16Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
17So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.
18And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
19And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?
20"For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean."
21(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Is Christianity one among many ideas in the philosophical landscape? Is it on equal footing with Islam, Confucius, and Marshall Applewhite? We can be tempted to think so. We can be tempted to worry about winning arguments with philosophers who simply refuse to believe instead of living as a disciple and servant of Christ. As we will see, Paul will handle it the best way. Christianity is not a club or some pyramid scheme that we are trying to influence people to join; it is a rescue mission in both a temporal and eternal sense. It isn't an idea, it is a kingdom, Christ's kingdom. Christ isn't one of many equals; He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. In the courtroom of the world, it is our job to be the witnesses, not the lawyers.
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
© Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)
No comments:
Post a Comment