“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you” – Acts 17:22-23
I always find this portion of scripture very interesting, and very profound. To give you a little background on the story, here is how it goes. Paul the apostle was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timotheus. Athens was at that time a part of the Greek kingdom. And we all know that the Greeks, even from days gone by, were men renowned for their earthly wisdom and philosophies. They were the ones responsible for most of the mathematical and scientific discoveries at that time, and even before. Greece is known for scientists like Archimedes, the famous Pythagoras of the mathematical Pythagoras theorem, Aristotle and many others. These are men who influenced the Greek kingdom and culture with their scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas. It is now wonder then, that at the time Paul was at Athens, for him to preach Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead, it would have sounded very foolish to these Greek fellows. The following is the biblical account of this predicament
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoiks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.” – Acts 17:18 – 20.
I think now you have a pretty good picture of what was going on.
The whole point of this discussion is, we notice that there are a few categories of people mentioned above with the following characteristics:
Those who are superstitious and have belief in the supernatural. These are those who have a belief that somehow life cannot just be plain as it is, and there must be some higher power somewhere governing things.
Those who are worshippers of certain gods
Those who are philosophers and who believe they know everything and can explain everything that happens in life by their logic, and reasoning, and.
Beyond the scriptures, as we mentioned in the history of the Greeks, there are scientists and those that prefer scientific proof and want everything to be explained in terms of what can be proven by mathematical formulas and experimental proof, using scientific methods.
All the people described above have one thing in common. THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, AND THE TRUE GOD WHO CREATED ALL THINGS IN EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.
Some people are like that today, even in our own culture. Some try to use reasoning to justify why they don’t believe in God. Some insist on scientific proof and don’t believe in any of these things. These are the scientific kind and the philosophical kind. All they know and believe is what man has proven to them scientifically. What they haven’t proven, they create philosophical reasons of why they don’t believe in God.
And then there those who are the superstitious type. These are those who believe in the supernatural. They believe in a ‘SUPREME BEING’ or a ‘god’ who is ultimately responsible for all things in life. Some have gone searching for this ‘god’ in certain places. Some have found themselves worshipping ‘their gods’ in their bid to be in fellowship by the ‘higher power(s)’.
But in all these things, one thing that I know for sure is that in every man there is a foreknowledge of God. Every man knows deep in his spirit that there is a God. He might not be able to explain it, but there is a part of a man that ‘knows’ there is a CREATOR.
It is that part of man that led the Greeks in Paul’s day to write the inscription ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD’. They figured that they might know all gods and all scientific knowledge, but JUST IN CASE they had missed out one of them (perhaps even the most important of them) they wrote a devotion to the UNKNOWN GOD.
However, the bible clearly lets us know that every man ‘knows’ about God, even though no one has preached Jesus to him, or God to him. The bible says
“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: ” – Romans 1:19,20
The bible lets us know that God himself has shown himself to all men, through the things that are made, through the things that exist. We can all see the sky, the rainbow, the seas, the great mountains, the great places, the animals, and all that is in the earth. Through the natural things we clearly see the works of God. And so the bible says we have no excuse because that which may be known of God has been shown us.
But then some people said, “We do in believe in God. But we also believe other are other gods to whom we can worship…”. Well, the bible says
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” – 1 Corinthians 8:6
Some others said, “Yeah! We believe in one God alright. But we also believe that every man can get to God in his own way. So I can worship him the way I want, I can find my own way to him”.
Well, the bible also says
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” – John 14:6
Note the definite articles in this verse. Jesus didn’t say I am ‘a way’, because many other religious leaders claim to be another way to God. Jesus said I am THE WAY. It’s a definite article. He said THE WAY and not A WAY.
Do not be deceived. False Religion will not get you anywhere. Even the great Buddha, when he was on his deathbed said, ‘I have not yet found the way. But we can find the way together. Let us find the way together’. See that? Even the great Buddha was not so sure about his own gospel.
For today, this is enough…
Don’t hate the messenger. Hate the message…
I always find this portion of scripture very interesting, and very profound. To give you a little background on the story, here is how it goes. Paul the apostle was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timotheus. Athens was at that time a part of the Greek kingdom. And we all know that the Greeks, even from days gone by, were men renowned for their earthly wisdom and philosophies. They were the ones responsible for most of the mathematical and scientific discoveries at that time, and even before. Greece is known for scientists like Archimedes, the famous Pythagoras of the mathematical Pythagoras theorem, Aristotle and many others. These are men who influenced the Greek kingdom and culture with their scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas. It is now wonder then, that at the time Paul was at Athens, for him to preach Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead, it would have sounded very foolish to these Greek fellows. The following is the biblical account of this predicament
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoiks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.” – Acts 17:18 – 20.
I think now you have a pretty good picture of what was going on.
The whole point of this discussion is, we notice that there are a few categories of people mentioned above with the following characteristics:
Those who are superstitious and have belief in the supernatural. These are those who have a belief that somehow life cannot just be plain as it is, and there must be some higher power somewhere governing things.
Those who are worshippers of certain gods
Those who are philosophers and who believe they know everything and can explain everything that happens in life by their logic, and reasoning, and.
Beyond the scriptures, as we mentioned in the history of the Greeks, there are scientists and those that prefer scientific proof and want everything to be explained in terms of what can be proven by mathematical formulas and experimental proof, using scientific methods.
All the people described above have one thing in common. THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, AND THE TRUE GOD WHO CREATED ALL THINGS IN EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.
Some people are like that today, even in our own culture. Some try to use reasoning to justify why they don’t believe in God. Some insist on scientific proof and don’t believe in any of these things. These are the scientific kind and the philosophical kind. All they know and believe is what man has proven to them scientifically. What they haven’t proven, they create philosophical reasons of why they don’t believe in God.
And then there those who are the superstitious type. These are those who believe in the supernatural. They believe in a ‘SUPREME BEING’ or a ‘god’ who is ultimately responsible for all things in life. Some have gone searching for this ‘god’ in certain places. Some have found themselves worshipping ‘their gods’ in their bid to be in fellowship by the ‘higher power(s)’.
But in all these things, one thing that I know for sure is that in every man there is a foreknowledge of God. Every man knows deep in his spirit that there is a God. He might not be able to explain it, but there is a part of a man that ‘knows’ there is a CREATOR.
It is that part of man that led the Greeks in Paul’s day to write the inscription ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD’. They figured that they might know all gods and all scientific knowledge, but JUST IN CASE they had missed out one of them (perhaps even the most important of them) they wrote a devotion to the UNKNOWN GOD.
However, the bible clearly lets us know that every man ‘knows’ about God, even though no one has preached Jesus to him, or God to him. The bible says
“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: ” – Romans 1:19,20
The bible lets us know that God himself has shown himself to all men, through the things that are made, through the things that exist. We can all see the sky, the rainbow, the seas, the great mountains, the great places, the animals, and all that is in the earth. Through the natural things we clearly see the works of God. And so the bible says we have no excuse because that which may be known of God has been shown us.
But then some people said, “We do in believe in God. But we also believe other are other gods to whom we can worship…”. Well, the bible says
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” – 1 Corinthians 8:6
Some others said, “Yeah! We believe in one God alright. But we also believe that every man can get to God in his own way. So I can worship him the way I want, I can find my own way to him”.
Well, the bible also says
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” – John 14:6
Note the definite articles in this verse. Jesus didn’t say I am ‘a way’, because many other religious leaders claim to be another way to God. Jesus said I am THE WAY. It’s a definite article. He said THE WAY and not A WAY.
Do not be deceived. False Religion will not get you anywhere. Even the great Buddha, when he was on his deathbed said, ‘I have not yet found the way. But we can find the way together. Let us find the way together’. See that? Even the great Buddha was not so sure about his own gospel.
For today, this is enough…
Don’t hate the messenger. Hate the message…
