Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that loves Thanksgiving because it’s the one day you can blame your food coma on gratitude.
To all of you in the USA, a very happy Thanksgiving. I’m thankful to the Lord for family, friends, co-laborers in ministry, and for all of you who continue to read these articles each week.
Mrs. V. and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving with my dear mother. Next to my sainted wife, my mom (or “Ma'” as Italian sons like myself call our mothers) is the best cook on the planet. Full Italian and armed with the greatest recipes known to humankind. Okay, I’m biased. A little.
I’ve dedicated my upcoming book to my mother, which brings me to today’s article.
As promised in previous articles, what follows is a short excerpt from the upcoming book, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded, due to release March 2025. Again, please do NOT pre-order the book. Wait until release week. We have some great bonuses for everyone who orders it during release week. Plus Amazon sometimes loses pre-orders. This happened with some of my other books.
I’ve never worked on a project so hard. The task was way above my abilities (which isn’t saying much), but I gave it my best shot. While the book is still in the final stages of proofing, I’m able to share this excerpt.
The footnotes have been removed for the purposes of sharing it with you in article form. When you get the book, you’ll see all the notes and how they support my conclusions, cite scholarly sources, and add further details to the story. So if a question arises like, “Where are you basing that statement on?,” the footnotes provide the answer. (In the book, the note numbers don’t have brackets around them as they appear here; they are small and inconspicuous.)
The excerpt picks up after Paul enters Athens. The narrative is based on Acts 17:15-34. Contained in the story is a lesson on how to proclaim the gospel to skeptics. But it also shows us that the greatest preachers in the world don’t always land a punch.
Here it is. Enjoy.
—
As the forest of idols in Athens fills Paul’s eyes, his spirit is grieved. And he is both angered and distressed.[1] He then takes note of one curious altar with the inscription: “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.”[2]
Meanwhile, the assembly in Thessalonica weighs heavy on Paul’s heart. He was prevented from completing the foundation he began to lay there and the church is under severe persecution. As a result, the apostle experiences a form of separation anxiety.[3] He desperately longs to see the young assembly, so he lifts up the believers to the Lord day and night,[4] asking God to make a way for him to revisit them. Paul makes several attempts to get back into the city,[5] but because the principalities and powers in the city have banned him and Silas, satan (who controls these powers) thwarts his efforts. The ban is still in force.
For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. (1 Thessalonians 2:18, NIV)
The apostle is frustrated and anxious about the spiritual state of the believers since he knows they are under great pressure. He is gravely concerned they will crack under the weight.[6] Knowing that the ban doesn’t apply to Timothy, he sends his apprentice back to Thessalonica to encourage the assembly and find out how it’s holding up under the persecution.[7] He sends Silas to Philippi.[8]
Paul visits the synagogue in Athens and presents Christ to the Jews and God-fearers. But he does so in dialogue form.[9] He also proclaims Jesus in the agora—the Athenian marketplace adorned with public buildings and colonnades. While he’s preaching, some of the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers engage Paul in a debate.[10] Stoics believe humans should be free from all passion, thus they suppress their affections and accept all things as the will of the gods. Epicureans believe the chief aim of life is the pursuit of mental pleasure.[11] They also teach that pain, suffering, and superstitions should be avoided.[12]
Some of the philosophers assert that Paul is a babbler—a spermologos (seed-picker or scavenger).[13] Others say he declares foreign gods. He preaches the resurrection of the dead, which is a laughable concept to the Greek mind.[14] But the Athenians wrongly assume that when Paul mentions the resurrection, he is referring to foreign gods.[15] Fascinated by his message, the philosophers bring Paul to the Areopagus (also known as Mars Hill) to share his beliefs.[16] The Areopagus is the city council—or court—that decides moral and religious matters.[17] The council meets in the Royal Colonnade in the agora,[18] located to the northwest of the acropolis.[19]
Paul is not brought there to stand trial. Instead, they ask the apostle to share his “new” teaching so they can determine its validity as a religion. (The Athenians have a passion for anything “new,” making it the talk of the town. Consequently, they are eager to hear Paul’s message.[20]) The apostle begins his talk by mentioning the altar dedicated “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.”
There is an incredible story behind this altar. Hundreds of years before, a plague fell on Athens. The Athenians believed that a certain god had cursed them. In response, they sacrificed to all the gods, but nothing worked. They concluded, therefore, that the gods refused to be appeased. So they fetched a wise man named Epimenides, a philosopher from Crete. When Epimenides came to Athens, the Athenians thought, “He will know how to appease the god we offended and deliver our city from the plague.”
Epimenides said to them, “Tomorrow at sunrise bring a flock of sheep. Bring some stonemasons and a large supply of stones. The sheep must all be healthy and have different colors, some white and some black. You must prevent them from grazing after their night’s rest. They must be hungry sheep. The next morning, release all the sheep upon this sacred slope and permit each animal to graze where it wants. Watch them closely.”
The philosopher prayed, “Dear unknown god, behold the plague. If you would have compassion and help us, behold this flock of sheep, and cause any sheep that pleases you to lie down upon the grass instead of grazing.” Within minutes, several sheep were resting on the grass.
The philosopher said, “Separate the sheep and mark the place where each sheep laid down. Let the stonemasons build altars. One altar on each animal’s resting place.”[21] The stonemasons carved “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD” on the altars, and they sacrificed each dedicated sheep upon them. By dawn the next day, the plague began to dissipate. And within a week, it was gone. The Athenians and Epimenides quickly praised the unknown God.[22]
With this story in mind, Paul tells the people of Athens, “You worship something unknown to you, and I am here to reveal who this unknown God is!”[23] Tailoring his message to the Greek mind, Paul quotes a few Greek poets.[24] He does this to show that some of the truths he proclaims already exist within Athenian culture.[25]
He then shares about Jesus, the man whom the one true God raised from the dead and appointed to be judge of the world.[26] When he starts speaking about the resurrection, however, some of the Athenians scoff and sneer at him.[27] The concept of a bodily resurrection is utter foolishness to their ears.[28] Others, however, seek to hear Paul again on the matter.
Paul will later reflect on his Athens experience when he writes these words:
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe. For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks…God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world that he might put to shame the things that are strong. God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist, that no flesh should boast before God. (1 Corinthians 1:20-23, 27-29)
Discipline, Consistency, and Impact: Part 1