I've tried to reconstruct the lost post (see below). Here it is:
One time when the apostle Paul was traveling, about 55 AD or so, he made a stop in Athens. He spent time with the people in the market place and told them about Jesus, but got a mixed reaction:
And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. And some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?" (Acts 17:18-19)
I think it's really interesting that they took him to that particular spot. The Areopagus is a treeless marble hill that sits just across from the great entrance to the Acropolis. Inside the Acropolis were the Parthenon, several temples to Athena, sanctuaries for Zeus and Artemis, a theater honoring Dionysus, a few statues and some other things. Paul and the crowd had a perfect view of both the great entrance and the Temple of Athena Nike, already over 400 years old at the time.
You can see what Paul saw, the view of the Acropolis from the Areopagus, here:
http://www.grisel.net/images/greece/Acropolis22.JPG
The Areopagus (or Mars Hill) was used as a spot for trying social, criminal and philosophical questions before the Athenian council.
Anyway, back to the Bible:
"May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; we want to know therefore what these things mean."
(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
I love that part. They'd make good Americans!
And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
Now imagine being in that setting, with that view, and hearing this next part:
"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things;
and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us...." (Acts 17:24-27)
This is such an interesting passage. Paul goes on to say a lot more, but there's one part in that last paragraph that stands out to me when I read it. He says, "He made...every nation...that they should seek God." It sounds to me like right there he gave the Athenians something they were looking for--the meaning of life.
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2 comments:
This is so good, Holly. It reminds me of the book Peace Child, where the missionary is able to finally explain to the tribe about Jesus' gift to us through their understanding of the Peace Child. God caused them to seek God in that way.
Yeah! I wonder if there are lots and lots of times in history where God has helped a people understand His message by something in their culture or folklore. Here's another example from the book, "The Alphabet Makers":
"In the folklore of Vietnam, the Brou people once had an alphabet. God had given it to them written on skins--as he had to other groups. But the Brou were so hungry they boiled and ate theirs. They felt ashamed. Every language considered respectable had written form. Then...linguists [and Bible translators] John and Carolyn Miller devised an alphabet. With this 'second chance,' the Brou have determined not to lose this treasure again."
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