Acts 17 Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. 4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
Amphipolis and Apollonia lay along the Egnatian highway, the primary westward route that Paul and his companions traversed during the second missionary journey.[1] Amphipolis, situated in a bend of the Strymon River near the port of Eion, had been established by Athenian colonists around 437–436 BCE and developed into a significant commercial hub under both Macedonian and Roman rule, eventually receiving the designation of a “free city” due to its strategic position on the via Egnatia.[2] Apollonia—specifically Apollonia of Macedonia, distinguished from other Greek cities bearing Apollo’s name—stood approximately thirty miles west of Amphipolis.[2]
The search results provide limited detail about Paul’s activities in these locations. Scripture does not indicate whether evangelistic work occurred in either city.[1] The phrase “traveling through” suggests Paul made stops along the route rather than conducting sustained missionary efforts there.[2] It is plausible that Paul and his companions spent nights in both cities, as they were positioned a day’s journey apart on the path to Thessalonica.[3]
Regarding the people and religious background of these cities, the search results offer minimal information specific to Amphipolis and Apollonia themselves. While no archaeological evidence confirms a synagogue in Thessalonica during the mid-first century, literary sources indicate a robust Jewish presence throughout Macedonia during this period.[2] This suggests that Jewish communities likely existed in the surrounding region, though the documents do not explicitly detail the religious composition of Amphipolis and Apollonia. The narrative emphasis shifts quickly to Thessalonica, where Paul’s missionary work generated both conversions and significant opposition, leaving these two cities as largely undeveloped waypoints in Luke’s account of the second missionary journey.
[1] Robert E. Picirilli, Paul the Apostle (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1986), 103.
[2] Carl R. Holladay, Acts: A Commentary, The New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), 332–333.
[3] Michael E. Peach, “Apollonia,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [See here.]
they came to Thessalonica—about thirty-seven miles due west from Apollonia, at the head of the Thermaic (or Thessalonian) Gulf, at the northwestern extremity of the AEgean Sea; the principal and most populous city in Macedonia. “We see at once how appropriate a place it was for one of the starting-points of the Gospel in Europe, and can appreciate the force of what Paul said to the Thessalonians within a few months of his departure from them: ‘From you, the word of the Lord sounded forth like a trumpet, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place,’ ” (
What do we learn about how Paul conducted his ministry work when he arrives in Thessalonica?
He always started in the synagogues.
How long did Paul spend trying to reason with the Jews in Thessalonica?
Three Sabbath days. Which would equate to three weeks.
Paul most likely stayed in Thessalonica for about 3-6 months working and building a congregation.
Thessalonica occupied a strategic location on the Thermaic Gulf west of the Chalcidice Peninsula, bounded by the Axios River to the west and the Strymon River to the east.[1] Founded in 316 BCE by Cassander, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, the city was named after his wife, a stepsister of Alexander.[1] From its inception, Thessalonica was expansive, incorporating approximately 25 surrounding villages.[2]
After Rome’s conquest following the defeat of Perseus at Pydna in 168 BCE, Thessalonica became the capital of Macedonia’s second district, retaining rights to self-governance under its ancestral laws. Its support for Augustus earned it designation as a free city in 42 BCE.[1] Throughout Roman rule, the city maintained its Greek character and language.[1] Thessalonica’s commercial prominence intensified under Rome, as it sat at the intersection of the Via Egnatia—the primary east-west land route—and maritime connections linking the Aegean to the Danube and circum-Mediterranean ports.[1]
Religious life was remarkably pluralistic. During the first century CE, mystery cults flourished, particularly those of Sarapis and Isis, Dionysos, Asclepius, Demeter, and the Cabiri/Dioscuri, with Egyptian worship possibly dating to the third century BCE.[1] Emperor worship held particular strength, and voluntary associations—including the mystai of Dionysos and professional guilds—proliferated throughout the city.[1] A Samaritan community is attested by fourth-century inscription evidence.[1]
When Paul arrived around 50 CE, he preached in the synagogue with limited success among Jews and God-fearers, including wealthy women, before Jewish leaders incited mob violence against Jason’s house, forcing Paul and Silas to flee to Beroea.[1] The resulting Christian community became predominantly Gentile and served as a model for churches throughout Macedonia and Achaia.[1] The civic magistrates Paul encountered—called politárchai in Acts—are now confirmed by first-century inscriptions from the city.[1]
[1] Richard S. Ascough, “Thessalonica,” in Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, ed. David Noel Freedman, Allen C. Myers, and Astrid B. Beck (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 1300–1301.
[2] Andrew R. Talbert, “Thessalonica,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [See here.]
Who were these chief women?
God-fearing women of noble distinction.
The word ‘devout’ means ‘God-fearing’.
These were Greeks who feared the true and living God and worshipped in the synagogue but did not fully convert to Judaism. Someone who fully converted to Judaism would be considered a proselyte.
God-fearers were Gentiles who adopted certain Jewish practices and beliefs without formally converting to Judaism, whereas proselytes underwent complete conversion to Judaism and thus held defined legal status within Jewish society.[1] The distinction centers on commitment and formality.
God-fearers were attracted to Judaism and worshipped in the synagogue without becoming converts, revering the Jewish God, adopting some Jewish customs, and maintaining connection with the Jewish community—but without formal conversion.[2] They had been deeply impressed by Jewish tenets and desired to embrace Judaism, but were unwilling to take the final step of becoming proselytes, often because of obstacles like circumcision, points of oral law, or social stigma attached to Jews.[3]
Proselytes, by contrast, underwent instruction, circumcision, and baptism, followed by offering a sacrifice in the temple.[2] Although their duties and rights were sometimes more limited than those of born Jews, proselytes were generally regarded by rabbis as having essentially equal status with native-born Jews.[2]
However, scholarly debate persists about whether “God-fearers” functioned as a precise technical category. Some scholars argue that “God-fearer” was not used technically in Acts[4], and one must determine from context whether the term refers to a proselyte or a Gentile who attended the synagogue.[4] Despite this uncertainty, God-fearers presented significant opportunity for early Christian missionaries, as they recognized the truth of Judaism’s great principles but were not committed to the accretions commonly accepted by first-century Jews—and the demands of Judaism most commonly hindering God-fearers were exactly those repudiated by Christianity.[3]
[1] Joshua Ezra Burns, “God-Fearers,” in The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism, ed. John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010), 681.
[2] P. Trebilco and R. A. Stewart, “Proselyte,” in New Bible Dictionary, ed. D. R. W. Wood et al. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 976.
[3] G. A. Van Alstine, “Dispersion,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 1:967.
[4] T. R. Schreiner, “Proselyte,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 3:1011.
Who do the Jews get to cause an uproar?
The troublemakers in the public marketplace.
The King James translates ‘lewd’ which simply means evil or wicked. Not the same as our modern interpretation of the word.
These were probably paid or persuaded to stage a demonstration. They had no genuine theological stake in the conflict.
Who is Jason?
He was likely a Hellenistic Jew who adopted a Greek name. He was likely one of the first converts in the synagogue in Thessalonica.
Jason was likely a Hellenistic Jew who adopted a Greek name—one commonly used in the Diaspora as an equivalent to the Hebrew name Joshua[1]. He was probably converted during Paul’s preaching in the Thessalonian synagogue[1], becoming one of the early believers who responded to the apostle’s message.
Jason became host to Paul and Silas[1], offering them lodging in his home. His ability to provide hospitality and apparently host the house church they established suggests he possessed some prosperity[1]. When opposition erupted, a mob rushed to Jason’s house searching for Paul and Silas, and when they failed to find them, dragged Jason and other Christians from the house before city officials, charging them with being troublemakers and defying Caesar’s laws by acknowledging another king called Jesus[2].
Jason and the others posted bond before being released[1]. Scholarly interpretation of this bond differs: it has traditionally been assumed that Jason was arrested in Paul’s stead and that the security functioned as a promise to authorities to keep Paul from returning[1]. However, Jason may have faced trouble in his own right, with the bond relating not directly to Paul’s activities but to actions by church members themselves, suggesting Jason and his brethren posted bond for their own independent actions[1]. After the missionaries left Thessalonica, Jason was probably locally recognized as the leader of the church[1].
It is probable that Jason later traveled with Paul to Corinth, where he appears in Romans 16:21 as one of Paul’s kinsmen sending greetings to the Roman church[1]. His willingness to face imprisonment and persecution despite recently acquiring his faith exemplifies the depth of conviction among newly converted Christians and has become an example to believers facing similar trials throughout the ages[2].
[1] Florence Morgan Gillman, “Jason (Person),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 3:649.
[2] Paul Douglas Gardner, in New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters: The Complete Who’s Who in the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2001), 297–298.
Notice the second half of verse 6:
6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
What a powerful statement. Want to know how the people of that world felt about the preaching of the gospel and the missionary work of Paul? They viewed them as turning the world upside down.
They are being hyperbolic in this statement but there is a great kernel of truth in that Christianity is revolutionary.
Who did they say Christian believe is king?
Jesus.
By the way, Jesus indeed is King.
This is clearly an attempt to have them arrested on some act of treason.
What does it mean they had taken security of Jason?
This would have involved receiving a bond — typically money.
Taking security involved receiving a bond—typically money—that would be forfeited if the judgment were not fulfilled.[1] The authorities probably demanded that Jason ensure Paul and Silas would leave the city and not return.[1]
The mechanism functioned as a form of civic accountability. The bond money was security that would be forfeited by Jason if the offense were repeated, and the officials required Jason and the other Christians to pay it to make them responsible for ensuring no further trouble would occur.[2] If disturbances happened again, Jason and his companions would lose their bond money and face imprisonment.[2]
The stakes were substantial for Jason personally. He had to pay a fee and guarantee that the missionaries would leave and not return; otherwise, he would face confiscation of his properties and possibly even death for disturbing the peace.[3] This explains why Paul may refer to this arrangement in 1 Thessalonians 2:17f when mentioning his inability to visit the Thessalonians again[1]—the bond effectively barred Paul’s return to the city.
The practice paralleled modern bail procedures. Taking security was similar to posting bond today and served as assurance that there would be no repetition of the trouble caused by Paul and that he would not return to Thessalonica.[4] For Jason, it meant accepting personal financial and legal liability for the apostles’ conduct—a significant burden for a newly converted believer.
[1] A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933). [See here, here, here.]
[2] David Abernathy and Robert Stutzman, An Exegetical Summary of Acts 15–28, Exegetical Summaries (Dallas, TX: SIL International, 2018), 89–90.
[3] The Navigators, LifeChange: Acts, ed. Karen Lee-Thorp, The LifeChange Bible Study Series (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), 142.
[4] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997). [See here.]
Where did Paul and Silas go after Thessalonica?
Berea.
Berea was about 45 miles west of Thessalonica. A three day journey by foot on the Via Egnatia.
Berea was a Macedonian town on the Egnatian Way that Paul and Silas visited during their missionary travels.[1] The city earned its name meaning “a place of many waters” from natural springs in the area, situated 24 miles inland from the Gulf of Thermai just below Mount Bermius at an altitude of 600 feet, making it one of the more desirable towns in the district of Emathia in southwestern Macedonia—known today as Verria.[1]
Historical Prominence and Geography
Conquered by Rome in 168 BC, Berea was one of the most populous Macedonian cities in the time of Christ.[2] Numerous extant inscriptions attest to the town’s ancient prominence.[1] Pompey chose Berea as his winter home (49–48 B.C.) before the battle of Pharsalus.[1] Berea’s bishopric status highlights its prominence, with Andronicus II (1283–1328) making the town a metropolis after it had already realized bishopric status under the metropolitan of Thessalonica.[1]
Paul’s Visit and the Berean Response
Paul and Silas left Thessalonica when violent religious and political opposition arose and went to Berea, 50 miles southwest, where both Jews and Greeks eagerly received the gospel, but Paul had to leave the city when angry Jews arrived from Thessalonica to stir up trouble.[2] Acts 17 identifies the Beroean Jews as nobler than the Thessalonicans, and Paul’s language implies that his audience was of high social standing.[1] The Jewish residents were commended as “nobler in disposition” in their readiness to receive the word preached and daily to examine what they heard by the light of their own Scriptures; many Jews believed, as well as not a few women of Greek nationality and “honourable estate.”[3]
[1] Jerry A. Pattengale, “Berea (Place),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1:675.
[2] Walter A. Elwell and Philip Wesley Comfort, in Tyndale Bible Dictionary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), 161.
[3] William P. Dickson, “BERŒA,” in A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with Its Language, Literature, and Contents Including the Biblical Theology, ed. James Hastings et al. (New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T. & T. Clark, 1911–1912), 1:275.
What made the people of Bera more ‘noble’ than those in Thessalonica?
Two things:
They received the word.
They searched the scriptures daily.
Who in Berea believed the gospel?
Jews, Noble women and Greek men.
Who will stop the preaching at Berea?
Jews from Thessalonica.
They came a 3 day journey by foot to cause an uproar and have Paul forced out of the city.
Who remained in Berea?
Silas and Timothy.
Paul would now go to Athens.
According to the scriptures it seems that he would have taken a route by sea. There was an option to go by land but that would take about three weeks. A journey by sea could take 3-6 days depending on the time of travel (day/night or both).
Athens around AD 50 was approximately five hundred years past its cultural peak.[1] The city derived its name from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.[1] Athens functioned as the epicenter of Greek culture, shaping Western civilization through democracy, philosophy, education—Plato founded the Academy around 387 BC—as well as art and religion.[1] However, military defeats to Philip II of Macedon and later to Rome had diminished its former prominence.[1] In the Roman period, Corinth and Ephesus surpassed Athens as political centers, and its population had dwindled to only twenty to twenty-five thousand inhabitants.[1]
Religious and Philosophical Character
When Paul arrived, the abundance of idols disturbed him profoundly—from herms (marble pillars depicting Hermes) throughout the marketplace to temples and statues covering the Acropolis like a thick forest.[1] Athens contained more idols than comparable cities in the Greco-Roman world, with its long history tied to temples and statues dedicated to various emperors and gods.[2] Several altars to unknown gods existed to ensure no deities were omitted from their rightful place in the pantheon.[2]
Between 340–260 BC, two major philosophical schools emerged: Stoicism, emphasizing rationality and logos as directing the universe, and Epicureanism, emphasizing pleasure and individualism.[3] The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers enjoyed rigorous debate, and Athens remained the greatest center for academics and philosophical learning despite its diminished political status.[3]
Paul’s Ministry
Paul reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, likely addressing the rampant idolatry and calling for exclusive worship of God through faith in Jesus.[1] The agora functioned as the civic, economic, cultural, and intellectual heart of the city—a marketplace of ideas where philosophers like Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle had contributed to generations of thought.[1] After hearing Paul speak daily in the agora, philosophers invited him to the Areopagus (Mars Hill) Council, where he delivered his famous sermon on the unknown god.[3] While some believed, most rejected the message of resurrection.[3] Paul left for Corinth without planting a church and never returned to Athens.[3]
[1] Alan S. Bandy, An Illustrated Guide to the Apostle Paul: His Life, Ministry, and Missionary Journeys (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2021), 104–105.
[2] Richard Lints, Identity and Idolatry: The Image of God and Its Inversion, ed. D. A. Carson, New Studies in Biblical Theology (England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2015), 36:118.
[3] Rick McCarthy and Susan McCarthy, Defining Moments: The Transformational Promises of Faith-Based Travel (New York, NY: Mount Tabor Media, 2021). [See here, here, here, here, here.]
What stirred up Paul while at Athens?
The idolatry of the city.
During Paul’s time there were more gods in Athens than anywhere else in the country. Some estimates suggest about 30,000 idols in a city with a population around 20,000 -25,000. Some estimate the population to be below 10,000.
What two groups confront Paul?
The Epicureans and the Stoicks.
Epicureanism
Epicurus founded Epicureanism between 341–270 BC[1], establishing a philosophical school that emerged during the Hellenistic period. Epicurus taught that happiness consists in “freedom from disturbance” (ataraxia)[2], and his teaching was initially lofty: only the virtuous person can find happiness, and then only in the pursuit of intellectual rather than sensual pleasure[3]. However, Epicureanism became a selfish and easily perverted creed due to its emphasis on withdrawal from the annoyances of political life and a search for personal satisfaction, with Romans commonly using it as an excuse for a life of sensual self-indulgence and debasing Epicurus’s teaching on pleasure to the familiar “eat, drink, and be merry” formula[3].
Epicurus articulated Epicureanism with such precision that his followers were very limited in the liberty they could take modifying or expanding the original expression, and this rigidness inhibited development of thought over the course of the Hellenistic period and contributed to the eventual decline of the school[1]. Epicureanism enjoyed its widest popularity perhaps between 100 BC and AD 50, though certainly by the latter date its vogue was greatly diminished[4].
Stoicism
Zeno, the founder of the Stoics, came to Athens from Citium in Cyprus in 300 and was probably of Semitic origin[2]. Zeno began to teach at Athens only a few years after Epicurus had established his school[4]. These two philosophical perspectives were direct competitors, and they exercised a huge influence on the surrounding civilization throughout the Hellenistic period and into the Imperial Roman context[5]. Unlike Epicureanism’s decline, Stoicism, with Platonism, became for the most cultivated men, and finally for the masses, a philosophy far better qualified to satisfy religious longings, as a support of a moral life, and thus made large permanent contributions to religious thought and to ethical doctrine[4].
[1] Alexander H. Pierce, “Hellenistic Schools,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). [See here, here.]
[2] Ralph P. Martin, New Testament Foundations: A Guide for Christian Students: The Acts, The Letters, The Apocalypse (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1999), 40.
[3] H. F. Vos, “Religions of the Biblical World: Greco-Roman,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 4:113.
[4] Clifford H. Moore, “Life in the Roman Empire at the Beginning of the Christian Era,” in The Beginnings of Christianity, Part I: The Acts of the Apostles, ed. F. J. Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake (London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1920), 1:239–240.
[5] W. David Hall, How to Think Philosophically (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2024), 57.
What does the word ‘babbler’ mean?
The picture is of one who picks up seeds.
It is the idea of someone who picks up ‘seeds of knowledge’ and combines them together.
It has the idea of a chicken that picks up seeds from the ground.
What will this babbler say?—The word, which means “a picker-up of seeds,” bird-like, is applied to a gatherer and retailer of scraps of knowledge, a prater; a general term of contempt for any pretended teacher.
Where did they take Paul?
The Areopagus.
The Areopagus and Mars Hill are not actually different entities—they’re two names for the same thing, though the terminology can create confusion because the word “Areopagus” refers to both a physical location and an institution.
The Physical Location
Mars Hill is a limestone hill topped by a large, mostly flat mass of rock known as the “rock of Ares” (named after the Greek god of war), and after Athens became part of the Roman Empire, the hill also was known as Mars Hill (Mars being the Roman god of war).[1] The hill reaches a height of 377 feet.[2] The Areopagus is also referred to as Mars Hill because the Greek god Ares became identified with the Roman god of war, Mars.[3]
The Council
The term Areopagus also referred to the judicial body that took its name from the hill and was known as the “Council of the Areopagus” or simply, “Areopagus.”[1] The Areopagus, or Hill of Ares, was the ancient seat of the court of the same name, and this court exercised the right of capital punishment.[4] The Areopagus council originally was the governing body of Athens, but as democracy evolved it assumed more of a judicial function, had jurisdiction over serious crimes including murder, and by Paul’s time was responsible for maintaining order in the city and the piety of religious practice.[1]
Meeting Location in Paul’s Era
Originally the council likely met on the hill from which it took its name, but by Paul’s time the council met somewhere in the Royal Stoa of the agora located at the foot of the hill.[1] This explains why scholars debate whether Paul’s appearance before the Areopagus occurred on the hill itself or elsewhere in the city.
[1] Ray Vander Laan and Stephen And Amanda Sorenson, Cultures in Conflict Discovery Guide: Paul Proclaims Jesus As Lord – Part 2 (Nashville, TN: HarperChristian Resources, 2018). [See here, here, here, here.]
[2] Hubert M. Martin Jr., “Areopagus (Place),” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1:370.
[3] Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak, The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul’s Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World (IVP, 2018), 29.
[4] J. E. Harry, “Areopagus,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, ed. James Orr et al. (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 239.
21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
What does verse 21 mean?
It reveals the Athenian appetite for novelty and intellectual stimulation.
The cultural trait made them simultaneously receptive and superficial — they would eagerly listen to Paul out of curiosity rather than genuine spiritual hunger.
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
What does Paul include in his message in verse 28?
He quotes their own poets.
Paul quotes the Cretan poet Epimenides, whose words “in him we live and move and have our being” appear in Acts 17:28[1]. The phrase “We are his offspring” comes from Aratus of Soli’s Phaenomena[1].
These quotations appear strategically within Paul’s address to the Areopagus. The two quotations from Greek poets were significant because they allowed Paul to appeal to his sophisticated audience while demonstrating his own familiarity with Greek learning and philosophy[2]. More importantly, Paul was appealing to the highest religious authority known to Greeks, since Greek religion was developed by poets and artists and philosophers rather than by priests or prophets[2].
Paul’s use of these poets was devastating—by it he condemned their sin of idolatry on their own grounds, showing that the words of the poets supported his teaching against idolatry rather than their current religious and philosophic views[2]. Paul used the poets to show that their ideas were quite inconsistent with Athenian idolatry[2].
The rhetorical strategy was masterful: the use of Greek poets was an attempt to become a Greek to the Greeks (not by “buying” Greek views, but by using them strategically) while the use of these specific poets and particular quotations from them shows even greater skill at audience adaptation[2]. By invoking voices the Athenians respected, Paul turned their own intellectual tradition against their idolatrous practices.
[1] Paul Lawrence, The Lion Atlas of Bible History (London: Lion, 2024), 156.
[2] Jay E. Adams, Audience Adaptations in the Sermons and Speeches of Paul, Studies in Preaching (Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1976), 2:32–33.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
What does verse 30 mean?
It means the time before the full knowledge of God came in Jesus Christ that God overlooked such ignorance. However that ignorance does not excuse the rejection of God or support polytheist worship.
What were the views of the Epicureans and Stoicks regarding the resurrection?
The Epicurean view:
Epicureans believed that the soul perished together with the body. Their goal was to achieve peace of mind and tranquility in this world; when the physical body dies, the soul disintegrates, and when a person is dead, the whole self dies.
The Stoic view:
philosophers universally agreed on the impossibility of resurrection—return from bodily death to an everlasting embodied life. The closest Stoic analogue was the doctrine of “recurrence,” which postulated cyclical destruction and renewal of the entire created order, with each individual’s embodied life and death replicated in an endless cycle (though without conscious awareness of past lives). However, recurrence differs fundamentally from resurrection, which involves miraculous return to bodily life of the same person never to die again with conscious personal identity.
The Epicureans
Epicureanism developed as a personal ethical system focused on the present life with a materialistic philosophy—specifically an atheistic materialism that admits of chance events.[1] The Epicureans acknowledged the existence of gods but excluded them from human affairs, instead pursuing a tranquil life of pleasure and nurturing friendship.[1] Their gods were perfect beings in human form, made of the finest atoms, dwelling in tranquility between the worlds far removed from human affairs.[2]
Regarding the afterlife, Epicureans believed that the soul perished together with the body.[3] Their goal was to achieve peace of mind and tranquility in this world; when the physical body dies, the soul disintegrates, and when a person is dead, the whole self dies—meaning there is nothing to fear in death and no future punishment.[4] The Epicureans denied the bodily resurrection of the dead, as reflected in their maxim quoted by Paul: “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”[4]
The Stoics
Stoicism proposed a religious way of life aiming at virtue while advancing philosophy through logic and physics, with greatest attention to inner life—controlling thoughts and emotions to identify what lies within our control, using reason aligned with will to address those things, since virtue and not external things constitute happiness.[1] The Stoics believed in a divine fire, determinism from providence (pantheism), restricted immortality of the soul among the souls of the sages, and perfection in this world through virtue.[4]
On resurrection specifically, philosophers universally agreed on the impossibility of resurrection—return from bodily death to an everlasting embodied life.[3] The closest Stoic analogue was the doctrine of “recurrence,” which postulated cyclical destruction and renewal of the entire created order, with each individual’s embodied life and death replicated in an endless cycle (though without conscious awareness of past lives).[3] However, recurrence differs fundamentally from resurrection, which involves miraculous return to bodily life of the same person never to die again with conscious personal identity. The doctrine of recurrence affirms death’s eternal role in the cosmic scheme and does not envision a time when bodily death will cease—death remains irreversible and everlasting for every person.[3]
[1] Benjamin K. Akih, This Thing Called Reason: Its Subjectivity and Dependence on Faith (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2025). [See here, here, here.]
[2] Clifford H. Moore, “Life in the Roman Empire at the Beginning of the Christian Era,” in The Beginnings of Christianity, Part I: The Acts of the Apostles, ed. F. J. Foakes Jackson and Kirsopp Lake (London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1920), 1:236–237.
[3] James P. Ware, “What No Other God Could Do: Life and Afterlife among Paul and the Philosophers,” in Paul and the Giants of Philosophy: Reading the Apostle in Greco-Roman Context, ed. Joseph R. Dodson and David E. Briones (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2019), 123–124.
[4] Ezra JaeKyung Cho, The Rhetorical Approach to 1 Thessalonians: In Light of Ancient Funeral Oration (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2020). [See here, here, here.]
What were the three responses to Paul preaching the gospel?
Some mocked.
Others wanted to hear again.
Some believed.
Who did believe?
Dionysius the Areopagite and Damaris.
Dionysius the Areopagite
Dionysius was one of Paul’s converts at Athens, mentioned in Acts 17:19–34 as someone who believed Paul’s message before the Areopagus[1]. Beyond this biblical account, tradition provides additional details about his significance. According to Eusebius, Dionysius of Corinth identifies “Dionysius the Areopagite” as the first bishop of the Church in Athens[1]. Later sources claim he was born in Athens, studied in Egypt, and upon witnessing a solar eclipse at Heliopolis exclaimed that either the Deity was suffering or sympathizing with a sufferer—an eclipse occurring at the time of Christ’s death—before returning to Athens, being converted through Paul’s discourse, and being appointed bishop of Athens by Paul[1]. According to Aristides the Apologist, he eventually suffered martyrdom at Athens[1].
Damaris
Damaris was a female Christian of Athens converted by Paul’s preaching[2]. The search results reveal significant scholarly disagreement about her relationship to Dionysius. The fact that she is mentioned alongside Dionysius has led some, most probably in error, to regard her as his wife[2]. However, Saint John Chrysostom claimed she was the wife of Dionysius the Areopagite[3]—representing a minority patristic view. The singling out of her name with that of Dionysius may indicate some personal or social distinction[2], though this remains speculative. Beyond her conversion and mention in Acts 17:34, no further biblical or historical information about her survives.
[1] John M’Clintock and James Strong, “Dionys′ius the Areopagite,” in Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1891), 2:808.
[2] James Orr et al., eds., “Damaris,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 778.
[3] Scott Hahn, ed., in Catholic Bible Dictionary (New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday, 2009), 187.
