Paul and His Lesson At Athens
In First Corinthians, chapter two, Paul says,
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Paul makes a point of stating that when he first came to Corinth, declaring the testimony of God, he did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom. He determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Determined, here has the idea of sitting down and coming to a definite decision. Why did Paul feel the need to come to such a decision? Did he not already come to this decision earlier in his missionary efforts?
He also states that when he was with them, he was with them in weakness, in fear and in much trembling. This sounds like Paul was in a very disturbed state, when he arrived at Corinth. What could have upset him so and caused him such weakness, fear and trembling? The weakness here refers to physical weakness, fear speaks to the fear of failing in an assigned task, and trembling is the Greek word, ‘tromos’, from which we get our word, trauma. What had traumatized Paul to such a degree that he was physically, emotionally and spiritually a wreak?
Where did Paul come from before he came to Corinth? Paul came to Corinth from Athens. Did something happen in Athens that could have caused him such grief? It appears so. Acts 17 holds the answer to this.
In Acts 17, we have the account of Paul at Mar’s Hill, where he attempted to proclaim the Gospel to the Greek philosophers. We must understand that in that day, Mar’s Hill in Athens was the Superbowl of Philosophers. If you could make an impression at Mar’s Hill, you were well on your way to becoming a philosophical superstar and in consequence, your teachings could be carried throughout the world.
When we look at Paul’s speech at Athens, we are automatically struck with one obvious fact. This speech of Paul, is not the Paul we see in his letters or in his other messages. It is apparent that Paul is attempting to frame the Gospel message in words of men’s wisdom.
Here is his speech in full.
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, 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.
19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
22 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.
23 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.
24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33 So Paul departed from among them.
34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Notice there is nothing distinctively “Christian” about his speech, and that in his speech,
- He doesn’t quote Scripture, but quotes one of the pagan poets.
- He doesn’t mention the name of Jesus, but refers to him as “that man.”
- The cross is not mentioned or hinted at.
Paul is attempting to frame the Gospel in the words of Greek Philosophy. He is trying to make the Gospel “relevant”. At Athens, Paul fails miserably.
There is no Church established, at that time. He could only claim a few converts, two mentioned by name, along with a few nameless others.
I believe this completely devastated Paul. You can understand Paul wanting to make an impression in this circumstance. However, his attempt to preach the Gospel with excellency of speech or of wisdom, had gained nothing for the Kingdom of God.
I believe this Athens Event, traumatized Paul to the core of his being. But it also taught Paul an invaluable growth lesson. He had made a mistake that he was determined never to repeat again. So when he left Athens, he sat himself down and made a decision. From that point on, he would know nothing but Christ and him crucified.
Paul tells them that when he was with them,
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
We can see where Paul begins to establish this determination in the letter to the Corinthians. In chapter one, he says,
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
This “foolishness of preaching” is not the act of preaching itself, but refers to the thing preached, i.e., the message of the cross. Indeed the message of the cross is foolishness, or literally, moronic. Do you disagree?
Isn’t it foolish to think that a Jewish carpenter who was crucified as a common criminal, has anything to do or could have any effect on my relationship with the Divine? To the Greeks, in their philosophical minds, this was a moronic message. To the Jews, in their self-righteous, works-based attitude, this was a stumblingblock. However, Paul knew that contained in this message, was The Power of God unto Salvation.
While in Corinth, and with the memory of Athens still fresh in his mind, Paul writes to the Romans,
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
If the philosophers had laid hold of the message of Paul as given on Mar’s Hill, they would have turned the Gospel into a philosophical tenet, and produced philosophizing disciples, more than there already are today.
If the self-righteous Jews, who went about to establish their own righteousness, had laid hold of this message, they would have turned the Gospel into a works-based methodology, more than we have today.
Paul, through this event, came to understand the importance of the pure message of The Cross. That in the message of the Cross, the Power of God to save from sin and death was embedded.
He was painfully made aware that it is only by preaching the foolish message of the Cross, that men can be truly saved and only to this message can men respond in the appropriate manner, by faith. It is only by Faith in the Message of the Cross that men, Jew or Gentile, can be saved from their sins.
It is only through the Cross that we can find Life and have it more abundantly.
This is the lesson that Paul learned on Mar’s Hill in Athens and that he carried with him the rest of the days of his life.
This is the Lesson that EVERY GOSPEL TEACHER AND PREACHER SHOULD HEED. It is only by the Preaching of the Cross, that the Kingdom of God is advanced and that men's souls are saved from an eternity of death.
Larry Wishon