I ended the last blog post pondering the question: “How do you convince people that Athena is not a god at all … when this is what you are up against?”
It’s impressive isn’t it!
It’s over 2,000 years old … and crumbling in ruins, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.
Not to mention the other temples of Athens … such as the Temple of Olympian Zeus! It covered an area the size of a football field! … and was twice the size of the Parthenon!
How do you convince people that Zeus is not real … when right there stands his temple! … in all its grandeur … with an enormous statue of Zeus himself.
Or how about the Temple of Hephaistos … with both a statue of the Hephaistos the blacksmith god, and a statue of Athena, patroness of the arts & crafts.
How do you convince people that Hephaistos is not a real god … when right there is his temple … and inside is a statue of Hephaistos himself.
Or how about the Temple of Athena Nike – housing a statue of the goddess of victory.
Or the Erechtheion … a temple to Athena the Protector of the City, with both a statue of Athena and Poseidon.
How do you convince people that Athena is not a real god … and that Poseidon is not a real god. When right there are her many temples for all to see.
“While Paul was waiting for them [Silas and Timothy] in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.” – Acts 17:16-17
This would have been here in the Ancient Agora.
“A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
“Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.’
“(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)” – Acts 17:18-21
Here you can see the great rock called Mars Hill (also known as the Areopagus). According to our tour guide, there were buildings atop the great rock (just like atop the Acropolis) when Paul spoke here.
“Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.” – Acts 17:22-24
Whoa!! This is radical! This is being spoken from this spot right here, within plain view of the Temple of Hephaistos just below in the Agora.
And also within clear plain view of the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion (temple of Athena and Poseidon), and the great Parthenon itself (Temple of Athena the Virgin).
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth … and this God does not live in temples built by hands! Whoa!
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” – Acts 17:25
Whoa!! This is radical!
“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” – Acts 17:26
Whoa!
“God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’” – Acts 17:27
Whoa!
“Therefore, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone – an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” [this is Jesus Christ!] – Acts 17:29-31
Whoa! That is very clear and direct!
There is only one God!
Zeus is not a real god. Dionysus is not a real god. Poseidon is not a god. Athena is not a god … at all. None of the Greek gods are real … at all.
There is only one true God!
This one true God does not live in temples … he is not like an image. The one true God is far beyond that! The one true God is far greater than that! And the one true God is calling all people to repent!
