"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Acts 17:22b–23a NIV
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After fleeing to Athens, Paul found himself in a very different setting. He went to the marketplace daily, preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection to all who would listen. This was easily done since "all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas." (17:21)
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers disputed with him about Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Paul began his argument with what they knew, their altar to An Unknown God:
"Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth…" (17:23b-24a)
"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him…”(17:26-27)
"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him…”(17:26-27)
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Paul was trained in the Jewish law, but the Spirit enabled him to present the gospel to secular philosophers in a way they could understand. Lord, give us this kind of discernment to be ready to give an answer to people we meet from different walks of life.
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"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent." Acts 17:30 NIV
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