Wednesday: Introducing a New God
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 6th of December 2023
Now that Paul had the attention of the thinkers in Athens, he turned his audience to the God of heaven.
Read Acts 17:24-27. What approach was Paul taking here in an attempt to reach these people?
For a people who cared enough about spiritual things to build an altar to an unknown god, Paul’s words were intriguing: a Creator God who does not live in a temple needs nothing from humans, but instead supplies human needs. For a culture steeped in Greek mythology—in which the gods were unpredictable, self-centered, and cruel—the idea of a God like the one Paul described was a wonderfully intriguing thought. And the men of the Areopagus took their first baby steps toward a God of love.
The fact is that this God, whom they did not know, could be known! Indeed, He wants to be known, as well.
Paul probably spoke longer at the Areopagus than just the few words Luke shared in this story. It seems reasonable for the sake of space that Luke just summarized Paul’s speech. If that is true, then each of the concepts we have read so far Paul probably fleshed out in more detail. Then we break down Paul’s speech into concepts:
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Paul first complimented their current spiritual awareness and sincerity.
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Next he showed that he had studied their belief and that he found some things that he respected from what he had learned.
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He then told them about one particular thing that he had discovered in his study of their religion that they admitted they did not understand.
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After that, he shared the aspect of God that he knew they desperately needed, which is the fact that God exists and that He loves them and is not far away.
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Finally, at the end of his speech, Paul moved to warning them of what it means to reject the knowledge of this God they did not yet know.
Paul took them as far as he could, based on what he knew about what they believed. If he could get them that far, he was making good progress.
Notice Paul’s appeal to the created world and to God as the Creator (see also Romans 1:18-25). Why is this such a good approach to take, at least as a start, with most people? What is it about the created world that points so powerfully to God?
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One of the problems we have sometimes is that we like to win the intellectual argument. We present our listeners with an interlocking set of verses and explanations to explain our doctrine or point of view and end up with a "Therefore we are right!"
Mathematics is strong on proofs. If you got into the serious side of mathematics at school you quickly encountered proofs, usually in Geometry. I was in my second year of high school when we had to learn and understand Pythagoras's proof that the square of the hypotenuse was equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides. It even had the Latin nickname, Pons Asinorum - the bridge that stops the asses. (I will leave you to figure that one out yourselves.) Everyone knows the theorem, but how many of us can prove it?
Typically, when we successfully derived a proof in mathematics we would finish it of thw the letters QED (Quad Erat Demonstratum - Which has been proved) The mathematical statement has been proved to be correct.
Those of us who studied mathematics beyond high school eventually learned the limitations of formal proofs and have had to come to terms with the general "fuzziness" of reality.
And sometimes, we do not get that our theology is not like a formal mathematical proof. Paul presented his argument among the scholars at Areopagus like a logical argument and it did not convince everyone. Some wanted to hear more but others thought he was babbling.
Conviction does not come through argument but through living. Paul knew the importance of this. If you read his epistles, while they do indeed contain arguments, there is strong evidence of his interaction with people as he lived among them. He knew their names. He ate with them. He worked with them as a craftsman. That was where the Gospel gained real traction.
The proof of Christianity is not in its intellectual argument, but in the interactions we have with one another and especially with those who we consider "not one of us".
Paul's presentation does not look to me like a logical argument, certainly not a mathematical proof. It looks like he is introducing them to the God of heaven. In fact, that is what Paul says he is doing in verse 23. Before the Athenians could appreciate "Christ and Him crucified" they needed to know why He was crucified. As you point out, Maurice, for most people a presentation is not enough. They need to see the love and power of God lived out in the life of His followers.
To the last part of the last question in todays lesson: "What is it about the created world that pints so powerfully to God? I would say that it is "Intelligent Design." How does an ant do all that it does with such a minute body and minute "Brain," and bless the entire "Ant Colony?" How does the sun burn day after day without burning out? How do we Humans do what we do with such a better system of "Life" than "an ant," and without our own selves having nothing to do with it like our ability to think and do etc. and etc. and I could go on and on?
The intelligence not just not only in the ant. It is about the architectural nature of the
designer's foreknowledge of what he imagine and knows it to be. So the ants brain is not about his size bur about his designer God of heaven at creation.
What is your connection to this "unknown" God? Is He just a character you've heard about? Or is He a living experience to you? Is there any effort to change this "unknown" to an intimate friend status? God longs to have a daily relationship with you and me. Give Him a try!