Ashamed of the Gospel () by John MacArthur

Author:John MacArthur
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Crossway

Paul Was Polite but Confrontive

“Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious’” (v. 22). The King James Version translates that last phrase, “I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.” About that translation, Spurgeon said,

He did not say, “Too superstitious,” as our version has it, that would have needlessly provoked them at the outset. He went on to say, “. . . What, therefore, ye worship without knowing it, that I announce unto you.” He did not say, “Whom ye ignorantly worship.” He was far too prudent to use such an expression. They were a collection of thoughtful men, of cultured minds, and he aimed at winning them by courteously declaring to them the gospel.3

As we have noted, there is a legitimate sense in which the apostle matched his style to the people he was trying to win. To the Jews he became Jewish. In Athens he became Greek. He spoke to these men with great respect for their position. He addressed them as deferentially as if he were a citizen of the city they presided over.

“As I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (v. 23). Note the tact with which Paul confronts them. Having noticed the altar to an unknown god, Paul used that to make the very powerful point that their religion was unable to give them certain knowledge of any god, much less the true God. He gently implied that the existence of such an altar was a plain admission that they did not know the truth about God at all. He clearly regarded the inscription on the altar as their own testimony of spiritual ignorance.

Paul framed his message in terminology that was diplomatic, courte­ous, friendly (“I perceive that in every way you are very religious”)—yet he got right to the point (“What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you”). Boldly, he immediately established that he was going to declare the truth about God they did not know. No careful posturing, no guarded rhetoric—he just came out with it. That dogmatic approach was no more typical in the Areopagus court than it is today. In fact, it may have been something of a shock to these men who represented the most elite minds of Athens. But Paul did not ease off, lose confidence, or try to soften the authority of the gospel. He spoke with as much boldness as he would have anywhere.

What was this altar to an unknown god? Actually, there were many of these in Athens. Six hundred years before Paul’s time, Athens had been stricken with a terrible plague. Hundreds were ill and dying, and the city grew desperate. A famous poet from Crete named Epimenides devised a plan to pacify whatever gods were causing the plague. He went to the Areopagus and turned loose a flock of sheep.

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