Understanding Our Athens

Understanding our Athens

Paul was uniquely equipped to bring the good news to the Athenians. But what does our own Athens look like today? We must understand our setting to communicate the good news of Jesus effectively and relevantly.

Western Christians are becoming increasingly biblically illiterate and have no idea what it looks like to think Christianly.

“We live in a society which is “amusing ourselves to death,” as Neil Postman once wrote. We are caught up with entertainment and technology that virtue and deep thought are gradually being eclipsed.”

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO BUILD BRIDGES IN APPOLOGETICS

Paul used philosophical tools at his disposal while setting his speech within a solid biblical framework.

In a post-Christian culture, quoting scripture as an authoritative holy book in public settings can be counterproductive.

Note: A typical response is: “Well, I respect that you’re a Bible believer, but what about the Qur’an or the Book of Mormon?” To say the Bible says is appropriate in a Christian setting, but this approach will often fail to connect outsiders to the church because they do not accept Biblical authority.

We must build a cultural bridge to help reinforce the Christian message.

The philosophical Bridge

Note: Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-167) was perhaps one of the greatest of the apologists. He was converted during the time of the Roman persecution against Christians as he was so impressed by the courage and hope of the Christians facing death. He demonstrated this by traveling to Rome, where he set up a school to teach Christians to dialogue with the culture.

The scientific Bridge

In the twentieth century, scientists discovered that the universe of physical time, matter, energy, and space came into existence a finite time ago.

Scientists have seen that the universe is astonishingly finely tuned for life.

We live in an era where even naturalist scientists are baffled by how consciousness could emerge from non-conscious matter.

“Many naturalistic scientists accuse theists of believing in the “God of the gaps”: that God plugs the holes of our ignorance – until science comes along and fills them in with natural explanations of how things “really” work in the world. Yet the more we discover about our amazing world, the more unlikely and unnatural these naturalistic explanations appear.”

The historical Bridge

There are four historical facts that most historians widely accept:

1) Jesus’ crucifixion under Pontius Pilate followed by his burial in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb.

2) Friends and foes alike recognized the empty tomb.

3) The post-death appearances to the disciples (whether these were hallucinations not being an issue at this point).

4) The sudden emergence of the early church, proclaiming the risen Christ in the heart of Jerusalem.

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO GO TO OUR OWN MARS HILL

1) We must distinguish between the person and their beliefs.

Paul was very measured, respectful, and gracious in his demeanor as he addressed them. One lesson we can learn from Paul was that he could distinguish between the person made in the image of God and the beliefs they held. In our day, in true-for-you-but-not-true-for-me relativism, many assume that if you do not accept their beliefs, you do not accept them. Because all humans are created in the image of God, we can accept and befriend those whose beliefs are different from our own.

2) We must be able to describe the unknown God.

Because many people in our Western culture grow up exposed to the Christian faith to some degree, they will affirm that “something out there” accounts for the universe’s existence and design.

But they seem content with the detached deism that makes no personal demands on them. What if there is some unknown God who could be found if only we reached out and searched for him?

Maybe the unknown God whose presence can be detected in the universe’s beginning, the vastness of energy and fine-tuning, and in our moral awareness – has done something more. Paul’s aim in Athens was to point to Christ as the unknown God’s agent in the world to restore order, offer forgiveness if we repent, and give us hope beyond the grave.

3) We must be able to utilize indicators or signals of the transcendent.

Not only do intellectual and theological arguments matter, but so do specific practical considerations such as deep human needs and longings. The human quest for security and significance, the fear of death and the longing for immortality, the longing for justice, and the sense of awe and wonder.

UNDERSTANDING THE ART OF PERSUASION

Perhaps one of our most challenging jobs as apologists and evangelists is to persuade others to follow Jesus Christ.

We remember Paul’s appeal before King Agrippa in Acts 26:28, where Agrippa responds to Paul’s defense, saying, “In a short time, would you persuade me to be a Christian.” By reviewing Paul’s context awareness, we can better appreciate how Paul sought to persuade intellectually sophisticated Gentiles who likely had little knowledge of the Jewish faith.

Paul’s Persuasive Approach

1) Using but not quoting scripture.

Even though Paul’s speech to the Areopagus does not contain any direct quotations from the Old Testament, such as “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1) or “you shall have no other God’s before me” (Exodus 20:3). Paul’s speech is fundamentally Biblical.

A crucial factor in Paul’s speech is that it uses Greek philosophical terms, but these words are all used to convey biblical truths, not to affirm stoic ideologies.

Outline of Paul’s approach to show its Logic

Paul shows his awareness of the Athenians’ religious practice or piety. (Acts 17:22-23)

Paul observes Athens as an entry point into his challenge to their superstition or misguided religiosity (Acts 17:23a).

Since God made the world, he clearly cannot be contained in one building, especially one made with human hands. (Acts 17:25)

Since God made all people from one person and set seasons and boundaries for them, God is not distant (as the Epicureans claim) but is actively at work in humanity. (Acts 17:26)

This would mean that God has a purpose for all humanity: to seek God. (Acts 17:27). This is not an intellectual pursuit only, as the Stoics would claim, but a response to God revealing himself to his creation.

It is appropriate to acknowledge and seek the true God by whose power we live and exist.

Since humans are God’s offspring and humans breathe, talk, walk, and act, images that do not breathe, walk, speak, or act are not true representatives of God. (Acts 17:29)

God has validated and chosen a person to carry out this judgment by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:31b) (in stark contrast to the Philosopher's God’s made of stone)

2) Finding a culturally relevant starting point.

Paul attempts to gain the support of his audience.

Paul’s audiences range from those who are curious to those who are hostile towards him. Paul does not begin his speech by telling the Athenians they are stupid for having all these altars of false gods and goddesses. He does not start as young pastor Mark did on the playground, that they are going to hell because of their idolatry.

Paul indicates that he is educated and worthy of being heard.

By showing that he is competent to talk about metaphysics, Paul positions himself to show that it is not he but his audience, who is ignorant regarding God's identity, nature, and actions toward humans.

Paul builds on his compliment to the Athenians.

“For while I was going through Athens and looking around carefully at your objects of worship, I came across an altar that had written, ‘to an unknown God.’ The Athenians would have recognized this as a true statement and hopefully felt more positive towards Paul that he was taking an interest in something they valued.

Paul could have started with a straightforward gospel presentation: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God, came to earth and died for your sins.” If Paul had done this, he would have assumed that his audience knew far more than they did about Judaism, Jesus, and Scripture.

Much of the time, some pre-evangelism is needed to build a bridge with our audience.

LESSONS WE LEARN FROM PAUL’S VISIT TO ATHENS

What did Paul See?

1) Paul saw a pluralistic society that needed to be introduced to a new narrative.

He faced massive biblical illiteracy.

This is not unlike the culture we are facing today. We live in one of the most biblically illiterate cultures that our world has ever known. What do you see when you look at your city and your community? Do you see it as primarily dominated by people who have a biblical worldview, people who possess the same knowledge that you do about the bible? Once Paul left the synagogue, he was in a different place of expertise.

He faced alien worldviews.

It was not that the people were not religious; they had a different understanding and philosophical system about how the world worked and what their place was within the world.

2) What priorities did Paul adopt?

Paul prioritizes first preaching to those with a shared heritage.

Notice that Paul first reasons with those in the synagogue, with Jews who know scripture. Paul recognizes a logical salvation historical primacy first among the Jews. While strategizing how to evangelize a post-Christian culture, we should first look closer to home.

Paul adopts the urgency of preaching to those with an alien heritage.

Not only do we preach on the soft turf, but we are called to go to difficult places to preach. Where did Paul go to have that kind of contact? He went to the marketplace. We can get so caught up in our religious world, in our Christian world, that we do not have contact with this larger world that is so alien to the gospel.