Wednesday 20 May 2009
- Bible Book:
- Acts
"Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, 'Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way'." (v.22)
Background
Arriving in Athens, Paul found himself in one of the most famouscentres of philosophy, religion, art and architecture in theancient world. While not the political capital of the region ofAchaia (Greece) - this was a position held by Corinth - Athens wasthe cultural capital of the ancient world.
Athens was surrounded by mountains and within the city walls werefour hills, among them the Mars' Hill. This is where the citycouncil, the Areopagus, which exercised both political andreligious authority, met. And it's here on Mars' Hill that Pauldelivered his sermon to the city council (
Standing in the midst of the council members, philosophers,students and interested spectators, Paul skilfully addresses hisaudiences with the same formula that had been used by their greatorator, Demosthenes (a renowned 4th century BC Athenian statesman).With this, Paul touches the hearts of his hearers who he evencommends for being very religious.
To Ponder
In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, Paul says, "When I cameto you ... I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ,and him crucified." Yet when Paul went to Athens, he centres hisaddress to their "unknown god" who in all probability was not theChristian god. What would you consider to have been Paul's attitudeto other religions?
In the light of
In your opinion, was Paul's mission in Athens asuccess or a failure? Why?