Some of the brothers accompanied Paul from Berea to Athens. There he was left alone. He did not enter this city according to his own design or intention. God himself had led him there to wrestle with Greek philosophy. There, in the great Greek city, Paul waited for Timothy and Silas. Together, through service and mutual prayers, they would hope to overcome the prideful spirits in this famous capital.
The honorable apostle of the Gentiles, however, could not just sit, waiting with his arms folded. Walking in the city he became greatly upset and deeply moved when he noticed how full of idols the marble temples were. The Jews had overcome the worship of gods. But here, in Athens, they stood anew. Paul painfully and immediately realized that idolatry and syncretism were the reason for the lack of correct, sincere faith in this great city.
The Athenians did not consider faith to be either a fundamental truth or an essential element. They did not take hold of the truth of inspiration. Instead, they elevated their minds above all other principles. Every teaching and every concept was analyzed by way of their philosophies. In view of this horrible fact, Paul strove against the gods of vanities, which were the motivation and reason behind these atheistic philosophies. He endeavored to turn the Athenians from the service of idols to the service of the true and living God.
Intellect, cognizance and thinking are undoubtedly divine gifts, but where man lives removed from and without his Lord, every human notion becomes perverse, corrupt, and wicked. Thinkers soon become proud and self-conceited. They cannot apprehend God with their minds, and, therefore, in spite of their genius, fall blindly into foolishness. Their irreverence for the living God and the many superstitions about semi- gods and unclean spirits led human beings to deify man. He who does not know God makes himself a god, the center of the universe and measure of all.
Paul grew angry at the unbelief of the Athenians, especially because they worshiped many gods. This anger was to become a great blessing, and was used to introduce the hour of grace for Europe. The apostle of Christ, for the glory of God, was treating the sick body of Europe. He was introducing the living Christ, the only hope, to the Gentiles. Paul’s indignation toward atheistic arts, religions, and philosophies was the reason Europe became opened to this evangelical missionary.
In accordance with his custom, Paul went into the synagogue of the Jews, where he met with people who honored God. But we do not read that any of the Jews or godly Gentiles accepted Christ. All the inhabitants of this city were used to making a theoretical game out of faith. Even in the synagogue of the Jews they conversed about different philosophical opinions, rather than submitting themselves to the true revelation of God.
Following this meeting, the apostle went out into the streets and began preaching by the roads and public squares. In Athens everyone could say what he wished. Speaking and writing became cheap and demeaning. Everyone supposed himself to be a minor philosopher. Paul, in his wisdom, did not present the gospel to the Athenians through preaching. Instead, using the Socratic method of inquiry, he hoped to speak to the disciples of thought using the same method they were accustomed to.
After a while some of those who supposed themselves to be philosophers humbled themselves, and asked for a debate with the Jewish wanderer. The Epicureans were existentialists, who regarded the purpose of human life as the attainment of pleasure. They considered all other thought to be dreams and imagination. The Stoics sought to overcome the carnal mind. Through the development of virtues and self-control they hoped to be delivered from the bondage of impure motives. Neither the existentialists nor the idealists understood Paul’s message, and they called him a “babbler”. The Greek word for this term means “seed-picker”, as if the one speaking possessed in himself no system of thought, but instead, retailed odds and ends of knowledge he had picked up from others. As such, they reasoned, he was unable to bring together any synthesis of uniform mental thought. He scattered ideas disorderly, unable to digest them, like seeds in the craw of a hen.
Some of them heard Paul say that Jesus is the Lord of Glory, and that His resurrection is a token of our future. They wanted to hear more about these subjects in a logical way, to be able to critically analyze and judge his principles. Thus they would be able to either mock him or receive him into the inner circle of thinkers. But not one of the hearers thought himself to be in pressing need of God, nor did a single one of them repent or show an understanding of his sins. Their principle thought lay in amusing themselves and delighting their ears. They wanted to find something uncommon, which they might later mention in their books. At the least they wanted to find something to help them persist in their criticism and laughing at this poor man.
It is probable that observers from within the cultural circles participated in this debate, for they took Paul and brought him before the city council. Thoughts, doctrines, and principles could there be judged in order to show whether a strange spirit had entered their country, something which might disturb the harmony of the many spirits in Athens. With a false kindness they asked him to expound upon the doctrine and principles of his philosophy.
Their hearts did not seek God, and their minds were not hungry for righteousness. They only thought of submitting Paul’s thoughts to the rules of the game their principles followed. Not one of them believed that it was possible to know the truth rightfully. For them God was hidden. Their thoughts were filled with lust and adultery. They fell captive to every bright, intellectual thought. They were open to every attractive doctrine, and their philosophy placed stress only on egoism. Each one of these impoverished thinkers wanted to show his self-deluded genius. They did not know that God is the only great one, and that before Him man is unprofitable and nothing. It should be mentioned, however, that one of their wise men actually recognized his blindness, and confessed pessimistically: “I know that I know nothing.” In fact he did not know God, and consequently he did not know himself. He was a blind leader of the blind.