How Paul Addressed the Athenian Chatterboxes
21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 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. Acts 17:21–23 ESV Read More
I love it that Paul didn’t show up to be the invited guest to the Areopagus and say “Alright your Athenian idol worshippers, listen up!” We know Paul despised idol worship passionately from Acts 14. Paul isn’t ‘giving in’ to their beliefs by being kind to them. He is also not compromising the Gospel or what it means to be religious by complimenting them and telling them that they are ‘very religious.’
The exciting thing about Athens is that God had already been working in their culture and in their daily practices to make it easier for Paul to show up and explain the Gospel. In cities that had synagogues, Paul had an audience. He was a famous rabbi from Jerusalem, so many synagogues would be happy to have him come speak (at least once). A religious discussion forum among the Gentiles was a rare thing and just what Paul needed. We don’t know for sure that he knew about it in the first place, but they discovered him as he preached in the markets.
As Paul preached the truth about Jesus Christ, it gave the Athenians the choice to be offended by the message or to embrace it. They weren’t offended by Paul or how he treated them, but they were able to receive the message as it is and then deal with it as they wanted.
May we pray for boldness and kindness as we speak to others. Let us not be the stumbling block to faith in Jesus, but pray that we would help smooth out the path to people coming to know the living God.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings via email every day by visiting Feedburner and clicking ‘Get Daily Bible Readings delivered by email’ over on the right side of the screen. Join the discussion online on Facebook or Twitter.