Acts 17:18–34  Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. “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 hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

The Areopagus is a prominent rock on the northwest side of the Acropolis in Athens. The word means “Hill of Ares,” the Greek messenger and god of war. The Romans called this god Mars, so it has come to be know as Mars Hill as well. It was once a place for trials, but it was also a place where philosophers and thinkers would meet together to discuss the latest ideas. That is why Paul was invited to speak there. News of his “new teaching” had reached their ears and they wanted to hear about it directly from Paul. Paul was always searching for an opening, and these guys invited him to speak to them about his beliefs.

How often do you have people ask you to tell them about your faith?  Are you prepared to do so?  Peter wrote:

1 Peter 3:15  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Paul was ready. Did he respond by telling them they had to become Jews first? Did he start with Genesis and go through to Malachi to make sure they understood the history of God dealing with man? Of course not. He met them where they were. He was looking for common ground. And he found it.

Paul spoke of them in flattering terms, describing them as being very religious, trying to cover all their bases, to the point of having an altar to an unknown God. And Paul said He knew who that God was.

Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

He goes on to tell them that this God is the true God, the creator of all things. He does not want to be unknown, but wants everyone to know who He is. He wants to be involved in our lives, for us to have a relationship with Him. He came down here to restore the broken relationship that exists because of our disobedience. He spoke of “the man he appointed,” Jesus, who paid for the sins of the world by His death, having been raised again.

Mentioning the resurrection turned some of the listeners away. Others were intrigued and wanted to hear more. And some believed.

Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

God used Paul as his instrument to lead people to faith. He will use your witness as well.

The first picture below is me sharing these devotional thoughts with our group at the bottom of the Areopagus. The second picture is a plaque on the side of the hill with Paul’s sermon from Acts 17 in Greek.