Dear friends the bible continues to nourish our souls with positive actions of faith through the disciples.
Paul, et al had been so "radical" in spreading the word of God without fear, but remained under the influence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This time he (Paul) has been directed to make known to the people of Athens, "the unknown God":
ACTS 17:15, 22—18:1
After Paul's escorts had taken him to Athens,
they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothy
to join him as soon as possible.
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
"You Athenians, I see that in every respect
you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, 'To an Unknown God.'
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
The God who made the world and all that is in it,
the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything.
Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.
He made from one the whole human race
to dwell on the entire surface of the earth,
and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,
so that people might seek God,
even perhaps grope for him and find him,
though indeed he is not far from any one of us.
For 'In him we live and move and have our being,'
as even some of your poets have said,
'For we too are his offspring.'
Since therefore we are the offspring of God,
we ought not to think that the divinity is like an image
fashioned from gold, silver, or stone by human art and imagination.
God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now he demands that all people everywhere repent
because he has established a day on which he will 'judge the world
with justice' through a man he has appointed,
and he has provided confirmation for all
by raising him from the dead."
When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
"We should like to hear you on this some other time."
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers.
Among them were Dionysius,
a member of the Court of the Areopagus,
a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.
Paul was not impressed with the religiosity of the Athens when he got there. It seemed like every family had their own god who they serve. All the area was filled with different shrines with the name of various gods written on the altars. Observant enough for Paul, he was able to see a shrine on which altar "To an unknown god" was the inscription.
It was fair enough for the people of Athens to have forgotten the names of some gods in that generation, since it was the citadel of several many Greek gods at that time. But it was funny that some of them still worshipped and dedicated a shrine to an unknown god.
The Cambridge dictionary describes an unknown as:
a person, especially a performer or sports player, who is not famous,
something that cannot be guessed at or calculated because so little is known about it.
Paul immediately gathered the Jews and Gentiles he could meet within the short moment of his arrival to discourage them from the act of idol worshipping. Some market women joined him to hear about the "new God" he was introducing to them.
Some of the councillors (the Epicureans) of Areopagus where Religion and Education matters are being discussed saw Paul talking about a strange God and brought him to the council to "check out" the god he brought; but they were disillusioned when they were told of the God who doesn't dwell in man made sanctuaries.
The Epicureans and stoic philosophers were present at the council.
Epicurus (341—270 BC), who taught that happiness was the ultimate goal in life was the god of the Epicureans. For the Stoic thinkers, Zeno (340—265 BC) was regarded as their founder and god. He (Zeno) was noted for promoting the rational over the emotional in his time on earth.
But in the midst of the learned and powerful, God introduced Himself to the people through Paul. With the inscription "to an unknown God", Paul introduced the living God who they unknowingly serve to them. He preached repentance against idol worshipping and talked about Christ, who died and resurrected for every.
As expected, some of the philosophers wanted to antagonise Paul on the issue of resurrection, but were obviously not vast enough to argue the mystery.
The city of Athens encountered God ever since and many believed in Paul before he went to Corinth.
THE UNKNOWN GOD DESIRES TO BE KNOWN
The Greeks in Athens failed in their search for God, but God came searching for them.
God speaks to us in our daily lives, but often times we do not want to hear from Him.
Just as the people of Athens were engrossed and in love with their small gods, we too in this present world have turned to money and the internet for answers to our prayers. We've failed to bear in mind that there is a God who was not created by humans, but Himself the creator of all things, including these gods.
We search for demi gods in form of money, internet, technology in pursuit of happiness and peace which only the " prince of peace" can give. Consequently, we now live in a dangerous world full of terrorism, hardship, corruption and dooms of all kind.
Still, the Lord is searching for us through the preachings of the pastors and priests. He talks to us even directly in our hearts. We will not find any rest if we do not seek Him. He wants us accept Him and do His will, that's the only way to happiness in this world of sorrows.
Let us retrace our steps back to Christ who is the author and finisher of our faith. He demands some of the attention we give to man-made desires of this world. We need to create more time to pray to Him, talk about Him, call on Him and think of Him.
We must center our entire life on Him who can only give us joy and peace.
May the Lord help us. Amen.
Thanks for reading.
I'm @tomfreeman!
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