Sermon Notes

17 22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’ 29 “Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed, but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 At that point Paul left them. 34 But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
(New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, NRSVue)

17 22-23 So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with. 24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it? 30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged, and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32-34 At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris. (The Message, MSG)

A central tenant of Baptist doctrine is the “Way of Salvation.” In article four of the 1833 New Hampshire Confession—a statement of belief affirmed, in some form, by countless Baptist denominations in the United States—it explains the doctrine of salvation as, “We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace, through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God; who by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon him our nature, yet without sin; honored the divine law by his personal obedience, and by his death made a full atonement for our sins; that having risen from the death, he is now enthroned in heaven; and uniting in his wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, he is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all-sufficient Saviour.”
The New Hampshire Confession’s absolute conviction that Jesus is in every way qualified to be the “way of salvation” underscores the importance of evangelizing the world. When Christians tell the world about “this God” and “this Jesus” who make salvation possible, we are evangelizing the world. Paul’s address at the Areopagus (Mars Hill) also underscores the important of evangelizing the world with the truth of Jesus of Nazareth—our Lord and Savior. The act of evangelism is what ensures that every person knows that the Gospel is for everybody.

Acts is the second part of a two-volume work, Luke-Acts, that was separated early within the history of the Church. The two volumes were likely separated due to the fact that they are different types of literature within the New Testament canon. Luke is a gospel—a unique theological biography of Jesus—and Acts is unique theological history of the early Church. While tradition asserts that Luke-Acts was written by Luke the physician, we do know who wrote this book. The earliest manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles did not originally include an author’s superscription. Although biblical scholars still debate the particulars of the relationship between Luke and Acts, they agree that the same person wrote both volumes of scripture.
Acts narrates how the gospel of Jesus was first received by Jews, later embraced by Gentiles, its spread from Jerusalem, to Judea, and the ends of the earth, and how new Christians contended with internal theological struggles and external challenges from Jewish authorities and the Roman Empire as “The Way of Jesus” blossomed into the early Church. Because Luke writes to Gentiles, he is overwhelmingly concerned with portraying Jesus as the savior for all people—with a gospel for everybody—regardless of race, ethnicity, class/socio-economic status (doulos vs. owner class), sex and gender. Luke-Acts was likely composed in the final decades (80s or 90s) of the 1st Century CE.
This week’s lesson text is from a portion of Acts (15:36 – 21:16) that explores how the gospel spreads, “to the ends of the Earth” into Europe (Greece). In chapter 16, Paul and Silas’s evangelistic efforts in Phillipi and Thessalonica have been both fruitful and frustrating. In Phillipi, Paul witnesses to a prominent business owner named Lydia who is converted and opens her home to a new church plant. However, the success with Lydia is frustrated by Paul and Silas being jailed because they exorcise a demon from a young female fortune-teller. Because, the apostles negatively impact her Philippian owner’s financial bottom line, they have Paul and Silas jailed. However, God delivers them from jail after a rousing prison worship service.
In chapter 17, Paul and Silas continue on to Thessalonica where their evangelism ignites a fire within the people and produces fruit for the kingdom/kindom of God. Many Jews and Greeks are converted. However, the Jewish religious leaders feared the gospel, and they once again seek to have Paul and Silas arrested with the charge that they were, “turning the world upside down.” They escape to Berea, where they again preach the gospel with fervor, resulting in many conversions and the planting of a Church. However, the Jewish authorities again try to arrest them for preaching about Jesus. So, Paul goes to Athens alone, and waits for Silas and Timothy to shore up the Berean Church.
As Paul explores Athens, he is impressed with the people’s concern for spirituality, but appalled by number of religious shrines and altars to “idols.” This spurs him to debate the merits of Christianity with Jewish religious leaders and Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who have asked him to explain his “new teaching.” This is where the lesson text picks up.

22-23 So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.
In the opening verses of the lesson text, Paul does something that is strategically helpful for evangelizing the listening Athenians—he starts his preaching from a place of commonality, the “unknown god.” Because Athens is known as city of great universities and deep intellectual pursuit, the Areopagus—an elevated open air site to the west of the Acropolis—represents the most brilliant minds coming together to feed intellectual curiosity and religious hunger, while debating the crucial ideas of the age. When Paul begins his speech with an introduction that discusses the “unknown god,” he demonstrates that he has seriously researched and observed Athenian religious traditions.
Further, he employs advanced rhetorical techniques all in service to the gospel. Essentially, Paul talks their talk, and hooks them into the gospel through cultural association and their history. He explains Jesus in a way that meets the Athenians where they are. Paul offers one of his greatest missionary sermons—an apologia, or defense of his faith in Jesus—in response to the lack of effectiveness that the Jewish synagogue has had on the religious and spiritual consciousness of the city. Both 1 Thessalonians 3 and Romans 1:18-32 confirm that Paul’s speech at the Areopagus reflected a Jewish response to philosophical debates during the 1st Century. Paul tells this group that the God of whom he is speaking is the “god” who was unknown to them, but to whose existence the altar gave testimony.
The first point that Paul makes is that the Athenian’s religion is clearly inadequate, because they are looking for yet another “god.” If one has a sufficient faith, and a sufficient God, they do not need to leave room for another “god.” The existence of this altar, dedicated to the “god nobody knows,” is a telling witness to the inadequacy of their religion. Paul promises to tell them what they do not know—who the unknown God is.
24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
In these verses of the lesson text, Paul asserts that the Athenians method for searching for the one true God is an exercise in futility. The God who was “unknown,” has already made themself known. God is not trying to hide from people; people are hiding from God, and often by means of their religion. The “god nobody knows,” is the God who caused all things to come into existence. This God is the Creator of all things—the cosmos, the world, and humanity. God’s creation testifies to God’s very existence and reveals God’s Divine character. If God is unknown, it is because people have closed their eyes to the Divine, not because the Divine has hidden from humanity.
The Athenians prided themselves on their culture, history, philosophical intelligence and educational systems. However, according to Paul, they were ignorant about the true God. They were worshipping their creations—their idols—instead of God the Creator; the One who created them all. The Athenians did not know God because the Divine could not be known. Rather, they didn’t know God because they were looking for the Divine in all of the wrong places. Intellect, education, culture, and history could only take them so far in the pursuit of God.
The people of Athens did not understand that faith is something that is not just studied or debated, it is spiritually discerned, spiritually intuited, and spiritually experienced. It is not possible to “think” one’s way into a relationship with God. Faith is emotional, emotive, and affective—it changes us, and other people, because we a spiritually attuned to the truth. The Holy Spirit moves us into position to believe. Likewise, preaching, teaching, and evangelizing is a spiritual thing, not an education thing.
Please note, we are not suggesting that people should not study in their pursuit of God! Academic training, seminary training and educational preparation is crucial to solid proclamation and teaching. In fact, Paul’s speech resembles the Athenians’ charge against Socrates in Plato’s Apology (17:18). Further, Paul quotes the 3rd Century BCE Greek poet Aratus (17:24–29) to explains how we “live, move and have our being in God.” Paul had to be knowledgeable about the diverse branches of Greek philosophy in order to reference and refute it, in his Areopagus speech.
Biblical scholars researching Greco-Roman philosophical and religious traditions document that Paul understood establishing a new religion in Athens required three steps. First a person needed to represent the new god. Second, that person must demonstrate the new god would dwell in Athens. Third, the god’s dwelling in Athens had to be for the public good of Athens. Paul’s speech at the Areopagus demonstrated all three steps. However, Paul says his God does not require help from humans to survive. Paul’s God is not controlled by humanity, but instead, is in control of humanity. The “god nobody knows” has now been made known to them—in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, whom God raised from the dead. This God is self-sustaining, and as such, is the one true God.
30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.” 32-34 At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.
In the final verses of the lesson text, Paul says God offers mercy as long as we are not in full knowledge of who God is. However, now Jesus Christ has been revealed to the world, humanity do not have any excuse. Once a person hears the Gospel, they are in full knowledge of the God’s love and salvation as disclosed in Jesus of Nazareth. Paul did his duty by informing the Athenians about Jesus—a Savior whose name they had not heard, of a coming day of judgment, and how he was justified by God when he was resurrected early on Easter Sunday. Now, the Athenians had a choice to make. They would either commit to Jesus as Lord and Savior, or reject him. Unfortunately, their intelligence, erudition, and education stood in the way of salvation for many. Paul’s proclamation about Jesus’ resurrection was a bridge to far. Many Athenians refused to believe that claim, laughing it off as foolishness.
However, Luke mentions that some people believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. Two in particular Dionysius and Damaris, an Athenian man and woman, are called out by name. Their conversion reminds contemporary Christians that if we simply preach the Gospel, some who hear will respond by giving their lives to Christ. The Gospel is for everybody, and can be received by everybody, if everybody would only believe.

i. Demetrius K. Williams’, “Acts as a History of the Early Church,” in Gale A. Yee’s Fortress Commentary on the Bible, (Fortress Press: Kindle Edition), 2707.
ii. Michal Beth Dinkler, “Acts of the Apostles,” in Gale A. Yee’s Fortress Commentary on the Bible, (Fortress Press: Kindle Edition), 2746.
iii. Robert W. Wall, “The Acts of the Apostles: Introduction, Commentary and Reflections,” in The New Interpreters Bible Commentary, (Abingdon Press, 1994), 193-194.