To the Unknown God
Acts 17:16-34
The City of Athens, a City Produced By Man’s Wisdom
Athens was the cradle of democracy
Out of respect for Athens’s past, the Romans left Athens a free city, free to follow its own rules and goals.
It was an ancient city of knowledge.
Homer wrote the Iliad and Odyssey about the time of King David.
Herodotus, the father of history, wrote his books about the time of Malachi
Athens gave civilized man his working vocabulary in every field of knowledge
Athens was famous for mathematics, laying down its principles, terminology and methods.
Philosophy was a Greek invention
Our Western thoughts and ideas came from Athens
Greeks pioneered in political science: law, liberty, democracy and parliament all came from Greece.
Above, all Greece was spiritually bankrupt. Their gods were as fallen and sinful as man was. Since the gods had no morals, why should the people
God allowed Athens to run its course, it showed what human wisdom can produce and showed that human knowledge and intellectualism are not only incapable of finding God, but wonder further and further away from God.
As Paul walked into Athens he would see the wondrous Acropolis, where many parts of architecture were invented just to make this building. Inside the Acropolis stood a pantheon of marble gods. Down the hill to the west was the Agora, the famous Athenian marketplace where the people meet and mingled together. To the west on another hill stood Mars Hill where stood the judicial body of the Areopagus
Paul’s Spirit was stirred “Where is God?”
As Paul’s method was, he first went to the Jewish synagogue, with little results
Then he moved his preaching to the Agora, the marketplace.
While there several groups of people meet him, in order to set him straight
Epicureans – had the philosophy that in order to achieve peace, you must indulge your senses, live for the now
Stoics – believed that people should live above passions and emotions. Indifference was the key of life.
“Encountered” carries the idea they were going to set Paul right
“Strange gods” uses the word we translate into devils. They called Jesus a devil and a false God
Paul’s Proclamation of the True God
Inside the Acropolis there was a place for every god the Greeks could think of. There was one set aside called the Unknown God incase they missed one of the gods.
Paul had to start at the beginning; we must go from the known to the unknown. Paul started at creation:
God created the World
God doesn’t need what man can do
God made every man
God appointed where man would live
God desires to be found
God doesn’t dwell in building or idols
God demands everyone repent of their sins and their human efforts
God will judge every man
There were some changes, but for the most part the Athenians did not want what God could do. They were satisfied with their own efforts.
There was not a church in Athens for another 400 years