Pastor's Ponderings: Tuesday Bible Study on Acts of the Apostles 17:16-21 (May 19, 2026)

May 19, 2026:  Tuesday Bible Study on Acts 17:16-21

Good morning, dear friends. Today is a big day at our house, James will be walking for graduation this evening, and another day tomorrow will be busy as Jared graduates from middle school. It has been a busy couple of days, and it doesn't look like the week's busy schedule is going to ease up.

To that end I am going to get started on Paul's time in Athens without the support of Timothy and Silas. Athens is a community that is full of well-educated philosophers, the people of the city in its community square, and Jews in the synagogue as well. It is a really good thing that Paul was already an experienced debater and teacher, or it would have been likely that his time in Athens would have been short and probably shut down, but the people of Athens liked new ideas, and were always ready to take time to listen to what was being said in their midst.  So, what exactly was it that Paul was faced with as he debated the Epicurean philosophers? They had specific ways of dealing with the information that they encountered.

1.       They believed that everything happened by chance. You and I know that Paul never saw chance in God's action through Jesus Christ. All of God's actions were with intent and purpose.

2.     They believed that death was the end of all things with nothing to come afterwards. The very message that Paul had been carrying and sharing from city to city and region to region was about the gift of life now and in eternity through Jesus Christ.

3.     They believed that there were gods, but that they were remote from the world and its people Paul knew Christ as the most intimate presence in his own life, and the lives of those who had come to believe in Him. He was never distant, having promised that he would be with the believers until the end of the "age". (does this mean eternally?)  This is what Biblical scholars have come to believe.

4.     They believed that pleasure was the chief goal and end for people. No service or sacrifice out of thanksgiving to God for His blessings and love.

There were also stoics in the city of Athens, yet another group of debaters and thinkers. Their beliefs were different.

1.       The Stoics believed that literally everything was God. (fire, rain, trees, etc.) In the face of this belief Paul finds himself preaching about the One True Lord of all things. The Creator of all things, the Redeemer of all things, and the One who journeyed with his children guiding their lives every day.

2.     A bit more complicated is the Stoics belief that everything in this life is fated by the gods and a person just must accept whatever it is as the action of the gods.

3.     They also believed that every so often, the total of creation was destroyed in a great conflagration, and then the story of creation continued as the new took the place of the old.

I think that we can certainly begin to see the issues and beliefs that Paul was facing all on his own, but perhaps the best remembered story of Paul is when the philosophers took him to the Areopagus in the city. The name meant Mars Hill, and about 30 citizens were present on that hill in a court. The Athenians were taking Paul and his teaching to be judged. It is strange that our study divides this up in this way, because what comes next is transformative for the people as they listen to Paul's defense. Alas, this will come after the next two weeks have passed. The Acts study will resume after I have gotten back home. That will be on Monday, June 8th. Tune in there for one of Paul's great approaches to the lack of believers in Athens.

With the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim