The Book of Acts ~ Study Fifty-Seven

"Unknown God"

Acts 17:16-33 (Message) The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.
   He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: "What an airhead!" But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: "That's a new slant on the gods. Tell us more."
   These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, "This is a new one on us. We've never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand." Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.
   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.
   "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?
   "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."

Areopagus today

   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. 

Model of Areopagus
and what it looked like when Paul was there.

What a sight Athens would have been when Paul preached there. I've alway wanted to go to Greece because of its beauty and history. Think how amazing the city was in those days. The people there were considered the most forward thinking people of the day. America is supposed to be one of the most forward thinking people of today, but I wonder if the "all accepting" attitude doesn't place a blockade in the way of truly finding the truth about God.

Paul took an opportunity to use the idols of the day to help open the eyes of those around him. He focused in on the altar of the "unknown god" and used this as a jumping off spot to point them toward the One True God ~ Jesus. He was making the "unknown god" the "Known God" through believing in His One and Only Son ~ Jesus who is God come down to man in human form.

First, Paul taught them that God made the world and everything in it. The Greeks in Athens were always looking for something new. They grew bored with things easily and because Paul had something new to say they listened.

"all the Athenians . . . spent their time in nothing else but to tell or hear some new thing--literally, "newer thing," as if what was new becoming presently stale, they craved something still more new. This lively description of the Athenian character is abundantly attested by their own writers. (Jamison, Fausset Brown Commentary)

Doesn't that sound like the world today? I don't think the world changes much, if at all, when it comes to spiritual things. Technology changes, but the ways of the heart don't. God made it that way. Our spirits were created by Him and long to know the One True God. I dare say even those who don't believe in the existence of God wonder at times whether they are right or not. It's their spirit that sends out this feeling, if you will, creating that moment in time where one wonders.

Isaiah 42:5-9 (NLT) God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is he who says, “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you, and I will give you to my people, Israel, as a symbol of my covenant with them. And you will be a light to guide the nations. You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons. “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols. Everything I prophesied has come true, and now I will prophesy again. I will tell you the future before it happens.”

Today people rely on science to convince them of things. Evolution is the name of the game. But, what I don't understand is why it is so hard to think that there could be a Creator, someone who is far more intelligent than His creation, that lovingly and painstaking created this world, this universe, all humanity and every living thing. I choose to believe that I have an eyewitness to creation, God Himself. Why is it so hard to believe this over an amoeba or a big bang creating what we are now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xaj0PbPxyc&feature=related This is the first of 5 parts of Louie Giglio's Indescribable Talk. In it he uses some magnificent pictures and facts of science, to describe God. You owe it to yourself to watch these videos. Its good to make an informed decision.

Paul described God to the Athenians. Some listened and accepted Jesus. Others, walked away with a laugh and a shake of the head. You know what? That's ok. God has given us the ability to choose what we want to believe. This blog isn't to insult your intelligence, rather, to get you to at least explore the possibility of a Creator God that loves His creation. May your journey lead you to Jesus. You owe it to yourself as an open-minded person to at least explore God and His Son Jesus. I have studied all the other major religions and have decided for myself what I believe to be true. There is no other religion that offers a God who walks us into eternal life with a Hope and a future. All other religions stop before that and offer no eternal life as our true selves as God created us to be. May your journey to find truth be productive. Peace!