Bible Study series: Acts 17:16-34 He preaches the resurrection. Athens was a major intellectual center. Everyone knew this. Athenian pride hindered their reception of the gospel. But a few did open up and convert.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn. Let’s learn together and apply these truths to our lives.
I also translate to learn, so the translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Accts 17:16-34
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked in him, because he saw the city full of idols. 17 And so then he dialogued with Jews in the synagogue and the devout Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicureans and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. And some said, “What does this scrap collector wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” because he was preaching the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. 19 They got hold of him and brought him before the Areopagus Council, saying, “Can we learn what this new teaching is, which you are talking about? 20 For you introduce strange things to our hearing. We want to know what they may mean.” 21 All the Athenians and the resident aliens spent their leisure time doing nothing other than speaking and hearing the newest things.
22 Paul stood up in the middle of the Areopagus Council and said, “Men of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 For as I was touring and observing many objects of worship, I even found an altar on which it was inscribed,
To an Unknown God.
What you devoutly worship without knowledge, this I proclaim to you: 24 God who made the universe and everything in it, he is Lord of heaven and earth, and he does not live in handmade temples; 25 neither is he tended by human hands, as if he needed something. He gave everyone life and breath and everything. 26 He made from one person every nation to inhabit every place on the face of the earth, determining allotted seasons and secure borders for their habitation, 27 to seek God, if they may reach out and perhaps find him. And indeed he is not far from each one of us.
28 For in him we live and move and exist,
As some of your own poets have said:
For we too are of his offspring.
29 “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we must not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, like an image from the skill and genius of humanity. 30 God, although he overlooked the times of ignorance, now commands every person everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day in which he is about to judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he appointed, granting proof to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, “We will hear you again about this matter.” 33 And so Paul left the Council. 34 Some men joined Paul and believed, among whom were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some sneered, but others said, “We will hear you again about this matter.” 33 And so Paul left the Council. 34 Some men joined Paul and believed, among whom were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:16-34)
Comments:
This long discourse can be divided into smaller sections, as follows:
1.. Paul explores Athens and begins his discourse (vv. 16-21)
2. Paul explains who God is (vv. 22-28)
3.. Application of Paul’s discourse (vv. 29-31)
4.. Response to Paul’s discourse (vv. 32-34)
16-17:
“provoked”: it is from the verb paroxunō (pronounced pah-rohx-oo-noh), and from it we get every word that has with parox- in it. It means “urge on, provoke to wrath, irritate, and be aroused.” Paul was a devout Messianic Jew, and his Jewish background could not take all the idols. The island of Rhodes had about 73,000 statues and the Greek cities of Olympia and Delphi had that many or more. Athens had the same or more (Schnabel, comment on v. 16). No wonder a devout Jew was provoked.
“dialogued”: it comes from the verb dialegomai, and see v. 2 for a closer look. The NIV translates it as “reasoned.” Excellent.
Paul was in the market place “every day” or “day after day.” The man was a street evangelist. Sometimes it takes a long time to break through. Never shrink back, pastors and evangelists.
I went on tour to Athens and it has beautiful old temple, like the Parthenon. But for the first-century man, they were real, religious objects and temples. No fooling around. I can’t describe the city better than Bruce does:
Visitors to Athens today who view the masterpieces of the great architects and sculptors of the age of Pericles are free to admire them as works of art: to no one nowadays are they anything more. But in the first century they were not only admired as works of art: they were temples and images of pagan divinities. Temples and images of pagan divinities were not new thing to a native of Tarsus, but this native of Tarsus had been brought up in the spirit of the first and second commandments of the decalogue [ten commandments]. Whatever Paul may have felt in the way of artistic appreciation—and his education had not fostered any capacity for this—the feeling that was uppermost in his mind as he walked here and there through the violet-crowned city was one of indignation: the city was full of idols, dedicated to the worship of gods that were no gods—for “what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20). (comment on v. 16).
18:
The conditional “if” can be translated as a fourth-class conditional: “What would this babbler say, if could say anything that made sense!” (Bock, comment on v. 18, p. 562 referring to grammarian Daniel Wallace).
You can google who these philosophers were. But the web can get complicated. I like to bring on to the web excellent printed commentaries, so here is Bruce brief write-up of the Stoics, who claim the Cypriot Zeno (c. 340-265 B.C) as their founder:
They were called Stoics:
Because they met in the stoa poikilē, the “painted colonnade” in the Agora [main market place], where he habitually taught in Athens. Their system aimed at living consistently with nature, and in practice they laid great ground emphasis on the primacy of the rational faculty in humanity, and on individual self-sufficiency. In theology they were pantheistic, God being regarded as the world-soul. Their belief in a cosmopolis or world-state, in which all truly free souls had equal citizen rights, helped break down national and class structure. Stoicism at its best was marked by great moral earnestness and a high sense of duty. (comment on v. 18).
Bruce on Epicureanism:
The Epicurean school, founded by Epicurus (340-270 B.C.), member of a family of Athenian settlers on Samos, based its ethical theory on the atomic physics of Democritus and presented pleasure as being the chief end [goal] in life, the pleasure most worth enjoying being a life of tranquility (ataraxia), free from pain, disturbing passions, and superstitious fears (including the particular fear of death). It did not deny the existence of gods, but maintained that they took no interest in the life of men and women. (comment on v. 18)
For Epicureans, pleasure,was not drinking parties and sex. It was much more intellectual. Nowadays, however, the ultimate pleasure sought for are about drinking parties and sex.
Is Our Sin Nature Embedded in Our Mammal Nature?
For this commentary, I would just add that sometimes intellectual strongholds are the hardest to scale and break down. One has to be trained to do it. I heard a popular millennial TV pastor say we don’t need to argue for or defend God, for he can defend himself, so we shouldn’t worry about it. If he meant quarrel, then he’s right. But the thrust of his idea was wrong. He didn’t seem to realize the people have legitimate questions they want answered before their hearts rise with faith. Learning a few philosophical ideas to answer their questions is a good thing. Granted, most people may simply refer the skeptics to an article online or a smart guy at church, but come on! Let’s learn some things so we can give a reason for the hope that is in us (1 Pet. 3:15). Paul was not afraid to reason with people, nor should we be afraid to do this, either.
(Sometimes I have the feeling that pastors say these things because they themselves don’t study and want others to join their pampered laziness.)
“were conversing”: it is the verb sumballō, which literally means “throw together.” Maybe we should see Paul and the philosophers “thrown together” in the same meeting place dialoguing.
“scrap collector”: it is literally “seed-picker” or what birds do (spermologos and pronounced spair-moh-loh-gohss). Some translations play it safe and have “babbler,” “gossip,” chatterer.” I see these condescending philosophers calling him (in our vernacular) a homeless guy who has a grocery cart (trolley) full of scraps. What Paul (and the homeless guy) says doesn’t make sense, without order or reason.
Parsons and Culy (referring to Louw and Nida) says that this word (1) a person acquires bits and pieces of irrelevant information and pass them on with pretense and show (“ignorant show-off, charlatan”); (2) a person who is unable to say anything worthwhile with his miscellaneous tidbits of information (“foolish babbler”). Then Parson and Culy refer to another commentator who says (3) the person steals ideas from others and uses them as his own (I suggest maybe “babbling plagiarist”). I chose the first definition in my translation, but you can choose the other two.
Bruce suggests “someone who picked up scraps of learning wherever he could” (comment on v. 18, note 35).
“preaching the good news”: as noted in previous verses in Luke-Acts, the phrase is one verb in Greek: euangelizō (pronounced eu-ahn-geh-lee-zoh, and the “g” is hard, as in “get”). Eu– means “good,” and angel means “announcement” or “news”; and izō is the verb form. (Greek adds the suffix -iz- and changes the noun to the verb and we do too, as in “modern” to “modernize”). Awkwardly but literally it means “good-news-ize,” as in “Let’s ‘good-news-ize’ them!”
Yes, Paul reasoned with people, but he did not neglect the simple gospel. He also preached the resurrection, which has all sorts of evidence behind it. (You can go online to study the evidence. I suggest two youtube channels one by Gary Habermas and another one by Inspiring Philosophy.) No doubt Paul told his testimony that he heard and saw the risen Lord, which must have surprised the philosophers. You too can tell your story of how Jesus changed your life.
Sometimes critics today complain that Paul did not preach the gospel, but this summary clause in this verse says he did.
Here are the basics about resurrection in the New Testament:
1.. It was prophesied in the OT (Ps. 16:3-11; Is. 55:3; Jnh. 1:17)
2.. Jesus predicted it before his death (Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:33-34; John 2:19-22)
3.. It happened in history (Matt. 28:1-7; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1-8)
4.. Power used to resurrect Jesus:
a.. Power of God (Acts 2:24; Eph. 1:19-20; Col. 2:12)
b.. Christ’s own power (John 10:18)
c.. Jesus is the resurrection (John 11:25-26)
d.. Power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:11; 1 Pet. 3:18)
5.. Nature of Christ’s resurrection
a.. The same body that died was raised (Luke 24:39-40; John 20:27)
b.. It was a physical body
(1)) He ate (Luke 24:41-43; John 21:12-13; Acts 10:40-41)
(2)) He could be touched (John 20:27; 1 John 1:1)
(3)) It was a gloried body (1 Cor. 15:42-44; Phil. 3:21)
(4)) He passed through locked door (John 20:19, 26)
(5)) He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9)
c.. It was also a transformed and glorified body
12. Do I Really Know Jesus? What Was His Resurrected Body Like?
And for a review of the basics, please click on this post:
11. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Was Resurrected from the Dead
You can also go to youtube to find out the evidence for it. Look for Gary Habermas or Mike Licona.
For a table of his appearances and other facts, please see:
14. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Appeared to His Disciples
“strange deities” this term reminds Luke’s (educated) readers of Socrates’s story. He was charged with introducing “strange deities” to Athens (Apology 24B-C). In Paul’s day, the Council of Areopagus was tasked to oversee this issue.
19:
“can we”: it comes from the verb dunamai (pronounced doo-nah-my), and simply “able” or “can.” There’s some irony here. Can they hear it? Will they? Other translations have “may we.”
“know”: the verb is ginōskō (pronounced gee-noh-skoh, and the “g” is hard, as in “get”). The verb is so common that it is used 222 times in the NT. (Its cognate epiginōskō, pronounced eh-pea-gee-noh-skoh is used 44 times).
2. Gifts of the Spirit: Word of Knowledge
“The court of Areopagus … exercised jurisdiction in matters of religion and morals. This aristocratic body, of venerable antiquity, received its name from the Areopagus, the “hill of Ares,” (the Greek god of war), southwest of the Acropolis, on which it traditionally met. At the time with which we are dealing, it held its ordinary meetings in the Royal Colonnade (stoa basileios) in the northwest corner of the Agora” (Bruce, comment on vv. 19-20). During the Roman era it “commanded great respect.” Bock adds that the council had great power, “trying crimes and regulating, for example, city life, education, philosophical lectures, public morality, and foreign cults” (comment on vv. 19-20, p. 563). Some commentators that a public speaker had to get a license, so maybe the council was about to require one, but first they had to give him a fair hearing.
Since he left the council on his own, Paul was not standing trial in a forensic (legal, trial) sense, but to expound his teaching before experts. The council, after all, was in charge of overseeing foreign cults, and the resurrection appeared to some as a deity: the Resurrection. In other words, a door of opportunity was opened to Paul, and he walked through it. He was fearless.
20-21:
“spent their leisure time doing”: this long clause comes from one verb eukaireō pronounced yew-ky-reh-oh) and is built on eu– (good or positive) and kair– (time or season).
This verse fits the American context perfectly. Our wealth affords us long spells of leisure time, and we are very trendy. This is especially true of the American church. Bible classes or not? But the latest book says streamlined church—so no Bible classes! Plays and musicals and productions? Yes! No! I say the gospel can be preached in all sort of forums and contexts programs. Don’t overanalyze things and follow the latest trends.
In his comment on v. 22, Bruce warns you and me that there has never been more commentary written about a mere ten verses in Acts than Paul’s Areopagus speech, and then he has a huge bibliography in note 47. And Bruce was writing in 1988. No doubt the bibliography has expanded. I will offer only the basics. I depend heavily here on other commentaries.
22-23:
“Paul preaches in different ways to synagogue audiences (13:16-47), rural pagans (14:15-17) and cultural members of the urban Greek elite (14:15-17) and cultured members of the urban Greek elite (17:22-31)” (Keener, p. 438).
“very religious”: it is a very long Greek word. It could be translated as “superstitious.” Let’s leave it at that.
“touring”: it is the standard Greek verb erchomai and the prefix dia attached: dierchomai (pronounced dee-air-khoh-my), and it can mean “go from place to place.” I’ve visited Athens, and it is marvelous. I went from place to place or I “toured” the city and the museums and Parthenon and lots of other places. That’s why I chose the more modern translation, but if a traditionalist and precisionist prefer “going from place to place,” then that is accurate too.
“without knowledge”: it could be translated “ignorantly.” Paul finds an inroad, a link, between him and them. Well done, Paul.
“When the gospel was presented to pagans, even cultured pagans like the members of the Court of Areopagus, it was necessary to begin with a statement about the living and true God. The knowledge of God, according to Paul in Rom. 1:19-22, was accessible to all in his works of creation, but the capacity or desire to acquire it had been impaired by idolatry. … The tone of the Aeropagitica is different from that of Romans 1-3, but Paul knew the wisdom of adapting his tone and general approach to the particular audience or readership being addressed at the time” (Bruce, comment on v. 22).
“Unknown God”” Paul latched on to this inscription possibly because he remembered the dialogue of the one true God and the nations who did not know Israel’s God:
5 Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself,
the God and Savior of Israel.
16 All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced;
they will go off into disgrace together.
17 But Israel will be saved by the Lord
with an everlasting salvation;
you will never be put to shame or disgraced,
to ages everlasting.
18 For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,
he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
I declare what is right.
20 “Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.
21 Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear. (Is. 45:15-23, NIV)
Paul was deeply, deeply influenced by Isaiah. Now Paul was about to dialogue with a city-state (Athens) that did not know the true God. They could care less about whoever Isaiah was.
24:
This is biblical theology. God has a temple in Jerusalem, but he does not need it. The entire earth is his footstool, so to speak (Is. 66:1; Matt. 5:35).
“universe”: it comes from the noun cosmos (pronounced cohs-mohss). No doubt when Paul said the word, he gestured in a way that indicated everything that humans of his century could see in the sky at night. Maybe he pointed up and swept his hand and traced the “dome” over the earth. However, we now know the universe is much bigger than what is seen by the unaided eye.
This passage in the Psalms is pertinent:
9 I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats? (Ps. 50:9-13, NIV)
At Solomon’s dedication of the temple, he prayed a long prayer, including this verse:
27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! (1 Kings 8:27, NIV)
25:
“life”: It is the noun zoē (pronounced zoh-ay, and girls are named after it, e.g. Zoey). BDAG is the authoritative NT Greek lexicon, and it says that it has two senses, depending on the context: a physical life (e.g. life and breath) and a transcendent life. By physical life the editors mean the period from birth to death, human activity, a way or manner of living, a period of usefulness, earning a living. By transcendent life the lexicographers mean these four elements: first, God himself is life and offers us everlasting life. Second, Christ is life, who received life from God, and now we can receive life from Christ. Third, it is new life of holiness and righteousness and grace. God’s life filling us through Christ changes our behavior. Fourth, zoē means life in the age to come, or eschatological life. So our new life now will continue into the next age, which God fully and finally ushers in when Christ returns. We will never experience mere existence or death, but we will be fully and eternally alive in God. Here it means the first definition.
God does not need what we have to offer. This is called in theology aseity (pronounced ah-see-ih-tee or ah-say-ih-tee), which means God is self-sufficient in himself. He did not create the heavens and the earth and everything it in them, including humans, because he was needy. He did this because of his outreaching love. He can exist without us, but we cannot exist without him and his sustaining power (Heb. 1:3).
See the post:
Do I Really Know God? He Is Self-Existent
Yes, he gave every living being life and breath and everything else, when he spoke this universe into existence 13.7 billion years ago and it has been moving forward from then to the time we humans and other living beings got here, and into the future. He gave us life and breath by secondary causes; that is, he built into his creation a creative force that animates and enlivens us. As noted, he also sustains all of creation by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3).
“handmade temples”: this continues the theme in Acts of taking down temples, whether the one in Jerusalem or here in Athens, where there was a beautiful temple of Athena on the acropolis and other beautiful ones on the lower levels. Here is Stephen rejecting the holy temple in Jerusalem:
47 But Solomon built a house for him. 48 However, the Most High does not live in things made with hands, just as the prophet says:
49 Heaven is my throne,
And earth is the footstool for my feet;
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
Or which place for my rest?
50 For did not my hand make all of these things?” [Is. 66:1-2] (Acts 7:47-50)
Here is Demetrius the silversmith denouncing what Paul had been proclaiming in Ephesus:
26 And you observe and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and led astray a large crowd, saying that the gods who come about by the hands do not exist! 27 Not only does this endanger our line of business, to come to be discredited, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be considered worthless, and she herself, whom all of Asia and the world worship, is about to be brought down with her majesty!” (Acts 19:26-27)
All pagan temples and shrines and church buildings throughout all human history will be wiped out at the Second Coming, for the church will be his holy dwelling place.
The Church Fulfills and Replaces Old Testament Temple
Since the church replaces the OT temple, then how much more does the church replace all temples, particularly the pagan ones!
26:
Adam is the one person. Paul interprets an already-existing, authoritative text in Gen. 1-5, in the light he had. I believe Adam (Mankind) and Eve (Living) were real, but they did not have biblical Hebrew names, for biblical Hebrew is a late development in the Semitic family of languages. They lived many centuries, perhaps many millennia, before the Bible was written. They had a special calling to illustrate how humanity is broken and because it broke and still breaks moral law. (In a corollary opposite way, Abram and Sarai, also historical persons, had a calling to set the theme of redemption in motion.)
3. Adam and Evolution: Five Options
Paul’s main point is not to quarrel about Adam and Eve, but this is the main point: “Neither in nature nor in grace, neither in the old creation nor in the new, is there any room for ideas of racial superiority” (Bruce, comment on v. 26).
Scriptural backing:
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
according to the number of the sons of Israel [or sons of God] (Deut. 32:8, NIV)
27:
It is possible for people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ to find God, even though they lived before he came or far away from Israel (e.g. South America and Australia, 2500 years ago). God was never far from them.
Peterson:
God is immanent or present with us in the created order, in a spiritual and personal sense, though not being found in created things as pantheists teach. The reality finally conveyed by Paul’s message is that, because if human failure to find God as he really is, he can be truly known only through repentance and faith in the resurrected Jesus (vv. 30-31). It is total structure and flow, the speech in Acts 17:22-31 is not all that different from the argument in Romans 1-3. (comment on v. 27)
Some Greek intellectuals tried to steer the populace away from idolatry. “Even some of their own teachers had realized the folly of trying to represent the divine nature by material images, worship it as material altars, how near God was to those who truly sought him” (Bruce, comment on v. 27).
See the post:
What Happens at Judgment to People Who Never Heard Gospel?
28:
As noted, God sustains everyone by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3). Quoting a pagan poet was a perfectly legitimate way to build a bridge to the people of Athens. I have heard some Bible teachers quote Shakespeare or Milton or Dickens, and it is very effective. It’s not that these authors were pagans, but they are not Bible characters. Branch out a little bit, pastors and preachers, but only if you know this stuff. Don’t sound fake, just to impress.
This line is said to come from Epimenides the Cretan (c. 600 B.C.). Bruce quotes the line in context:
“They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high one [Zeus]—
The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!—
But thou art not dead; thou livest and abides for ever,
For in thee we live and move and have our being.”
Titus 1:12 says: “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: ‘Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.’”
Then the other quotation is from the fifth line of Phainomena by Aratus (Paul’s fellow Cilician):
“Let us begin with Zeus. Never, O men, let us leave him
Unmentioned. All the ways are full of Zeus,
And all the market-places of human beings. The sea is
Of him; so are the harbors. In every way we have all to do with Zeus,
For we are truly his offspring.
Quoting these pagan poets brings up inspiration of Scripture. Yes, God inspired Scripture, but the inspired authors still had their minds intact. Luke was inspired to write that Paul quoted a pagan poet. Scripture was not dictated, as if the authors were androids.
29:
This is the first and second of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3-4). Paul was thoroughly a Messianic Jew. But note the context. It is about believing in images in the temple and the gods and goddesses standing behind the images. I see nothing wrong today with a sculptor and painter creating beautiful images, even of Jesus and the “saints.” But let your conscience be your guide.
“skill”: it comes from the noun technē (pronounced tehkh-nay), and it means “skill” or “trade,” and it is used only here and Acts 18:3 and Rev. 18:22.
“genius”: it is the Greek noun enthumēsis (pronounced ehn-thoo-may-seess), and it combines en– (in) and thum– (the spirit or soul of a person), and see v. 11 for a closer look at the thum– stem. It can be translated as “thought, reflection, idea.” It appears only here and in Matt. 9:14; 12:25; Heb. 4:12.
“repent”: it is the verb metanoeō (pronounced meh-tah-noh-eh-oh), and “to repent” literally means “changed mind.” And it goes deeper than mental assent or agreement. Another word for repent is the Greek stem streph– (including the prefixes ana-, epi-, and hupo-), which means physically “to turn” (see Luke 2:20, 43, 45). That reality-concept is all about new life. One turns around 180 degrees, going from the direction of death to the new direction of life.
See my post:
Bruce summarizes this verse well:
We are, then, the offspring of God, says Paul, not in any pantheistic sense but in the sense of the biblical doctrine of man, as beings created by God in his image. There is, indeed, a mighty difference between this relation of men and women to God in the old creation and that redemptive relation which members of the new creation enjoy through faith as sons and daughters of God “in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26). (Bruce, comment on v. 29)
Then Bruce goes on to say that Paul is dealing with pagans who have the responsibility of pagans to give God the honor which is due him. And this honor is not about molded idols.
30:
Repentance is a category Luke often notes as the proper response to God’s message (Luke 3:7-9; see Acts 2:38; 3:19-20; in Paul: 1 Thess. 1:9-10). In this case it appears that Paul is saying that God did little to remedy the direction of the nations as a whole in the past (besides issuing prophetic warnings and calling Israel to be a light to the nations. Acts 14:16 says that God let them go their own way. He largely ignored them. Now, however, God has acted. God calls to all people everywhere to repent. The call to repent matches Acts 14:15 with its call to turn from idols. (Bock, comment on vv. 30-31)
With the coming of Jesus, a new era has dawned, and truth demands a higher, clearer response.
God was merciful to people before they heard the gospel and overlooked their ignorance. Once they hear the gospel and walk away, they put themselves at risk for a stronger judgment.
Once again, see the post:
What Happens at Judgment to People Who Never Heard Gospel?
31:
God is going to judge the world. Let’s not neglect this doctrine in our preaching. It is all well and good to preach that God wants to fulfill your hopes and dreams, but more importantly, God expects you to fulfill his hopes and dreams for your life, which are always better than yours. If you walk outside of his will, he will draw you back, but if a man or woman walks away from the gospel all throughout his or her life, then judgment is coming.
Paul preached the resurrection, and you can go online to great websites that lay out the evidence for it. Or you can just share with people what Jesus—who is alive in your heart—has done for you.
“assurance”: it comes from the very frequent noun pistis (pronounced peace-teace or piss-tiss), and it is the standard word for “faith.” Other translations read “proof” or “confirming,” or “assuring,” or “assurance.” But if someone wanted to say God provided faith by raising Jesus from the dead, then he would not be wrong. You can ground your faith on the bodily resurrection of Jesus, for the evidence that this happened is strong.
Let’s look more deeply at pistis.
It is used 243 times. Its basic meaning is the “belief, trust, confidence,” and it can also mean “faithfulness” and “trustworthy” (Mounce p. 232). It is directional, and the best direction is faith in God (Mark 11:22; 1 Thess. 1:8; 1 Pet. 1:21; Heb. 6:1) and faith in Jesus (Acts 3:16; 20:21; 24:24; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4; 1 Tim. 3:13). Believing (verb) and faith (noun) is very important to God. It is the language of heaven. We live on earth and by faith see the invisible world where God is. We must believe he exists; then we must exercise our faith to believe he loves us and intends to save us. We must have saving faith by trusting in Jesus and his finished work on the cross. See v. 12 for more comments.
Word Study on Faith and Faithfulness
Bruce, summarizing the whole speech in the council: “The essential content of the speech is biblical, but the presentation is Hellenistic” (comment on v. 31).
Longenecker:
Nevertheless, God has now acted in the person and work of Jesus in such a manner as to make idolatry particularly heinous. To reject Jesus, therefore, is to reject the personal and vicarious intervention of God on behalf of humanity and so open oneself up to divine judgment, which will be meted out in the future by the very one who is being rejected in the present (v. 31). For God himself has authenticated the person and redemptive work of Jesus by raising him from the dead. (comment on vv. 39-31)
32-34:
Bruce quotes from a line in Aeschylus’s play Eumenides 647-48: “Once a man dies and the earth drinks up his blood, there is no resurrection” (comment on v. 32, emphasis original). The Greek word there is anastasis, the standard word throughout Greek literature, as it is also used in v. 32.
Critics claim that since Paul got a small response from this one session before the Council, he failed. Why? Because he did not preach the gospel. But this is a sermon summary, and throughout his stay in Athens, he did preach Jesus and the resurrection (v. 18). People were open and wanted to hear from him again. But Paul left Athens before he had a chance to stay there and plant a church and watch God work signs and wonders, which build the church and humble the stubborn.
Very often Luke omits details, as this entire commentary has pointed out. He omits the fact that he got the two named and the other converts baptized and filled with he Spirit, for example, but we can be sure he did, based on many other passages (e.g. 1 Cor. 14:4). That’s why I have nicknamed him Luke the Omitter. (Or he could be called Luke the Condenser.)
“As a member of the town’s highest aristocratic court, Dionysius ‘the Aeropagite’ was a municipal decurion [high member of rulership in the council]. For even one Aeropagite to join the new movement was a great success” (Keener, p. 449).
However, one does get the impression that Athens was a tough nut to crack.
We don’t know who Dionysius, a member of the council who therefore had high status, and Damaris were, but they were important enough for Luke to name them, indicating that they must have been helpful to the growth of Christianity and took important leadership roles. Luke may have even met them at some time, for him to remember their names. Luke likes to pair men and women together. Keener suggests that Damaris might have been a philosopher who accompanied Paul to the council from the market place. Or she might have been a former or current disciple of a philosopher or she was pursuing philosophical interests on her own (p. 449).
“resurrection”: see v. 18 for a closer look.
“believed”: see v. 12 for more comments.
“Too many Christians knew their own message, but understand far too little about how and why others think as they do” (Bock, comments on vv. 32-34). Bock summarizes another commentator (Stott): “This ability to adapt made him [Paul] very effective. Whether in informal conversation or in a formal setting, the ability to set forth the faith at a level appropriate to the setting is a valuable talent (comment on vv. 32-34, p. 573)
GrowApp for Acts 17:16-34
Pick two.
1. Paul’s spirit was provoked when he saw Athenian culture’s degradation. Has your spirit been provoked when you saw your own nation’s cultural degradation?
2. Athenians spent time doing nothing else but engage in idle speculation. How much time do you waste in nonsense? Any way you can cut back and get in the Scripture? How?
3. God is going to judge the world in righteousness, through the Resurrected One, Jesus. Study 1 John 3:2-3, How do we prepare for his appearance?
4. Paul message of the resurrection divided his listeners in two: the one who sneered, and the ones who followed him. Before your salvation, how did you first respond to the gospel? Did you believe immediately, or did you reject it and even mock it? Tell your story.
RELATED
The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?
SOURCES
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