DEPARTURE FROM MACEDONIA; ATHENS P/2

Read Part One HERE

A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS

                       PART XVII -II

"I, Paul, am no longer in Berea... For the believers there decided it was safer for me to leave for other places...Jews from Thessalonica had come over just to make trouble for us.... Earlier today I arrived in Athens...I decided to have a walk through the city.... What I saw was very upsetting for me... For I saw many temples... They had all been built to honour their gods.... How distressing.... However, I knew that I should do more than feel distressed about the situation.... For there is only one thing that will bring change...The preaching of the Gospel....So that is what I did... I found the synagogue.... And I began to teach the Jewish people and God-fearing Greek people about their Messiah... I proved to them from their Scriptures that the Messiah has already come... But I knew that I should do more.... For I am an Apostle to the Gentiles.... And these Gentiles would not be found in the synagogue.... They would be found in the market place...So that's where I went....And I began to share the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ with them.... They seemed to be somewhat confused about my message though.".... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn of Paul's arrival in Athens.....

                        ATTACHMENT A WALK THROUGH THE BOOK OF ACTS

                                                      PART XVII - II

After Paul left Berea, he went to Athens. There he waited until Silas and Timothy culd join him. In the meantime, he had a walk through the city. And he was greatly disturbed by the many temples as you can read in Acts 17:16 

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.

How did Paul deal with these idols? Did he go into the temples and physically try to destroy them? No, for that would not have been of any use. Paul knew that in order for people to give up their idols, they would need a change of heart and that could only happen if they heard the Gospel so Paul went among the people and preached the Good News of Jesus Christ to them as you can read in Actas 17:17

So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks as well as in the market place day by day with those who happened to be there.

A number of people that were listening to him in the market place began to dispute with him about the things he had said for they did not seemed to have grasped his message as you can know from Acts 17:18

A group of Epicuran 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 gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the Good News about Jesus and the Resurrection.

 Paul was bringing these people a message they had never heard before. To them his message may have just sounded like another new philosophy and possibly not worth giving much attention to.

Read Part Three HERE