Acts 17:22-34·~1 min

Paul’s Address in the Areopagus

Paul tells the Athenians that he sees they are very religious and begins from an altar to an unknown god in order to proclaim the Creator they do not yet know. He says this God made the world, gives life and breath to all, governs the nations and their boundaries so they might seek him, and is not like an image of gold, silver, or stone shaped by human imagination.

T²²hen Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands. ²⁵Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ²⁸‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ ²⁹Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.

Paul says God overlooked earlier times of ignorance but now commands all people everywhere to repent. He has fixed a day to judge the world in justice by the man he has appointed and has given proof of this by raising him from the dead.

³⁰Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”

When the Athenians hear of resurrection, some mock while others say they want to hear more. Paul departs, but some join him and believe, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.” ³³At that, Paul left the Areopagus. ³⁴But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.

Section summaryStanding in the Areopagus, Paul begins from an altar to an unknown god and proclaims the Creator who made the world, gives life to all, and is not confined to temples or human craft. He says God has ordered human history so people might seek him, commands all people everywhere to repent, and has fixed a day of just judgment by the man he raised from the dead, a message that divides the hearers into mockery, delay, and belief.

Role in the chapterThis closing movement shows Paul's proclamation translated into the language of Athens without losing its center. Creation, providence, repentance, resurrection, and judgment are gathered into one speech that still demands response.