Acts 17 – the Second Half
Read Acts 17:16-34
Sorry for the delay in posting this.
As we revisit Paul on his Journey, we have Paul entering Athens. He is greatly distressed by the abundance of idols (and where there are idols, there are idol worshipers…). We discussed in our class the nature of Greece at this time. Greece is a country far from its past glory. Once, they were a feared nation. Over time, Greece became a city of great thinking and learning. As it grew in prosperity, citizens grew much more likely to be philosophers than warriors. Out of Greece come Socrates, Plato and Aristotle to name a few. But by the time Paul arrives, they are 500 years past their prime. Athens is still the “university town” of its day. You kind of get the feeling that as the empire gets softer, they lose their edge and become more of a group of “navel gazers.” Meaning their focus becomes inward only. This usually leads to a downfall. Paul immediately goes to work in the synagogues, and for a change, in the marketplace…why? It does not say but God obviously had a plan…
The town is dominated two schools of philosophy – Stoicism and Epicureanism. We did not have the links that you have to these philosophies but we discussed the general beliefs. In a nutshell, Stoicism was a philosophy of self control self reliance. The focus is on one’s self. The belief is very much in line with today’s self-help movements and neo-gnostic movement, only without the excesses of a prosperity movement. Reliance on yourself is the greatest good. Epicureanism was the root of the Hedonism movement. In the beginning, it was about pleasure being the greatest good. Everything was about seeking a balance with nature, with others and with the world (this may also be sounding a bit like some of the beliefs you hear discussed today). By the time Paul is in Athens, both of these movements have devolved into caricatures. Stoicism was rife with pride and judgment and Epicureanism had devolved into hedonism (seeking excess pleasure in all things, regardless of morality)
These groups grab this “babbler” (according to NIV Study Bible notes, they mean a seed picker or country bumkin with an inflated ego, not someone who can argue at their level) and bring him back to the Areopagus. This is their highest area of meeting, where the “powerful” meet to discuss philosophy. They bring in Paul, clearly expecting little but to pick his arguments apart. Paul spots on the way in a shrine to “an unknown god” and seizes onto this opportunity. I wonder when I read this: Did Paul just grab onto this because he sensed an opening in their logic or did God place this there just for Paul…or both? Athens had developed into a society where there were gods for everything. If something bad happened, there was a god responsible. If something good happened, some god did it. So the practice of sacrificing to these various gods became a habit. They continually added gods as they went, making new gods of wood and stone. We know from the Old Testament that this was not a new thing but the Greeks even went so far as to make this new shrine “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” This way, if you made your offering there and there ways ANOTHER god you did not know about, you had it all covered. But in a system of many, many gods there was an issue. In reality, they stood for nothing. This looks a lot like the philosophy of today, which says “all ways lead to God.” When you take out the differences, there is little to stand on…and God becomes a creature of our making, not of Himself…
Paul grabs this unknown God and preaches to them the God who created all. The I AM! The “unknown” is actually the One and true God. He points to the futility of all these man-made shrines and gods…and points to the Creator who came, was, died and rose and is coming again!!! The reaction…the usual. Some sneered but some hear Truth in what he says…and are drawn to Him. They want to hear more of this and thus start the journey for themselves.
People are drawn to the Truth…we just have to speak it…
May God bless you on your journey…walk with Him…
D
Read Acts 17:16-34
Sorry for the delay in posting this.
As we revisit Paul on his Journey, we have Paul entering Athens. He is greatly distressed by the abundance of idols (and where there are idols, there are idol worshipers…). We discussed in our class the nature of Greece at this time. Greece is a country far from its past glory. Once, they were a feared nation. Over time, Greece became a city of great thinking and learning. As it grew in prosperity, citizens grew much more likely to be philosophers than warriors. Out of Greece come Socrates, Plato and Aristotle to name a few. But by the time Paul arrives, they are 500 years past their prime. Athens is still the “university town” of its day. You kind of get the feeling that as the empire gets softer, they lose their edge and become more of a group of “navel gazers.” Meaning their focus becomes inward only. This usually leads to a downfall. Paul immediately goes to work in the synagogues, and for a change, in the marketplace…why? It does not say but God obviously had a plan…
The town is dominated two schools of philosophy – Stoicism and Epicureanism. We did not have the links that you have to these philosophies but we discussed the general beliefs. In a nutshell, Stoicism was a philosophy of self control self reliance. The focus is on one’s self. The belief is very much in line with today’s self-help movements and neo-gnostic movement, only without the excesses of a prosperity movement. Reliance on yourself is the greatest good. Epicureanism was the root of the Hedonism movement. In the beginning, it was about pleasure being the greatest good. Everything was about seeking a balance with nature, with others and with the world (this may also be sounding a bit like some of the beliefs you hear discussed today). By the time Paul is in Athens, both of these movements have devolved into caricatures. Stoicism was rife with pride and judgment and Epicureanism had devolved into hedonism (seeking excess pleasure in all things, regardless of morality)
These groups grab this “babbler” (according to NIV Study Bible notes, they mean a seed picker or country bumkin with an inflated ego, not someone who can argue at their level) and bring him back to the Areopagus. This is their highest area of meeting, where the “powerful” meet to discuss philosophy. They bring in Paul, clearly expecting little but to pick his arguments apart. Paul spots on the way in a shrine to “an unknown god” and seizes onto this opportunity. I wonder when I read this: Did Paul just grab onto this because he sensed an opening in their logic or did God place this there just for Paul…or both? Athens had developed into a society where there were gods for everything. If something bad happened, there was a god responsible. If something good happened, some god did it. So the practice of sacrificing to these various gods became a habit. They continually added gods as they went, making new gods of wood and stone. We know from the Old Testament that this was not a new thing but the Greeks even went so far as to make this new shrine “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” This way, if you made your offering there and there ways ANOTHER god you did not know about, you had it all covered. But in a system of many, many gods there was an issue. In reality, they stood for nothing. This looks a lot like the philosophy of today, which says “all ways lead to God.” When you take out the differences, there is little to stand on…and God becomes a creature of our making, not of Himself…
Paul grabs this unknown God and preaches to them the God who created all. The I AM! The “unknown” is actually the One and true God. He points to the futility of all these man-made shrines and gods…and points to the Creator who came, was, died and rose and is coming again!!! The reaction…the usual. Some sneered but some hear Truth in what he says…and are drawn to Him. They want to hear more of this and thus start the journey for themselves.
People are drawn to the Truth…we just have to speak it…
May God bless you on your journey…walk with Him…
D
Delayed by sheer busyness, vacation and VBS week...last week, I was not there but hear we did not get much into Ch 18, so this week will be Chapter 18!
ReplyDelete