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Acts 17:1–9. Having passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. Paul, as was his custom, went in to them and spoke to them for three Sabbaths from the Scriptures, revealing and proving to them that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that this Christ is Jesus, whom I preach to you. And some of them believed and joined Paul and Silas, both of the Greeks who worshiped God, a great multitude, and of the noble women not a few. But the disbelieving Jews, having become jealous and taking some worthless people from the square, gathered in a crowd and disturbed the city and, approaching the house of Jason, tried to bring them out to the people. Not finding them, they dragged Jason and some brothers to the city leaders, shouting that these world-wide troublemakers had come here too, and Jason received them; and they all act against the commands of Caesar, considering another king, Jesus. And they alarmed the people and the city leaders who were listening to this. But these, having received a certificate from Jason and the others, released them. The small cities of “Amphipolis and Apollonia” pass by and hurry to the large ones, since from the latter the word of God was supposed to spread throughout the nearby cities. “They came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.” Although Paul said: “But since you... make yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46), but he did not leave the Jews either, because he was very sorry for them. “Paul... spoke to them from the Scriptures, revealing and proving to them that Christ must suffer and rise from the dead.” First of all, he preaches about suffering, since he recognized it as saving. “There are a great multitude of Greeks who honor God.” Hellenes refers to the Jews who spoke Greek, or refers to the aliens from the Hellenes who are classified as Jews. Calls them worshipers of God because they kept the law. “They all act against the commandments of Caesar, considering another king, Jesus.” In the same way, their fathers accused Jesus, saying that he called himself a king. But they had at least a somewhat plausible excuse, since the accused was still alive. And what did these people count on in their lies when they said about the apostles that they called Jesus king, Who, in their opinion, died and the kings of the earth had nothing to fear from Whom, since they saw that He no longer appeared at all? Acts 17:10–15. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas by night to Berea, where they arrived and went to the synagogue of the Jews. The people here were more thoughtful than those in Thessalonica: they accepted the word with all zeal, daily examining the Scriptures to see if this was exactly so. And many of them believed, and there were quite a few honorable Greek women and men. But when the Thessalonian Jews learned that Paul had preached the word of God in Berea, they came there too, stirring up and disturbing the people. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul away, as if he were going to the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there. Those who accompanied Paul accompanied him to Athens and, having received orders to Silas and Timothy that they should quickly come to him, they set off. When he says “searching the Scriptures daily to see if this is exactly so,” he means that they examined the Scriptures not as unbelievers (because they already believed), but as those who did not know the prophetic traditions. Studying the Scriptures and finding that the events concerning the incarnation of the Lord were consistent with the words of the ancient prophets, through this they were even more strengthened in faith. “Then the brethren immediately released Paul... to Athens.” The apostles avoided dangers not out of fear, but by God’s inspiration, because this time, for example, they stopped preaching and no longer irritated their enemies. The fact that Paul withdrew resulted in a twofold benefit: the anger of the enemies was quenched, and the preaching spread further. As for the fact that they sent Paul alone, it was because they were only afraid for him, lest something happen, since he was in charge. Thus, grace did not always assist them, but left them to themselves, as if awakening them, then plunging them into worries. Acts 17:16–21. While waiting for them in Athens, Paul was troubled in spirit at the sight of this city full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, and daily in the marketplace with those who met him. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to argue with him. And some said: “What does this idiot want to say?”, and others: “It seems that he is preaching about foreign deities,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and said: Can we know what this new teaching is that you are preaching? For you are putting something strange into our ears. Therefore, we want to know what it is? All the Athenians and the foreigners living among them did not spend their time more willingly than talking or listening to something new. By the expression “troubled in spirit” we do not mean anger here, because the gift of grace is far from anger and indignation. So, what does “indignant” mean? I was excited, I couldn’t bear it, I was worried. "Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to argue with him". The Epicureans said that everything exists without Divine Providence. Directing his speech primarily against them, Paul says that God gives “to all things life and breath” (v. 25), “having appointed predetermined times and limits for their habitation” (v. 26), and thus proves the Providence of God. The philosophers did not laugh at him when he said this, because they did not understand anything that was said. And how could people understand the apostle who saw God in the body, and bliss in carnal pleasures? “They took him and brought him to the Areopagus.” Not in order to learn from him, but in order to punish him, they took him to the place where the murderers were being tried. This place was called Areopagus, or Areev (Mars) Hill, because here Ares (or Mars) was punished for adultery. An elevated place was called pag, since this judgment seat was located on a hill. It should be noted that these philosophers, although they spent all their time talking and listening to others, nevertheless considered what Paul reported to be news that they had not yet heard. If he had preached that man was crucified, then his word would not have been news, but since he said that God was crucified and resurrected, he was saying something truly new. Acts 17:22–29. And Paul stood among the Areopagus and said: Athenians! I can see from everything that you seem to be especially devout. For, passing and examining your shrines, I also found an altar on which is written: “to an unknown God.” This, which you honor without knowing, I preach to you. God, who created the world and everything in it, He, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in churches made by hands and does not require the service of human hands, as if He needed anything, He Himself gave to everything life and breath and everything. From one blood He brought forth the entire human race to inhabit the entire face of the earth, assigning predetermined times and limits to their dwelling, so that they would seek God, lest they sense Him and find Him, although He is not far from each of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, just as some of your poets said: “We are His generation.” So, we, being the race of God, should not think that the Divinity is like gold, or silver, or a stone that received its image from human art and invention. It seems that the apostle seems to be praising the Athenians, saying that “they seem to be especially pious,” instead of calling them pious. And he called them this in reference to the altar they erected for the following reason. One day a war broke out among the Athenians with the enemy; Having been defeated, they left. And since it was their custom to celebrate games in honor of demons, one of the demons came to them and said that he had not yet seen any honor from them, so he was angry with them and was the reason for their defeat. They built a church for this demon, and as if out of fear that the same thing would happen to them someday if they bypassed some God unknown to them, they erected an altar with the inscription “to the unknown God,” saying that if there is any other God whom they do not know, then let this altar be dedicated to Him; perhaps He will be merciful to us, although we do not honor Him because we do not know. The full inscription on the altar was as follows: “To the gods of Asia and Europe and Libya; To a God unknown and alien." “As I passed through and examined your shrines, I also found an altar.” I found in the city not a Divine book, but an altar; and, using the inscription on the altar, he destroyed it. So what could he do? The Hellenes were all unbelievers. If he began to talk with them on the basis of the Gospel teaching, they would begin to laugh at him; if - on the basis of the prophets, they would not have confidence in him. He subdued the enemy’s weapon with his own weapon - this is what he says: he was “to those who are strangers to the law, as one who is stranger to the law” (1 Cor. 9:21). He saw the altar and turned the inscription on it to his advantage, and what is even more important is that he changed the opinion of the Athenians. On the altar, it is said, “it was written: “to the unknown God.” Who was this unknown God if not Christ? Did the Athenians really write this in the name of Christ? If they had written this in the name of Christ, Paul's success in converting them would not have been surprising. No, they wrote it for a different purpose, and Paul managed to give the inscription a completely new meaning. But it should be said for which God they wrote “to the unknown God.” They had many gods, both their own and foreign. They received information about some of them from their mothers, and about others from neighboring peoples. So, since at first not all the gods were immediately accepted by them, but were introduced little by little, some by their fathers, others by their grandfathers, and others already in their time, then, having gathered together, they said: “Just as we did not know these gods before, and then later recognized them, so perhaps there is another God whom we do not know, and since we do not know Him, although He is God, we make a mistake by neglecting Him and not honoring Him.” Therefore, they erected an altar and made an inscription on it “to the unknown God,” saying with this inscription that if there is another God whom they do not know, then they will honor Him. Pay attention to excess fearlessness. Therefore, Paul says: “I see from everything that you are especially devout,” because you honor not only those demons that you know, but also those that you did not recognize, and, having captivated their minds, directed their mental gaze to Christ. “This, whom you ignorantly revere, I preach to you.” The Athenians intended to accuse Paul, saying: “You are introducing a new teaching, you are introducing a God whom we do not know.” Therefore, wanting to free himself from suspicion and show that he is not preaching a new God, but the One whom they previously honored with his service, he says: “You warned me, your service to Him forestalled my preaching, because I proclaim to you the God whom you worship without knowing.” “God who created the world and everything in it.” He said one word and undermined all the positions of philosophers. The Epicureans claim that everything came into being by itself and from atoms, but he says that the world and everything in it is the work of God. “He does not live in churches made by hands and does not require the service of human hands.” So that they do not think that one of their many gods is being preached, Paul complements what was said: “he does not live in churches made with hands,” but in the human soul. So what? Didn't he live in the Jerusalem temple? Yes, he didn’t live, but he acted. How then did the Jews honor Him with the help of hands? Not with the help of hands, but with thought, because He did not demand the sensual, without needing it: “Do I eat the flesh of oxen and drink the blood of goats?” (Ps. 49:13) “Does not demand... He himself gives to everything life and breath and everything.” Two proofs of Divinity, namely: that God needs nothing and gives everything to everyone. But here Paul also shows that God is not the father, but the Creator of the soul. "Having appointed predetermined times". He appointed that they “seek God,” but not forever, but for “predetermined times.” Paul shows that even though they did not find the Lord, they found Him. And since, looking for Him, they did not find it, he also shows that the Lord is as obvious as some object viewed in a prominent place, because it is impossible for heaven to be here and not be in another place; It is also impossible for it to exist at this time and not at another. So, at any time and in any place one can find the Lord. God has arranged it in such a way that we do not encounter obstacles in this either from place or from time. The fact that heaven is everywhere and is established (predetermined) for all times had a particularly strong effect on the listeners. The Lord is so close to us, says the apostle, that it is impossible to live without Him. “In Him we live and move and have our being.” The closeness of the Lord is proved through a sensory example: it is impossible, he says, not to know that the air is spread everywhere and is not only near each of us, but also in ourselves. The fact that we have received life from God, that we act and do not perish—all this is called God’s providence and care for us. "As some of your poets have said". One sage, Aratus, said about Zeus: “Our race is from him.” And the apostle says about the Creator: “We are His ... race,” - not claiming that the Creator and Zeus are one and the same thing - let it not be! - but applying this expression actually to the Creator, just as he called the altar the altar of Him (the Creator), and not the one whom the Athenians honored. He called us the race of God, that is, the closest relatives, since God deigned to be born from our race on earth. He did not say: “you must not” “think that the Divine is like gold or silver or stone,” but he used a more humble turn of phrase: “we ... must not.” Notice how he introduced a supersensible object into his speech, because with the idea of ​​the body we also connect the idea of ​​distance. Acts 17:30–34. So, leaving behind the times of ignorance, God now commands people everywhere to repent. For He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed, giving proof to all by raising Him from the dead. When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said: We will listen to you about this at another time. So Paul went out from among them. Some men, having approached him, believed; among them was Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damar, and others with them. He does not mean the dead when he says times of “ignorance,” but those to whom he preached. He also does not say: “You voluntarily committed an atrocity,” but “You did not know.” So, he announces this to his listeners, not demanding that they be punished as worthy of punishment, but calling them to repentance. “For He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.” Without fail, he says, he will judge for all deeds and thoughts through the “Husband,” Whom he determined to be the Judge of the living and the dead. This is the Lord made man. Having heard the great and lofty truth, they did not say a word to Paul, but they ridiculed the resurrection: “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:14). “So Paul went out from among them.” How? Convincing some, and ridiculing others. “Some men, having come to him, believed; between them was Dionysius the Areopagite." The trial seat was located on Mars Hill, outside the city. The Areopagites sorted out all grievances and all crimes. Therefore, Paul, as a preacher of foreign gods, is drawn into the assembly of the Areopagus; but one of the then members of the Areopagus, the divine Dionysius, rightfully cast his vote for the truth and, bowing to the foolish solemn assembly of the Areopagites, was rewarded with enlightenment by the light of truth. Although Greece was at that time under the rule of the Romans, they granted autonomy to Athens and Lacedaemon. Therefore, the positions of judges in Athens were occupied by Areopagites. The doctrine of salvation is communicated to Dionysius through Paul, and he is guided, like a student by a teacher, by the great Hierotheus. You might be interested in: