The pattern is by now well established. Jews tended to reject it, and broader Gentile audience would partially respond. The only audience to readily embrace Paul's message was the believing Gentiles. Jews at least had a moral obligation to hear him out, but winning a hearing among Gentiles at large could be tricky. While Paul seemed to avoid talk of the Kingdom of Heaven, we note many hearers could detect this was very much a call for a shift in loyalties, a change to citizenship far higher than anything Rome could offer, and certainly at many points a rival claim.
Leaving the church at Philippi well established, Paul, Silas and Timothy went on west along the Egnatian Way. There was a distinct strategy to Paul's efforts, choosing major cities, from which he knew the gospel would spread of itself. The next stop was Thessalonica, a very large free city with a synagogue. Again, it was obedience to Christ to preach the Jews first, but it was rare when the believing Gentiles did not embrace the far simpler path of Christ over the Law of Moses. This was the source of contention, of course, with the Jewish leaders of any synagogue. With the hope of many proselytes gone, along with their offerings, they felt Paul was stealing their sheep. Lacking the dignity to simply run these preachers out, the Jewish leaders hired pagan thugs to create a disturbance. The missionaries were hosted by a fellow named Jason, who had the foresight to hide his guests. The mob dragged him before the ruling council and made wild accusations. Since the targets of this mob, Paul and Silas, were absent, the rulers could only demand a bond from Jason against any further disturbance. This bond would be forfeited if Paul or Silas were spotted again, because the Jewish leaders would surely stir up another mob.
That night, Paul and Silas slipped out of town, and were escorted to another large city, but off the main route -- Berea. As usual, Paul and Silas preached in the synagogue, but this one was blessed with leaders who cultivated an open mind about searching the Scriptures to test the message. A larger number of both Jews and Gentile believers embraced the gospel here. However, in the normal daily traffic between Jewish communities, the synagogue at Thessalonica got wind of this and came down to break things up. Before the situation could get out of hand, Paul was spirited away down river to the coast, and put on a ship to Athens. Silas and Timothy were not so much the target, and stayed behind until they knew where Paul ended up. While Paul's escort made their way back with the message for his companions, he wandered Athens.
While a city very self-conscious of their ancient grand heritage, Athens was no longer a seat of government under Rome, just an ancient university town. The world's scholars still came, seeking philosophical and religious knowledge. Paul hadn't really planned to exert much effort there because the city just wasn't that important. Still, he spoke in the synagogue, and in the open market with anyone else who showed an interest. Of particular discomfort to Paul was the plethora of deities whose altars and shrines were thickly dotted around the place. Legend has it when catastrophe struck, the residents would simply set loose a flock of sacrificial sheep in hopes somehow the gods who were upset would draw one or more victims to their altars. When a sheep was found near no particular altar, a new one was erected to "The Unknown God." There were several of these around the city.
With his advanced education, Paul fit right in with the intellectual atmosphere. The current fashionable schools were Epicurean and Stoic. The local education council decided to test him for certification, since his subject matter was new to them. Here we see in stark relief just what a barrier Hellenistic intellectual assumptions were to the gospel. The Epicureans asserted the gods hardly cared about human affairs, and surely there was no afterlife. Man could, at best, try to enjoy life in grand style, though not in raw hedonism. The Stoics felt man had a duty to live by natural law, and tended to rather strict ethical conduct. Both were afflicted with the foundations of Plato and Aristotle, making no allowance for anything beside human reality and intellectual ideals, along with the sharp and impassable division between them.
Paul was willing to outline his gospel message. He began by making note of the local religious culture, and selected the altars to the Unknown God as his anchor point. From there he outlined the basic claims: Jehovah is Creator and Sustainer of all life. All mankind came from His hand, and He is directly involved in natural and human affairs. However, He permitted humans to wander a bit with religion. Here and there one could find glimpses of the truth, Paul noting a smattering of accurate ideas in pagan philosophy and religion. However, He had finally revealed Himself with the intention of calling all men to an accurate knowledge of Him, which was too transcendent for man-made idols or temples, but a spiritual being far apart from His Creation. The final revelation was a particular Man apart, who was so marked by His resurrection from the dead.
At that point, Paul had stepped outside the acceptable ideas of Greek philosophical assumptions. They had no place for the notion of mere mortal bodies being resurrected. Anything tangible and real was of necessity inferior. In their world, there was no place for a belief in a human spirit, an eternal soul which could be contained in flesh. The educators politely tabled the notion of granting Paul a license to teach, while some of them sarcastically dismissed his ideas. There were a few who embraced his teaching, among them a Dionysius and a Damaris. We have no record of any church ever existing in Athens during this time.
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By Ed Hurst
22 August 2009
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