Paul Connecting with Culture

Above is the Areopagus where Paul delivered his famous sermon to the philosophers of Athens, narrated in Acts 17:22-31.  (We wondered whether Luke's account came from Dionysius the Areopagite who would have been there).

Paul's sermon was a masterpiece of cultural engagement.  Rather than railing against the idolatry which he had witnessed as he went around the city, Paul sought to be build cultural bridges with his audience.  First, he took time to look around the city so he knew what he was talking about; he says that he 'looked carefully' at the Athenians' objects of worship.  He was therefore able to say that he could see that the Athenians were 'very religious'. 

Second, Paul sought to ring cultural bells by referring to an inscription he had seen and quoting one of the ancient poets; Paul was trying to speak to the Athenians in a language they would understand.  The inscription read 'To An Unknown God'; Paul's response was 'now what you worship as unknown I am going to proclaim to you.'

Third, Paul sought to find common cultural ground between the Greeks and the gospel through an exploration of what it meant to be God's offspring;  Paul was able to say he agreed with the Greeks that we are God's offspring, but that does not mean that God lives in objects of stone.

Fourth, Paul ended his sermon by proclaiming the person of Christ and his resurrection.  He did not try and win a philosophical argument with the Athenians; instead ultimately he spoke of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and how this proved that Jesus was from God.  His aim was not to win an argument but present Christ.

So as model of cultural engagement it was a masterpiece.  Paul showed that he could adapt his message to the context in which he was speaking; he built bridges with his listeners.  He could easily have walked away horrified by the idolatry he saw in Athens; instead he got stuck in there and sought to engage others with the gospel.  That involved recognising the good things and truth in the culture around him; but it also meant presenting Jesus Christ, the only man raised from the dead.

In a changing culture we thought about what we could learn from Paul's model in Athens; the temptation is to look in horror at things we don't like, but Paul showed a different way.

As we sang Thine Be The Glory at the place where Paul preached the resurrection we thanked God for Paul, his bravery to speak as one man in the shadow of the Parthenon and his faith in the risen Jesus Christ.