Paul Against the Idols: The Areopagus Speech and the Church's Witness to Christ

Is Paul's famous Areopagus speech in Acts 17 a model for the Church's engagement with other religions? How so, or how not? 

Today's Episode of Greystone Conversations introduces our listeners to the Rev. Dr. Flavien Pardigon. Dr. Pardigon is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) who teaches at a variety of theological institutions on four different continents and is a Greystone Associate Fellow in New Testament. Dr. Pardigon has investigated the above question at the convergence point of New Testament studies, missiology, and the philosophy of regions. He does so especially in his 2019 book Paul Against the Idols: A Contextual Reading of the Areopagus Speech (Pickwick Publications).

From the book description, we read: “The story of Paul’s visit to the city of Athens with its speech delivered before the Areopagus council is one of the best-known and most-celebrated passages of the Acts of the Apostles. Being the only complete example of an apostolic address to 'pure pagans' recorded, it has consistently attracted the attention of historians, biblical scholars, theologians, missionaries, apologists, artists, and believers over the centuries.

Interpretations of the pericope are many and variegated, with opinions ranging from deeming the speech to be a foreign body in the New Testament to acclaiming it as the ideal model of translation of the Christian kerygma into a foreign idiom. At the heart of the debate is whether the various parts of the speech must be understood as Hellenistic or biblical in nature—or both.

Paul Against the Idols defends and develops an integrated contextual study of the episode. Reading the story in its Lukan theological, intertextual, narrative, linguistic, and historical context enables an interpretation that accounts for its apparent ambivalence. This book thus contributes to the ongoing hermeneutical and exegetical scholarly discussions surrounding this locus classicus and suggests ways in which it can contribute to a Christian theology of religions and missiology."

Those who find this conversation valuable might consider joining an upcoming Greystone micro-course with Dr. Pardigon on the Areopagus speech of Acts 17 and its implications for ministry and for the philosophy of religions. Look for more information on this event in the coming weeks. This micro-course will also be available to all Greystone Members upon its completion. Become a member today for unlimited access to the growing Greystone Connect library.