One of the things we sometimes misunderstand about the Greek people at the time when Paul meets them here is that not very many of them believe in that famous Olympian pantheon we learned about in school. The work of major philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates had influenced Greek theology as well as philosophy in more monotheistic -- or even atheistic -- directions. Especially among educated men like those talking with Paul, the whole list of deities was considered something that was for rubes. Even if it wasn't, those gods spent most of their time putting on disguises and chasing human women; they weren't exactly fit objects of worship.
That was the major reason behind the "unknown god" altar that Paul found. Although some people might have seen it as the catchall altar put up in order to make sure some god or another wasn't missed, for the big thinkers of the city it was the altar to what some called the "uncaused cause" or "prime mover." They believed in a divine force that had created the universe and set it into motion, but that force was completely unknowable and many philosophers also believed it was completely impersonal and uninterested in human affairs.
As you might imagine, that kind of god isn't a very useful tool in trying to figure out the questions people like to ask about life -- like what makes a good person, what gives life meaning, why are we here and so on. It's been a long time since I've read the history of first-century Greek philosophy so I don't know how exactly they were trying to grapple with this issue, but I imagine that there would have been several who would have liked a god that was a bit more interactive and open to conversation.
Does Paul know that? We can't be certain, but we do know his habit seems to be observing things a bit before he begins his work and if he has done that here in Athens he certainly knows what kinds of things the philosophers were talking about. Either way, he opens up with an idea that strikes at the root of the kinds of questions that would seem to worry people with an unknown and unknowable god.
First he tells them they're on the right track with such an idea, even if they haven't finished it out yet as it should be. If a god made the world, the idea that stone, metal or wood could in any way represent it can be ruled out. So can the idea that such a god would require the service of human efforts. Discarding the idols of the past is the right thing to do.
But if they go beyond those basic steps they will find their deeper questions answered as well. They won't just have to discard the inadequate gods -- they can find the real God. Just as they anticipated, the God who made the universe is completely other than creation, holy and almost unknowable. But unlike they believe, that God is not impersonal and has chosen to make himself known to us in his creation. Knowing we could not bridge the gap between human and divine, he chose to, in the person of his Son, a man named Jesus of Nazareth who was both fully human and fully divine.
Did Paul succeed? Well, some of the Athenians sniffed at him as a "proclaimer of foreign divinities," but some others wanted to talk with him some more later.
I think one of the messages that we can take from this when we go out into our world, right now filled with uncertainty, anxiety and a major league mess of monumental proportions, is that Jesus answers the questions people have. Yes, we joke about how the "Sunday school" answer is always "Jesus" no matter what the question is, but he's the answer to real questions of existence as well.
You and I, Christian, must learn how to answer those questions. Which means we have to listen to them and to the people asking them. I don't know that we do. I don't know that a lot of us, in Paul's place, wouldn't have mocked the multiple idols and the empty altar -- I'd like to hope I wouldn't but unless I was letting the Holy Spirit lead me I wouldn't bet on me.
And if we don't take their questions seriously, why should they take our answer seriously? I don't know what changes will happen in our nation and society as a result of all of this weirdness, but I know that people are going to come out of it with a lot of questions. Let's listen to them, let's listen to the Spirit tell us how to reach them and then let's share with them the answer we've already been given.
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