June 11, 2005
06/11 Greece Day 1 - Mars Hill
Read Acts 17:15-34 ...
Les and I had a chance to read Acts 17 from on top of Mars Hill. We discovered during our lecture that the Apostle Paul made the Greek culture the incubator for Christianity. As a result of his missionary journeys, faith in Jesus Christ was ripe for global expansion.
Paul was a master communicator and we discovered it firsthand. In his conversation at the Aeropagus (v. 22), Paul carefully crafted his opening proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ. Mars Hill is located at the base of the Parthenon and the temple of Athena. Recorded for posterity both in the actual documents of the Athens Court of Justice, and beginning in Acts 17:24, Paul said: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hand." He was offering an alternative to the gods (over a 1000) Athenians were worshipping. Because Athens was a cultural center and gateway between East and West, Paul carefully crafted v. 26: "From one man he made every nation of men ..."
As we walked around the 5th Century B.C. ruins, we heard languages spoken from all over the world. In many ways, Athens is still a cultural center and gateway to over 12 million visitors a year. And God is still the one God from whom we receive life and breath.
The words of Paul are still needed in our world today. Paul would have changed the context but not the message. Knowing the only God who can reconcile man to His creator, Jesus Christ, is the only hope of the world.
Posted by roger at June 11, 2005 04:13 PM