“The Unknown God’s Name””
[Acts 17:16-34]
August 29, 2010 Second Reformed Church
Silas, Timothy, and the rest of the missionary team stayed behind in Berea to debate the Jews while Paul went on to Athens. Athens had once been a great political power, but now it had been conquered and was one more part of the Roman Empire. However, it was still the place to go to discuss ideas – it was the intellectual metropolis of the Roman Empire – as it had been in the days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy and the others to arrive, and he walked around Athens, and as he did, he became more and more enraged. Visitors to Athens record that it was easier to find a god in Athens than a man – in other words, Athens was littered with idols and temples. Everywhere you looked, there was a statue to this god or that goddess or a temple to one or the other.
Paul began his missionary work in Athens as he always did: he preached in the synagogue on the Sabbath. He went first to the Jews and explained to them how Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament prophecies – He is the Savior God sent for the salvation of all those who would believe.
During the rest of the week, Paul took his place in the Agora – in the marketplace – among all of the other philosophers – and spoke to the people as they shopped. And Paul’s teaching was not the normal fare, so it caught the attention of the two leading philosophical groups in the city: the Epicureans and the Stoics.
Briefly: the Epicureans doubted the existence of a god, and they said that if there was a god, he didn’t care about humanity. They taught that everything happened by chance and the chief goal – the chief good – of humanity was to seek pleasure. The Epicureans taught that you should do everything you can do to increase your mental, spiritual, and physical pleasure. That is the only real point in living.
You probably know someone like that today. Atheism is becoming very popular. “This world is all there is, so take it for all you can. Enjoy yourself to the fullest. Don’t let any pleasure slip you by. Because when you’re dead, you’re dead.”
The Stoics believed that god is everything. They were pantheists and believed god was in the rocks and trees and you and me and your dog and in the food you ate – god is everything and in everything. They taught that the goal of life – the way a person ought to live – was to not go to any extremes – to just calmly, neutrally accept whatever happens. If your friend got married, well, such things happen. If your friend got killed, well, such things happen. If you won the lottery, well, such things happen. If you got the plague, well, such things happen. Whatever happens, happens, and that’s just the way it is – joy and sadness are a waste of life.
Perhaps you know someone like this as well: “Nothing matters – just get through today. Whatever happens, happens. There’s no point in getting excited about it. Tomorrow will be more of the same.”
Paul began to preach the Gospel, and the people were interested. Some of the philosophers tried to dismiss him, some tried to accuse him of teaching strange gods – we saw in an earlier text that it was against Roman law to try to convert a Roman citizen to belief in a god that was not accepted by the state. But enough people were curious that they led Paul up from the Agora and brought him up the hill to the Areapogus – to the site where court was held and truth was decided. He stood in the shadow of the Acropolis and the great temples of Athens, and they said, “You were talking about something strange – something we haven’t heard before – explain to us what you were saying.”
Luke gives us a historical parenthesis in verse twenty-one, in which he explains that in Athens at that time, there were people – philosophers and others – who had patrons who supported them, so they could spend their days laying about asking if there were any new ideas and then debating them. Their livelihood was based not on their finding truth, per se, but in finding something new. Some new idea. Some new theory. Some new god.
Do you know anyone who is always looking for what is new? Many of our young people are concerned for the newest gadget. If it’s new and different – they have to have it. The question of whether they need it or whether it is useful is secondary, at best.
If you look at the music charts, or the literature charts, or the movie charts, you will see the best-selling, highest rated works – by and large – are the latest ones. Is it because all of the music and all of the books and all of the movies being released today are better than the ones released last year? Of course not. We are a fickle people – we have “itching ears,” as the Scripture puts it – new excites us more than Truth.
I had a professor at New Brunswick who, in talking with us about writing papers, repeatedly told us that new books are always better than old books. Do you understand that that is a stupid and dangerous thing to say? In saying that, he was implying, at least, that the old books weren’t true, or that truth changes. If Truth is True, is it Truth forever, no matter when it was written.
Luke tells us, “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”
Paul stood up in their midst and began his presentation by complimenting them – though he may have been being sarcastic – telling them that in walking through the city, he has seen how religious they are – they have statues and altars to Zeus and Apollo and Ares and Athena – every god you could think of. And, just to be safe – to make sure that no one was offended – in case there was another god that they didn’t know the name of – they had an altar for the worship of an “Unknown God.” And Paul said, “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
The Athenians would have been sitting on the edge of their rocks – Paul was bringing a new god to them – someone new to learn about – someone new to worship. Oh, happy day, something completely new and exciting to talk about for days to come.
And as Paul spoke, he contradicted the teachings of the Epicureans and the Stoics:
“The God...”
The first thing he had to tell them is that there is indeed a God – God exists – and God is the God – the One God. He is One.
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
Second, God is distinct – separate – from the Creation. God created everything that is – God is not a part of the Creation. God is not a thing and God is not found in any thing. God is His Own Being and He is self-sufficient – God does not need anything. God created everything that is because it pleased Him to create it, but God was perfectly joyful and fulfilled in the Trinity before He created and He would be so if He never had created. God is not made better or happier or greater through the Creation or our reacting to Him. And since God is the Creator, separate from the material world that He created, He cannot be contained in material, not even a temple made for Him.
“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for, ‘in him we live and move and have our being’; even as some of your own poets have said, ‘for we are indeed his offspring.’”
Third, God is intimately involved with humans and history. God created the first human being, Adam, and every human being has descended from him. And God has set the boundaries as to what humans can and cannot do. He has set the time of their birth and their death. But God is not just “out there.” Paul quotes two Greek poets to show that they themselves realize that God is also among us and involved with us, because none of us could take a breath unless He allowed it, and we who believe in Him are called His children.
“Being God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, and image formed by the art and imagination of man.”
And if we are the children of God – we who believe, we understand how ridiculous idolatry is. Paul was surrounded by statues of stone and gold and silver, and Paul asked the people to consider if the children of the father are not like the father in being. That is, if God is stone and silver and gold, shouldn’t you be stone and silver and gold? But if you are a living being – a person – doesn’t it make sense that God, Our Father, would be a Living Being – a Person – someone Who is personally involved with His children?
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man who he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Fourth, Paul tells them that their time is up – now is the day of salvation. This God – the One True God – has called all of humanity to repent of their sins and turn to God – to believe in Him and the One He has sent as Savior, because the day is coming when this Person will return to judge every human being who has ever existed – and we will be judged against the standard of righteousness – of holiness – or being innocent and perfect. And God proved that This One will return as judge by raising Him from the dead.
The Greeks had an understanding of judgment, but when Paul told them that God’s Savior has been risen from the dead – reinfleshed – that His Body had been raised – they began to laugh, because the popular understanding of the Greeks was that the material world, including the body, is bad. They believed that the soul is trapped in the body and at death it is released to a better existence. So the idea that God’s Own would be put back in His Body was laughable. Why – as they understood it – would God’s Savior be punished by being put back in the cage of His Flesh?
This heresy – the Greek pagan understanding of the body – is popular in the evangelical church today. I was raised being taught in church that when we died our body went into the ground and our souls went to Heaven to float around and enjoy chocolate. But that is not what the Bible says.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and He said that the Creation was good. The material world – including our bodies – was created good.
Jesus was raised in His Human Body – perfected and glorified, yet really human. And we shall be raised in the same way.
We are taught in the Scripture that the joy or the Hell of the life to come is both physical and spiritual.
And Jesus will return. Jesus said, “The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.... And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all those who are in their tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:22, 27-29, ESV).
A number of those listening mocked Paul when he preached the resurrection of the body. Some wished to debate him further on the issue. And a very few believed: including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.
As we tell others about God and the salvation He provides through Jesus, let us remember these points that are still debated to this day:
God exists and there is Only One God.
God is not the Creation; God needs nothing – He is self-sufficient.
God created everything that is, including humans, and God is personally involved with each of us and our lives.
God is a Spiritual Being – a Spiritual Person – God is not made out of material stuff.
God has made One Way of Salvation through Jesus Alone, Whom He raised from the dead and has given authority to judge the world at the end of the age. So everyone is now called to repent and believe in Jesus Alone for their salvation, because He is the Only Way, Truth, and Life that God has provided.
And let us notice one more thing: Paul understood and approached the Athenians with the Gospel of Jesus Christ where they were. Paul took the time to be able to speak to them in a way that they would understand. He took the time to understand what the popular views of reality were among the people so he could address them.
As we are able and gifted, we need to take the time to understand individuals and our culture to be able to address the beliefs that they hold as we present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why it is helpful to become friends with people as we tell them about Jesus and not just beat them over the head.
I heard a speaker once who said he was approached by a well-meaning Christian who said, “Are you washed in the Blood?” And he said, “What?” And the man said, “Well, have you been saved? Have you been born again?” And he said, “What do you mean?” And the man said, “I mean, have you heard the Good News?” And he said, “What’s that?” And the man said, “You’re going to Hell ”
Paul knew something of the beliefs of the Athenians, and he was able to enter into discussion with them and address their concerns and present the Gospel without compromise. Let us show our love for others by getting to know them, addressing their concerns, and still telling them that there is Only Salvation through Jesus Alone.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You have given us Your Salvation and Your Word – help us to know You and Your Word that we might go out from this place and meet up with our friends, our neighbors, and the world, and be able to present the Truth of the Unchanging Gospel in a way that shows we do care about people and not just about being right. Help us to be compassionate and well-spoken that You would receive the glory, and all those You have called to faith will believe. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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