Acts 17

In this chapter we learn the Thessalonicans were more faithful than those in other cities. I find it interesting that they received the gospel "readily" but they "searched the scriptures daily" to see "whether those things were so." Meaning they questioned, they didn't just accept what they heard, they proved it through the scriptures.

Paul's experience in Athens tells us something about him. Athens was the center of education and would continue to be so for 150 years. To them, original sin was a lack of knowledge and their most important principle was wisdom. Paul was invited to speak at Mars Hill or Areopagus. Here the Stoics and the Epicureans gather with the city council to have debates and discussions.

Stoics believed that everything created was a part of divinity. They shunned luxury and lived a simple life. To them, knowledge came from reason. They believed in an afterlife. Epicureans rejected religion and believed that it was through the senses that all knowledge was gained. Pleasure was good, pain was bad. They did not believe in an afterlife. They would probably be the ones who would reject Paul for preaching the resurrection of Christ.

So when Paul was invited to speak to the men and women on Mars Hill, he was speaking to a highly educated people who placed great importance on rhetorical (speaking) skills. These people loved to gather to give and hear speeches and have debates; they were a people who loved speeches. In all activities though, reason and logic were the prime factors, and for someone to speak with emotion would have brought rejection.

So what do we learn about Paul? First, this Jewish scholar spoke fluent Greek. He was very knowledgeable in their philosophies. His line, "In him we live and move and have our being" is the fourth line of a poem written by a stoic philosopher. So Paul was no novice in speaking to these people. He had to of been a skilled, eloquent and educated speaker or he would not have been given an audience on Mars Hill.

But here is what impresses me about Paul. Rather than try to convince the Greeks through logic and reason which he probably could have, he declared the truths of the gospel by the power of the Spirit. Standing in the middle of all of their idols and statues to false gods, Paul's speech was not meant to have "enticing words of man's wisdom," but be as he said in Corinthians, be "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that [their] faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but [in] the power of God." Paul could logically show the Athenians the error of their unknown god, but as an ordained witness of Christ, his means of persuasion had to be by the power of the Holy Ghost so that member of the Godhead could bear witness to the hearts of those present.

He undoubtedly knew he would be rejected, but he still gave his witness by the power of the Spirit. To me, that would have taken great courage because he would have been branded an uneducated fool.