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TheAreopagus sermon refers to a sermon delivered by theApostle Paul inAthens, at theAreopagus, and recounted inActs 17:16–34.[1][2] The Areopagus sermon is the most dramatic and most fully-reported speech of the missionary career of Saint Paul and followed a shorter address inLystra recorded inActs 14:15–17.[3]
Paul had encountered conflict as a result of his preaching inThessalonica andBerea in northernGreece and had been carried to Athens as a place of safety. According to theActs of the Apostles, while he was waiting for his companionsSilas andTimothy to arrive, Paul was distressed to see Athens full of idols. CommentatorJohn Gill remarked:
So Paul went to thesynagogue and theAgora (Greek:ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, "in the marketplace") on a number of occasions ('daily'),[5] to preach about theResurrection of Jesus.
His novel expositions were met with confusion and wonder by someEpicureans andStoics, as well as other Greeks of philosophical inclinations. They then took him to a meeting at the Areopagus, the high court in Athens, to explain himself. The Areopagus literally meant therock ofAres in the city and was a center of temples, cultural facilities, and a high court. It is conjectured by Robert Paul Seesengood that it may have been illegal to preach a foreigndeity in Athens, which would have thereby made Paul's sermon a combination of a "guest lecture" and a trial.[6]
The sermon addresses five main issues:[3]
This sermon illustrates the beginnings of the attempts to explain the nature of Christ and an early step on the path that led to the development ofChristology.[1]
Paul begins his address by emphasizing the need to know God, rather than worshiping theunknown:
"As I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship — and this is what I am going to proclaim to you."
In his sermon, Paul quotes from certain Greek philosophers and poets, namely inverse 17:28. He alludes to passages fromEpimenides[7] and from eitherAratus orCleanthes.
From Aratus (a poet educated in theStoic philosophy) he borrowed his poemPhaenomena 5 and compared it with Acts 17:28, stating that indeed humans are the offspring ofZeus (theCreator according to theStoics and other philosophical schools) but in order for humans to know him in a personal relationship, they must first follow the teachings of his son, theLogos incarnated,Jesus Christ.[8]
From Zeus let us begin; him do we mortals never leave unnamed; full of Zeus are all the streets and all the market-places of men; full is the sea and the havens thereof; always we all have need of Zeus.For we are also his offspring; and he in his kindness unto men giveth favourable signs and wakeneth the people to work, reminding them of livelihood. He tells what time the soil is best for the labour of the ox and for the mattock, and what time the seasons are favourable both for the planting of trees and for casting all manner of seeds. For himself it was who set the signs in heaven, and marked out the constellations, and for the year devised what stars chiefly should give to men right signs of the seasons, to the end that all things might grow unfailingly. Wherefore him do men ever worship first and last. Hail, O Father, mighty marvel, mighty blessing unto men. Hail to thee and to the Elder Race! Hail, ye Muses, right kindly, every one! But for me, too, in answer to my prayer direct all my lay, even as is meet, to tell the stars.
Paul then explained concepts such as theresurrection of the dead andsalvation, in effect a prelude to the future discussions of Christology.
After the sermon a number of people became followers of Paul. These included a woman namedDamaris, andDionysius, a member of the Areopagus (not to be confused withPseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite orSaint Denis, the first Bishop of Paris).
Τύμβον ἐτεκτήναντο σέθεν, κύδιστε μέγιστε, |
They fashioned a tomb for you [Oh Zeus], holy and high one, |