"And when they heard of the resurrection of the
dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will
hear you again on this matter". . . However, some
men joined him and believed
ACTS 17:32-34a
When Paul proclaims the Resurrection to his
audience of Greek philosophers, the attitude of
many turns from interest to disdain. Luke tells
us that his mention of Jesus rising from the dead
prompts some to mock. Why is that? Dr. Simon
Kistemaker explain that Plato and other Greek
thinkers "had developed a doctrine of soul's
Immorality. They reasoned that the soul migrated
to another place, but that death terminated man's
physical existence." Indeed, to the Greeks' way
of thinking, spirit was good and matter evil, and
the soul was to dwell in the "prison house" of the
body receiving it's liberation" only at death. Given
such a view, it is hard to see why a Greek would
struggle to understand why soul returning to
reanimated body could be good thing. Thus some
in the audience flatly rejected Paul's proclamation
of the Resurrection.
Luke also tells us that some tells Paul, '"We will
hear you again on this matter.'" These are at
least intrigued enough to want to know more
about his doctrine. However, it appears there are
not enough of them to sway the council. Paul's
abrupt abandonment of his oratory in the
marketplace and his departure from Athens,
apparently without waiting for Silas and Timonthy,
may indicate that the council bans his teaching in
the city. Still, his spirit-guided defense before the
Areopagus is not Without fruit. Luke tells us that
"some men join him and believed?" Including a
man named Dionysius who was member of the
ruling council a itself, as a women named Damaris.
Kistemaker notes that neither the New
Testament nor the early church fathers mention a
church in Athens, reinforcing the idea that Paul
did not have A lengthy ministry there. But
Eusebius, a fourth century historian, provides a
tantalizing clue about the fruit of Paul's visits; he
quotes another Dionysius, living the second
century, as saying that the first bishop of the
church at Athens was that member of the
Areopagus, the other Dionysius, whose original
conversion after Paul's speech. . .in the Areopagus
Luke describe in Acts."
In this passage we see three frequent reaction
to the Gospel:
ridicule (Jude 17-17),
Intellectual interest (2 Tim.3:7),
and acceptance. The very real harvest the
Gospel reaped in pagan, hard-hearted Athens
should reassure us that it can penetrate heart
anywhere.
dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will
hear you again on this matter". . . However, some
men joined him and believed
ACTS 17:32-34a
When Paul proclaims the Resurrection to his
audience of Greek philosophers, the attitude of
many turns from interest to disdain. Luke tells
us that his mention of Jesus rising from the dead
prompts some to mock. Why is that? Dr. Simon
Kistemaker explain that Plato and other Greek
thinkers "had developed a doctrine of soul's
Immorality. They reasoned that the soul migrated
to another place, but that death terminated man's
physical existence." Indeed, to the Greeks' way
of thinking, spirit was good and matter evil, and
the soul was to dwell in the "prison house" of the
body receiving it's liberation" only at death. Given
such a view, it is hard to see why a Greek would
struggle to understand why soul returning to
reanimated body could be good thing. Thus some
in the audience flatly rejected Paul's proclamation
of the Resurrection.
Luke also tells us that some tells Paul, '"We will
hear you again on this matter.'" These are at
least intrigued enough to want to know more
about his doctrine. However, it appears there are
not enough of them to sway the council. Paul's
abrupt abandonment of his oratory in the
marketplace and his departure from Athens,
apparently without waiting for Silas and Timonthy,
may indicate that the council bans his teaching in
the city. Still, his spirit-guided defense before the
Areopagus is not Without fruit. Luke tells us that
"some men join him and believed?" Including a
man named Dionysius who was member of the
ruling council a itself, as a women named Damaris.
Kistemaker notes that neither the New
Testament nor the early church fathers mention a
church in Athens, reinforcing the idea that Paul
did not have A lengthy ministry there. But
Eusebius, a fourth century historian, provides a
tantalizing clue about the fruit of Paul's visits; he
quotes another Dionysius, living the second
century, as saying that the first bishop of the
church at Athens was that member of the
Areopagus, the other Dionysius, whose original
conversion after Paul's speech. . .in the Areopagus
Luke describe in Acts."
In this passage we see three frequent reaction
to the Gospel:
ridicule (Jude 17-17),
Intellectual interest (2 Tim.3:7),
and acceptance. The very real harvest the
Gospel reaped in pagan, hard-hearted Athens
should reassure us that it can penetrate heart
anywhere.
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