Or does not the Law also say the same thing?
```
Paul then quotes the Law of Moses. 

And without getting into technical reasons why, the more authoritative KJV begins with Paul's apostleship. It then proceeds to freedom. And ALL of Paul's four questions lead us to his authority in personal witness of the risen Christ and the Apostle's ultimate authority over those gathered as the saints of the Corinthian church.
```
Paul’s Deuteronomic illustration of the muzzled ox begs the question:

.. Is God merely concerned about oxen?

Or is He speaking altogether for our sake?

Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.

If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

1 Corinthians 9:11 LSB [context vs. 9-14]

Paul’s Humble Witness of Christ

If others share this authority over you, do we not more?

Nevertheless, we did not use this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:12

NO MAN IS FREE OF AUTHORITY.

Paul points out that he and Barnabas, as apostles of the risen Jesus Christ, do NOT impose their true authority over the church for their own gain.

Apostles of the Lord all take on the humility of Jesus for Christ’s sake.

And Paul points out that community leaders who do have authority over feasts, festivals and cities must not see these ‘CHRISTIANS‘ as a hindrance to Christ — a Korinthian christian who becomes a stumbling block to true faith.

14 So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel… For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel.

The Religion of Paul’s saints
```
Many of Paul's questions are rhetorical, designed to make us think through the logic connecting theology and religion,

our knowledge of God with our witness of faith. 
```
Everyone practices religion. A Korinthian will get up early, stretch their mind and muscles, breathe in the life-giving air of mother self — and then go worship her at some celebration of community occasion of feasts in the name of some god of their passions.

The Apostle knew the religion of Roman sailors and Corinthian guides to the temples of debauchery! So he cautions the saints of Corinth to abstain from such religion in all cases for the sake of Christ.

Religion defined and maligned

Men will write for religion, fight for It, die for it; anything but live for it.

W. Cotton Commentary on James 1:26-27

But NOT the Apostle Paul.
- I make myself a slave to everyone – 1 Cor 9:19b
- To the Jews I became like a Jew v.20
- To the weak I became weak -v.22
Nor James, half-brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem Church (perhaps referencing the traditional religious practices of some Jews).

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

James 1:26 NIV

Even James writes warnings against hypocrisy; not against the Jews but the Hellenists of every town.

And like James, the Apostle Paul cautions the saints of Corinth against getting caught up in an inclusiveness of the local religious practices of other religions.

Adherents of Christian religion are NOT free to practice any anti-Christ religion in order to win someone to Biblical freedom of religion.

Why is religion most maligned in the name of freedom by preachers from other churches freely claiming Christ?

Roger@talkofJesus.com

Definition of Religion – θρησκεία
```
I urge you, brothers and sisters, saints of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to drill down into thoughtful application of the definition of religion below. - RH 
```
Strong’s G2356 – thrēskeia – feminine noun, From a derivative of θρησκός (G2357), adjective, from θροέω (G2360), verb
θρησκεία – Religion, Worshipping –
- religious worship
  
  esp. external, that which consists of ceremonies
  
  religious discipline, religion
Definition of Religious θρησκός

Strong’s G2357 – thrēskos adjective, (Probably from the base of θροέω (G2360): to cry aloud, make a noise by outcry

religious (apparently from τρέω to tremble; hence, properly, trembling, fearful

fearing or worshipping God

to tremble, trembling, fearful
```
Religious fear and worship such as this appears throughout the Bible.  (Today however we will not examine several religious encounters with the LORD from Old Testament.) 
```
An Apostle claiming Corinthian saints for Christ
```
Returning to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians: 
```
Paul the Servant to All

19 Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
```
Imagine that! -- an Apostle and witness of the risen Christ Jesus -- a man with complete religious authority over the church, especially those saints who belong to Christ in places like Corinth to whom the Apostle writes his epistle. 
```
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Paul has already stated clearly:

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel, not in wisdom of word, so that the cross of Christ will not be made empty.

1 Corinthians 1:17 LSB

In the opening of his epistle Paul continues:

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
```
Consider that many who CLAIM "FREEDOM OF religion" truly argue for FREEDOM FROM RELIGION, which, of course, is "foolishness," since ALL men and women are religious about certain religious routines of   life and mortal limbs of dust. 
```
.. you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

1 Corinthians 4:15b-16 LSB

Paul exerts his Apostolic authority as a loving father and exhorts his children of Christ’s Church religiously by his humble example.

Paul’s RELIGION is RELIGIOUS DISCIPLINE in the FREEDOM of the Gospel of Christ.

The Apostle claims the loyal saints of the Corinthian church for himself as their personal, loving father of the faith in Jesus Christ.

If others share this authority over you, do we not more?

Nevertheless, we did not use this authority, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:12 LSB

Are YOU a Korinthian falling down in your faith?

What is your city of Corinth, with its festivals so licentious that that they call you Korinthian for your sins — what is the life here in Corinth like?

And where does a saint of Christ Jesus fit into the milieu of these gods and your festivals?

HOW WILL YOU ever reach the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ when the Lord calls to Himself all of His saints?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?

Run in such a way as to take the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline.

They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
```
The Apostle, father of the Corinthian saints once again makes an example of his own religion and faith:
```
Therefore I do not run aimlessly;

I do not fight like I am beating the air.

27 No, I discipline my body

and make it my slave,

so that after I have preached to others,
```
(And here is Paul's warning of our own witness to our community, neighbors, friends and family..) 
```
I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Berean Standard Bible

And NEXT, the Apostle to the Gentiles will once again warn the Jews who have come to Christ AND again the local Greeks of the Corinthian Church.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
January 17, 2025
Idols – Stumbling in Christian Liberty – 1 Corinthians 8
The Problem of Idols

.. we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

1 Corinthians 8:4b NKJV

Cultural Clashes of Early Christians

False religions: idols as gods in the image of man.

In his first letter to the saints of the church at Corinth the Apostle instructs these new believers in cultural freedom and expected behavior of Christ followers as witness to the community in which we live.

Paul has already addressed a need for church unity between the Jews and Hellenists, as well as their obligation of humility modeling Christ our Lord.

He has just addressed the rampant immorality of church members and guidelines concerning marriage and singleness.

Now Paul will take on the general celebratory festive culture of the city where many feasts and pilgrimages provide indulgence of the flesh at temples of idols for which Corinth is famous.
```
Some Bible translations begin this 3-chapter section with helpful headings pointing to a question the Apostle received from a saint in Corinth to which the Apostle responds in his letter to Corinth:
```
- Concerning Food Offered to Idols
- Food Sacrificed to Idols
- Be Sensitive to Conscience
- Take Care with Your Liberty
The problem is not that of food or festivals, but the question of celebrating idolatry as saints identified with Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:

About food offered to idols: We know that “we all have knowledge.”

Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.

If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it. But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

One God, NO idols

Paul immediately states true doctrine as their measure of response:

For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—

yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist,

and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

1 Corinthians 8:5-6 ESV

God and idolatry
```
From the Commandments of YHWH which the Hebrew believers are bound to obey:
```
5:7 לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים עַל־פָּנָיַ׃

“‘You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 5:7

You shall not bow down to them or serve them;

for I the LORD your God am a jealous God..

Deuteronomy 5:9a ESV

The Apostle Paul, Hebrew of Hebrews as he sometimes describes himself, must also address social behaviors of the Hellenist (Greek and Roman) believers about how their Gospel grace intersects with the Law and Commandments of Almighty God.
```
'But we are free to go to their festivals and feasts, their homes and their parties.. aren't we?' 

AND what IF I can get them to come to our Sunday gathering to grow our church (here in Corinth)?
```
Pushback! Whether AD 55 or AD 2025, modeling religious freedom in a community all-inclusive of every idol and practically every sin challenges cultural perceptions concerning our witness of Jesus Christ.

So what advice does the Apostle offer?

Paul provides examples of most of the people we meet both in the worship community of the Church and community gatherings where we live.
```
In other words he instructs us to look at those around us, for all are not alike.
```
- 7 But this knowledge is not in all.
  - And some, by habit of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak, it is defiled.
    
    8 But food will not commend us to God;
    
    neither if we should eat do we come short,
    
    nor if we should not eat, do we have an advantage.
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

1 Corinthians 8:9 KJV
- 9 But be careful, lest somehow this right of yours becomes an occasion of stumbling to those being weak.
WHY?
```
Prepositions: 
he & brothers also applies to she and sisters (in Christ)
 *in the AD 1st century men only addressed other men, husbands addressed only their own wife, who could address other women. 
```
- 10 For if anyone sees you, having knowledge,
  - eating in an idol’s temple,
  - will not *his conscience,
  - being weak,
  - be built up so as to eat the things sacrificed to idols?
- 11 For the one being weak is destroyed through your knowledge—the brother for whom Christ died.
  - 12And thus sinning against the brothers
  - and wounding their being weak conscience,
  - you sin against Christ.
1 Corinthians 8:7-12 Berean Literal Bible
- What is my witness?
- Are any of us wounding a weak conscience of someone seeking Christ?
Take Heed – βλέπω – Strong’s G991 – blepō

The leader of your local Sunday gathering receives and reads a letter from the very founder of your church.

Do your ears perk up? Is the Apostle’s coming exhortation and instruction something important? Could Paul’s examples point to some you know well?

metaph. to see with the mind’s eye
- to have (the power of) understanding
- to discern mentally, observe, perceive, discover, understand
- to turn the thoughts or direct the mind to a thing, to consider, contemplate, to look at, to weigh carefully, examine
‘You with eyes to see and ears to hear,’ Jesus would say.

NOT everyone worshiping with you will see or hear the Spirit speak to what is right and what is true.

Paul has already introduced this watchful humility of self to the Corinthians in working out their salvation in daily life.

For consider G991 your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful G991 how he builds on it.

The Apostle is laying a foundation here in Corinth not simply for a second letter which Paul will send, but more importantly for other reliable church leaders, specifically Timothy who Paul will mention later.

the Stumbling Blocks of culture

But see to it that this authority of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

1 Corinthians 8:9 LSB

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12 LSB

Is YOUR authority in FREEDOM in Christ a STUMBLING BLOCK to other weaker believers?

For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed to idols?

1 Corinthians 8:10 LSB

And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:12 NKJV

Strong exhortation against a free attitude toward idolatry!

And Paul’s clear conscience and brief conclusion to this one instance of food sacrificed to idols:

“Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
January 2, 2025
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)
```
Recall, however, that Rome has long-established its rule of law and officials in the FREE ROMAN CITY of Athens ACHAIA.
```
The Hill of Mars, Roman god of War
```
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.
```
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.
```
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. 
```
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.
```
Do you recall how on their first missionary journey they thought that Paul was Hermes who spoke for Zeus i.e. Barnabas?
```
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
```
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!
```
Springtime in Athens
```
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
```
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.
```
(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
```
excerpt [The Politician and the Playwright p. 129 – How to Rule] from ARISTOTLE
```
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:
```
“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