Institute for Creation Research

Acts 17:1

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

2

And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and ° three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

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Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

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And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

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But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

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And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

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Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

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And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

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And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.

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And the brethren immediately sent away ° Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

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These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. °

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Therefore ° many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

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But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.

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And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but ° Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

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And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

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Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

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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.

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And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

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For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. °

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(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.) °

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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.

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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.

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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;

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Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

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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;

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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:

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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.

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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.

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And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

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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.

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And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

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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.

Acts 17:2

17:2 reasoned with them. Paul was surely one of the most effective witnesses for the Lord who ever lived, so his “manner” of witnessing is highly instructive. His manner in the Thessalonian synagogue is said to have been typical, “[reasoning] with them out of the Scriptures.” This is more, however, than just reading or quoting a set of proof-texts. Such reasoning requires logical argumentation, graciously presented, based on thorough study of the Word (I Peter 3:15; II Timothy 2:15; Colossians 4:6). This was all in the context, also, of full belief in the divine authority of the Scriptures, on the part of both speakers and hearers. The audience in the synagogue already believed in God the Creator and in the absolute truth of Scripture, so Paul could proceed from that foundation.

Acts 17:3

17:3 from the dead. Since the congregation in the synagogue already believed the Scriptures, Paul could proceed to use the Scriptures to prove that the promised Messiah must die and rise again, and then that Jesus was, indeed, the promised Messiah, using the strong evidence of fulfilled prophecy and the historical bodily resurrection. This can be a general pattern for leading to Christ those people who already believe in the God of creation and His inspired word. For those who are hostile or skeptical, however, a different approach is needed. The two recorded cases when Paul preached to pagans indicate this. See notes on Acts 14:8-18 and Acts 17:15-34.

Acts 17:11

17:11 searched the scriptures daily. The new Christians at Berea provide the “noble” example for all new converts. Even those who nominally believe the Bible, such as those at Thessalonica, urgently need to study it daily for themselves, not simply relying on the expositions of a pastor or Bible teacher, no matter how capable he may be.

Acts 17:18

17:18 philosophers. This is one of the only two specific references in the Bible to “philosophy,” the other being Colossians 2:8. Both have strongly negative emphases, warning against philosophy—that is, the love of human wisdom.

Acts 17:18

17:18 Stoicks. Like all other Greek and Roman philosophies of the day, Epicureanism and Stoicism were based on an evolutionary worldview. The Epicureans were essentially atheists, like modern Darwinists, whereas the Stoics were pantheists, much like modern New Age evolutionists. Both believed in an infinitely old space/time/matter universe, and both rejected the concept of an omnipotent transcendent Creator. On the popular level, both were expressed in terms of polytheism, astrology and spiritism, with the many gods and goddesses essentially being personifications of natural forces and systems. Both would naturally be strongly opposed to Biblical creationist Christianity.

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