When Saul's career was arrested by a vision of Jesus, he was a rabbi, schooled under the leading Jewish scholar, Gamaliel. But the Lord immediately made clear (Acts 9:15; 26:17-18) that his assignment was to carry the gospel into the gentile world. As Saul launched into his first missionary journey (Acts 13:4, 9), he identified with his target culture by assuming the Latin name Paulus.

1. Luke tells us (v. 16) that the pervasive idolatry of Athens deeply troubled Paul. What elements of our culture should evoke a similar response from us?
   
   
2. How did Paul channel his reaction (vv. 17-18) to the flaws he saw in Greek culture?
   
   
3. How did he use his understanding of Greek culture (vv. 23 and 28) as a springboard to presenting God's revelation?
   
   
4. What did Paul assert (vv. 24-26) to draw a clear distinction between the true God and their many deities?
   
   
5. What did he seek to refute (vv. 24 and 29-30) about the religious observance of the Athenians?
   
   
6. What gospel basics did Paul spell out after challenging the Greek worldview?
   
   
7. What were the three different responses (vv. 32-34) to Paul's challenge to the prevailing belief system?
   
   

Ask God for the ability to engage our culture in an informed manner, attracting inquiry without compromising revealed truth.

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.

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."

1⁹ Then they took him to the high council of the city. "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.)

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.

²⁴ "He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples, ²⁵ and human hands can't serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. ²⁶ From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

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. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' ²⁹ And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.

³⁰ "God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. ³¹ For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead."

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." ³³ That ended Paul's discussion with them, ³⁴ but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Prayer for the Week

I need Your Spirit's power, Lord, to defend the truth of Your Word while I live out the love of the gospel.

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