Acts 17:16-34

While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he saw that the city had statues of false gods everywhere. This upset him. He held discussions in the synagogue with Jews and converts to Judaism. He also held discussions every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers had discussions with him. Some asked, “What is this babbling fool trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be speaking about foreign gods.” The philosophers said these things because Paul was telling the Good News about Jesus and saying that people would come back to life. Then they brought Paul to the city court, the Areopagus, and asked, “Could you tell us these new ideas that you’re teaching? Some of the things you say sound strange to us. So we would like to know what they mean.” Everyone who lived in Athens looked for opportunities to tell or hear something new and unusual. Paul stood in the middle of the court and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious. As I was going through your city and looking closely at the objects you worship, I noticed an altar with this written on it: ‘To an unknown god.’ I’m telling you about the unknown god you worship. The God who made the universe and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in shrines made by humans, and he isn’t served by humans as if he needed anything. He gives everyone life, breath, and everything they have. From one man he has made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth. He has given them the seasons of the year and the boundaries within which to live. He has done this so that they would look for God, somehow reach for him, and find him. In fact, he is never far from any one of us. Certainly, we live, move, and exist because of him. As some of your poets have said, ‘We are God’s children.’ So if we are God’s children, we shouldn’t think that the divine being is like an image made from gold, silver, or stone, an image that is the product of human imagination and skill. “God overlooked the times when people didn’t know any better. But now he commands everyone everywhere to turn to him and change the way they think and act. He has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice, and he will use a man he has appointed to do this. God has given proof to everyone that he will do this by bringing that man back to life.” When the people of the court heard that a person had come back to life, some began joking about it, while others said, “We’ll hear you talk about this some other time.” With this response, Paul left the court. Some men joined him and became believers. With them were Dionysius, who was a member of the court, and a woman named Damaris, and some other people.