Paul in Athens: troubled by idols

Welcome back to the podcast! Cultures create an environment for faith or disbelief, so today we'll be looking at the question: is your culture keeping you from God?

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Q. Is Your Culture Keeping You from God?

• Last week (ch 16) we looked at households of faith
• parents create an environment for faith or disbelief
• Generational blessings and curses
• The greatest generational blessing: salvation
• Today: we zoom out from the household to the culture at large
• Here’s the thing: Cultures also create an environment for faith or disbelief
• Countries, regions, cities
• Also religions, churches, faith traditions
• Today we’ll look at 3 different cultures
• As Paul continues his second missionary journey
• And shares the Good News in 3 different towns
• Two of these cultures kept people from God
• First: Religious culture in Thessalonica
• Shocking to think that a religious culture can keep you from God!
• But that can definitely happen
• Legalism
• False religion
• Second: Popular (secular) culture in Athens
• Remember, the gospel was just now going out to Gentiles
• Today we see it reach Greece for the first time
• Athens was home to some of history's greatest philosophers:
• Socrates (469–399 BC)
• Plato (427–347 BC)
• Plato founds the Academy in Athens (c. 387 BCE), the first institution dedicated to philosophy and scientific study. 
• Aristotle (384–322 BC)
• Cicero (106–43 BC): Roman statesman, orator, philosopher, and writer. A pivotal figure in transmission of Greek philosophy to the Roman world. 
• The Academy was closed by Emperor Justinian in 529 AD, marking the symbolic end of Athens as a center of ancient philosophy.
• The point: Athens was the center of pop culture by time of Acts
• And would be for a long time
• America is even influenced by this
• Opposite ends of the spectrum
• Pause and think about the culture that most influences YOU
• Is it religious culture?
• Or is it popular culture
• And is this culture building your faith or destroying it? 
• Let’s get to the text

Thessalonians: Religious Culture

Acts 17:1-4 (NLT) 1 Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

• Trying to reach Jews first
• Notice: women mentioned again! 
• Some people were open to the message and found God

Acts 17:5-6 (NLT) 5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.”

• Look at what these religious people were doing:
• They attacked
• Who? Businessmen (marketplace) and politicians (city council)
• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The designation of these bad men (andras ponērous) as 'marketfolk' (agoraiōn) is interesting (NRSV 'some ruffians in the market-places'; ESV 'some wicked men of the rabble'). In the ancient world, the term agoraioi designated common labourers, artisans, and people who traded in the town centres. In terms of social status, they were regarded as 'people of low birth . . . contrasted with the nobility or upper classes.'
• They twisted truth
• Accused Paul and Silas of being trouble-makers
• But they were the trouble-makers!
• Still happens today
• Christian ideology is a blessing, not a curse! 
• But the world will twist this, gaslight
• Ex: abortion
• Ex: gender
• Ex: sexuality
• Here is a group of spiritual seekers in Thess who did NOT find God
• We’ve seen this a lot already in Acts 
• Religious Jews who rejected Jesus
• Let’s give this a name so we can generalize: Dead Religion
• Here’s a defn: Dead religion is any belief system that leads people away from Jesus.
• Don’t misunderstand: it can still appear very fervent, sincere, even faithful
• But if it leads people away from the One Way, it’s a dead religion
• Here’s the point: People in dead religions think they’ve found God, but they’re wrong.
• Islam – Approximately 1.91 billion followers
• Hinduism – Approximately 1.2 billion followers
• Buddhism – Approximately 507 million followers
• Christian Cults
• If this sounds exclusivistic, it is. 
• There’s only one way to heaven, and it’s through Jesus
• That’s what Paul preached in Thessalonica, and that’s why he was rejected.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 (NLT) 15 For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity 16 as they try to keep us from preaching the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins.

Let’s skip to the bottom of the chapter to find our next culture

Athenians: Popular Culture

Acts 17:16-17 (NLT) 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The verb paroxynō in the passive means 'become irritated, angry' (BDAG, cf. 15:39, paroxysmos, 'irritation, sharp disagreement'). In the imperfect tense, the verb expresses 'not a sudden loss of temper but rather a continuous settled reaction to what Paul saw.'
• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The pain or anger which Paul felt in Athens was due to 'his abhorrence of idolatry, which aroused within him deep stirrings of jealousy for the Name of God, as he saw human beings so depraved as to be giving idols the honour and glory which were due to the one, living and true God alone.'

Acts 17:18 (NLT) 18 He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”

• The Epicureans were followers of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher (341–270 BCE), whose school of thought emphasized the pursuit of a happy, tranquil life characterized by peace of mind and freedom from fear. They valued the absence of pain (both physical and mental) and advocated for a life of simple pleasures, friendship, and reflection rather than indulgence in material excess.
• Were materialists and believed that everything, including the soul, is made of atoms and ceases to exist at death. They argued that the gods exist but do not interfere with human affairs, so people should not fear divine retribution or an afterlife.
• The Stoics were followers of a school of philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BCE. Stoicism emphasized living in harmony with nature, accepting events outside one's control, and cultivating inner virtues as the foundation of a good life.
• Believed in a divine, rational principle governing the universe (often identified with "Nature" or "Logos"). They viewed the universe as a single, interconnected organism guided by divine reason. Stoics saw life as a training ground for virtue, with each event part of a greater rational order.
• While Epicureans focused on achieving tranquility by minimizing pain and pursuing simple pleasures, Stoics emphasized cultivating virtue and accepting life’s challenges as part of a larger, rational order. Epicureans pursued personal peace by avoiding public involvement, while Stoics actively engaged in society, seeing virtue and duty as integral to a meaningful life.

Acts 17:19-21 (NLT) 19 Then they took him to the high council of the city (Areopagus). “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

• Sound familiar? Back then it was called the Areopagus (Hill of Ares, or Mars Hill)
• Ares being the Greek god of war, while his Roman counterpart is Mars
• Today it’s called entertainment, social media, podcasts
• The place we discuss latest ideas
• But these are all empty philosophies of man
• Our best guess at how to think about the world

Acts 17:22-23 (NLT) 22 So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.”

• Contextualize!
• He goes on to explain the God of the Bible in a way the pagans could understand
• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) …sounds more like a reflection on the opening chapters of Genesis (even though no text is actually cited), moving from a proclamation of the one true Creator, to an assertion of his purpose for humanity, and concluding with a declaration of universal accountability before God as judge.
• For today we’ll skip to the end…

Acts 17:27 (NLT) 27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.”

• (Pillar New Testament Commentary) The verb psēlaphēseian ('to look for something in uncertain fashion, to feel around for, grope for', BDAG) expresses the idea of 'groping for God in the darkness, when the light of special revelation is not available.
• Special revelation comes in two primary ways:
• Reading Scripture (see Bereans)
• Hearing the Good News
• This is why Paul was sharing in the marketplace!

Acts 17:32 (NLT) 32 When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.”

• Two groups of people in popular culture
• Mockers of the Good News
• Those who want to hear more

That brings us to our final group of seekers…

Bereans: Seeking God through His Special Revelation

Acts 17:10-12 (NLT) 10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12 As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

• more open-minded - Not what you think it means
• Today that means follow your heart, anything goes, all roads lead to heaven
• For the Bereans, it meant they were willing to challenge their dead religion
• They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth
• This is the key to seeking and finding God
• Searching the Scriptures
• Submitting to the Scriptures

Close

Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT) If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.