Pastors hear the statistics, and they grieve us. Ten years ago, a Barna study estimated that 3,500 people leave the church daily. The percentage of the “unchurched” in the US has improved from 49% in 2001 to roughly 43%. Still, almost half of our country are individuals who haven’t been taught the basics of faith or the Gospel.
Where have they heard about God? Through media, entertainment, and the news. Those sources are continually hostile to Christianity specifically. Therefore, we can’t trust people are getting the best information or context about a God who loves them and died to set them free.
Conversations with the unchurched in our Western culture will look vastly different. We can’t begin with common terms and assumptions about theology and doctrine and move forward in the Gospel. Those terms and religious language will fall on deaf or confused ears if we use them.
We need a different approach. Did the New Testament give us any principles related to this issue?
Thankfully, the writers have given us clues to help us, notably in the life of the Apostle Paul.
On Paul’s missionary journeys, he regularly went to the local synagogue in a city first and argued from the Old Testament scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. He related to the Gentiles, the non-Jews, differently. He had to begin with more general truths and common cultural ideas, which he understood as a highly educated man.
One of the main narratives from Acts gives us insight into Paul’s approach. Paul’s preaching in Athens on Mars Hill reveals important principles for reaching out to the world around us.
When Did Paul Preach in Athens?
Paul preached in Athens during his second missionary journey, which occurred in the first century AD, around the year 50 or 51, and this event is recorded in the New Testament, specifically in Acts 17.
After leaving Berea, the Apostle Paul traveled to Athens alone while his companions Silas and Timothy remained in Berea. Athens was famous for its intellectual and philosophical heritage and had become a center for intellectualism and religious diversity in the first century. As Paul traveled through Rome to somewhere else, he observed the city filled with idols and temples dedicated to various gods.
Even though Paul wasn’t in Athens to preach the Gospel, he couldn’t help himself. His passion for sharing the Good News of Jesus drove him to converse with Jews in the synagogues and the Greeks in the marketplace. During these interactions, some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers became intrigued by Paul’s teachings and invited him to speak at the Areopagus on Mars Hill, a prominent place in Athens where the city council gathered for philosophical debates.
Paul’s sermon at the Areopagus is regarded as one of his most famous speeches. He addressed the Athenians, acknowledging their commitment to religion, and even mentioned an altar he had encountered. The altar was inscribed with the words “To an Unknown God.” The Greeks in Athens were so religious that they wanted to ensure they didn’t leave any gods out. They were polytheists, believers in many gods, so there might be one they didn’t know and didn’t want to offend.
Taking this opportunity, Paul introduced the true God to the Athenians, declaring that this unknown God was the one he came to talk about.
In his speech, Paul emphasized that God created the world and everything in it. God doesn’t dwell in temples made by human hands. He is the source of life and has appointed a day of judgment for the world. Further, Paul proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus and asserted that Jesus is the one God appointed to judge the world.
A few Athenians mocked Paul’s teachings, but a few were curious and desired to learn more. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus council, and a woman named Damaris, among others who later believed.
Although not many accepted the Gospel compared to other cities, Paul’s visit to Athens marked an important step in spreading Christianity among the intellectual elite and philosophers.
Paul’s preaching in Athens exemplifies his ability to adapt and engage with different audiences to present the Gospel in a way that resonated with them. In one of his letters, he wrote that he would adjust his cultural context, becoming all things to all people so he could save some through the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Also, this was a precursor to the early church’s engagement with philosophy and law among the educated Greek and Gentile society to explain the Gospel.
Why Did People Ask Paul to Preach in Athens?
Since Athens was a center for philosophical debate and had a centuries-long history of these debates between different schools of thought, the Athenians wanted to hear Paul’s message. It was part of their local system to debate different philosophies against one another.
The major schools of philosophy were well established. The arguments were likely tiresome, rehashing the same points over and over, perhaps with more creative examples and more developed over time. Still, the basic ideas of each system were established.
They were, therefore, curious about something new. How was this new idea that Paul preached different from what they already knew? How would it compare? Partly this was an intellectual exercise, and partly they were legitimately curious.
Being a highly educated man in both Jewish and Greek thought, Paul expressed the Gospel in a way the Gentiles of the city could engage with, and his ability to place the ideas in philosophical terms also likely attracted the intellectuals.
The Bible specifically mentions the Epicureans and Stoics as interested people. Epicureans, based on the Greek philosopher Epicurus, were materialists, absolutely opposed to any ideas of the supernatural, superstition, or divine intervention, originally a challenge to Plato. They might have been interested in tearing down Paul’s supernatural and invisible god.
Since Epicureanism led to hedonism, their main opponents in the first century were the Stoics. The Stoics believed in ethics and in leading a virtuous life. There was an ethical element to the Gospel, repentance from sin, that Paul preached. Perhaps the Stoics were attracted to those ideas.
It’s also possible these two groups brought Paul in to challenge each other.
There is a similarity here to the Sadducees and Pharisees of the Jewish culture. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead and miracles, while the Sadducees opposed any supernatural and mystical ideas. Both Jesus and Paul dealt with these two groups.
How Did Paul Draw on Greek Thinking When He Preached in Athens?
In addressing the philosophers in Athens, Paul demonstrated a remarkable ability to draw on Greek thinking and philosophy to communicate the Gospel effectively.
In the beginning, Paul acknowledged the Athenians’ religious commitment, all in the presence of numerous idols to different gods. He showed them respect and pointed out things that were important to them, just as his religion was important to him. This gave them a way to relate to each other.
When he points specifically to the unknown god, he not only established common ground with the audience. He showed respect for the Greek belief that there was a limitation to human knowledge. We can’t know everything, hence their curiosity for new ideas. Different Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato pondered the existence of higher beings who went beyond human comprehension. Greeks believed there was some level of thought which transcended our ability to understand.
This allowed him to pivot into the spiritual reality that they didn’t know the one true God. God can’t be known unless he reveals himself. Philosophy won’t get us closer to him. God has revealed himself through his Son, Jesus, and Paul establishes God as creator and higher than all creation while bringing in the centrality of Christ as Savior and Judge.
Paul’s addressed the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers directly, recognizing their schools of thought. The Epicureans believed in seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, while the Stoics emphasized living in harmony with nature and accepting the course of fate. Paul skillfully wove his teachings into their philosophical frameworks, offering a new perspective on finding ultimate fulfillment and purpose in Christ.
Paul’s emphasis on the Creator God resonated with Greek philosophy. Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, contemplated the concept of a supreme, transcendent being who is the source of all things. Paul declared God was the creator of all existence, which would have aligned with the Greek understanding of a divine creator.
What Can We Learn from Paul’s Preaching in Athens?
As mentioned earlier, Paul’s preaching in Athens offers valuable insights and lessons for us in today’s shifting culture. Our audiences are more diverse culturally and philosophically than ever before. Here are four key lessons from Paul’s preaching in Athens.
1. Contextualization. Paul’s ability to understand and engage with Athens’ cultural and philosophical context is important. He acknowledged their religious devotion and traditions, using their ideas and beliefs to reveal the message of God. We must do the same. This happens through listening and learning before we begin preaching. What beliefs and thoughts of our current culture could we use to show the universal longing for a God who loves and died for them?
2. Respectful Engagement. Idolatry was a very serious sin. It was literally the one thing God had Moses tell the Israelites before he went up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments. And the Israelites waited a few days before making a golden calf. Paul understood the extreme danger of idolatry, but he didn’t begin by condemning their religious practices. Instead, he engaged with them respectfully, affirming their search for truth. Then he shared the truth. This is “speaking the truth in love,” beginning with affirming the value of every individual made in the image of God and listening and learning before speaking.
3. Intellectual Engagement. Athens was a hub of intellectualism, and Paul engaged with the philosophers in their language. Just as we would want to share the message of Christ in Spanish to a Spanish-speaking nation, Paul couched the truth of God within Greek philosophy and their schools of thought. We should understand different cultural perspectives enough to properly express the Gospel without unnecessarily offending people. The Gospel is offensive enough to those in sin. We don’t need to help it along.
4. The Centrality and Boldness of the Gospel. While Paul demonstrated cultural sensitivity and adjusted his language, he did not compromise the core message of the Gospel. He boldly proclaimed the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ, his resurrection, and our need to repent. We have many things in common with different cultures, and we begin there to continue to an even more universal truth—we all need to repent unto God to be saved from death and destruction and to find the eternal life we all long for. His boldness led to mockery, but that didn’t deter him.
May God help us all take these lessons and properly communicate and contextualize the only Gospel to various and diverse people around us and the world.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/gldburger
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