I preached on this passage on 25th August 2019 and this week I’ve listened again to that sermon on the church website.
I’m pleased to say that I
still agree with myself and it seemed to me still a true and useful sermon so I
commend it to you.
So how to approach this passage
in a different and complementary way? What might we learn for Christian mission
today from Paul in Athens in Acts 17?
This is not necessarily
the primary purpose of the passage!
The Bible is about God
before it’s about us – and this passage has lots of important and useful things
to know about God.
The Bible is not first of
all a How To Guide / 7 Tips on Mission, or whatever.
The primary purpose of
Scripture is that we might come to Jesus and have life in him through faith.
And obviously if we have
not repented and turned to Christ in faith, that is the first application of
Acts 17.
But no doubt there is much
to learn about church life and mission from this passage.
(Likely, of course, we
have only a brief summary of what Paul said in Athens, not a word for word
transcript of it all. Arguably Paul was interrupted when he tried to speak
about the resurrection v31f.)
What can we notice and
infer?
Paul is greatly distressed
(lit. his spirit was aroused within him) to see the idolatry of the city. (v16)
That is what strikes him
above all as he waits in the great city of Athens: not the art or learning but
the forest of idols.
Do we care about the glory
of God and about the lost? Do these things move us as they moved Paul?
Paul’s distress moves him
to engage, to speak. Paul debates / discusses / reasons (vv17-18). (Paul continues
to “reason” (v17) as he did in the synagogue in Thessalonica (v2) – dielegeto –
he addressed, lectured, reasoned, dispute, discuss, argument, debate, speak.)
V17 – Paul is a bit like Socrates, the archetypal philosopher, engaging
people in the market place (the agora) which is also a market place of ideas as
well as a hub for commerce and trade.
But Paul also proclaims the good
news about Jesus and the resurrection (v18, v23). Paul brings an announcement
of God’s action in Christ, not just a contribution to religious dialogue. The
gospel is a summons to repentance and faith, not an interesting perspective to
add to the best of human spirituality.
Paul’s address to the
Areopagus is different from Paul’s sermons in the synagogue.
He doesn’t start with /
quote Scripture here.
Rather he quotes one of
their own poets (v28).
He shares the same
essential message (Jesus Christ is Lord) but with a different method / approach
/ way in / point of contact.
Paul connects with his
hearers. He starts where they are. He shows some knowledge of their culture.
Could we engage with the
non-Christian culture around us like this? Are we able to evaluate where our
culture might be on to something (which is fulfilled in Christ) and where it
has gone wrong and needs to repent?
Paul tries to get inside
his hearer’s heads. He tries to anticipate what they might think and respond to
it (v29).
To some extent there may
have been some common ground between Paul and at least some of his hearers,
which he seeks to make the most of. Some of the points Paul makes can be paralleled
in Greek writers of the period.
Paul is willing to be
negative (v29).
He refutes false ideas.
Paul seems to appeal to creation
and reason. He gives the impression that certain things about God ought to be
obvious to everyone, although they might not be: they need saying!
Cf. Romans 1 – some things
about God are obvious from the creation but people suppress / exchange the
truth about God which they know.
Paul really seems to be
pretty critical of non-Christian / pagan religion / spirituality.
He characterises it as
ignorant (v23, v30).
No obvious hope is held
out here for supposedly devout pagans who honestly seek after God within
paganism. Paul thinks they need to repent and come to Christ. Christ claims the
allegiance of, and will be the judge of, all people (vv30-31).
For Paul, revelation, God’s
action in Christ and the resurrection are essential and decisive (vv30-31). Creation
and reason only go so far. The good news of salvation concerns Jesus.
The gospel comes with a universal
command to repent (v30). Even interested sophisticated religious intellectuals
need to radically change their minds.
The gospel produces a
mixed response: some scorn and rejection (v18), some interest and desire to
hear more (vv19-21) (v32), some faith and joining the church (v34).
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