19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
17:19
And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus [Mar’s Hill],
Some philosophers took Paul to the Areopagus, the venue where people debated new philosophies. This was also the administrative center for the city, where civic issues were decided. Areopagus means “hill of Aries,” the god of war in Greek mythology. Both civil and religious councils took place there. Thus, the Areopagus was both a hill and a court. The hill was located above the marketplace but beneath the Acropolis.
saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?
Some were intrigued by what the apostle had to say. As a Hellenistic Jew, Paul was exposed to Greek philosophy and culture. He grew up in Tarsus, a principal city of the Roman Empire. He attended the University of Tarsus, where he understood Greek culture with its gods. Paul could speak to the Athenians with an understanding of their presuppositions.
17:20
For you are bringing some strange things to our ears.
Some philosophers wanted to hear Paul because his teaching was “strange” to their thinking.
Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”
Some were anxious to hear more of what Paul had to say.
17:21
For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
Local Athenians and foreigners came to the Areopagus to listen to novel ideas and the latest emerging philosophies. Their interest was novelty, not the truth. Their interest was the pursuit of truth, not the truth itself. But these people did not need new philosophies; they needed spiritual life, life with God. It is possible for the new to miss the true.
PRINCIPLE:
People of an impersonal god are trapped in hopeless despair.
APPLICATION:
We live in a day of skepticism, where nothing is for sure. Man is an accident of the cosmos. Christianity is the belief in a personal God who desires fellowship with man and offers purpose for life.
