The statues to the gods were so numerous, that Petronius, a Roman satirist, declared that it was easier to find a god than a man in Athens. The spirit of Paul was roused as never before in seeing this great city so entirely surrendered to idolatry. In the synagogue of the Jews, and daily in the market-place, and from house to house, as he could find persons to listen to him, he proclaimed the religion of Jesus. His earnestness, and the power of his eloquent words, soon arrested general attention. Some of the proud philosophers turned contemptuously from him, calling him a “babbler:” others had their curiosity excited, and wished to hear more, saying, “He seemeth to be a setter-forth of strange gods, because,” adds Luke,“he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection.”[139]
There was at Athens a renowned eminence, called Mars’ Hill, upon whose summit was reared one of the most majestic buildings of ancient or modern days, called the Acropolis. Here the court of the Areopagus, the most solemn of the Grecian courts, held its sessions. Here Paul was taken by the Athenians to expound to them his doctrine. Never had he addressed such an audience before. Apparently never before, since he became a disciple of Jesus, had he encountered an hour to be fraught with more momentous consequences. The sacred historian has given us his address, or an abstractof it, upon this occasion. In its appropriateness to the circumstances of the case, it is universally regarded as unsurpassed in the records of human eloquence:—
“Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious;[140] 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. 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; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things; 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; 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.
“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. 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. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent; 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.”[141]
The results of this address upon the minds of those who listened were various. Some of the philosophers, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, “mocked.” Many of the Jews were probably irritated at the suggestion that Jews and Gentiles were to be placed on an equality. Others, more respectful, withdrew, simply saying, “We will hear thee againof this matter.” This was probably merely a polite expression of indifference. Paul did not feel sufficiently encouraged to prolong his labors among auditors so unpromising. In the synagogue, and in the streets, Paul had been preaching to the Athenians “Jesus and the resurrection.” It was to this same theme, the burden of all his teachings, that upon Mars’ Hill he so skilfully drew the attention of his hearers.
Paul did not encounter any tumult or violence in Athens. How long he remained there cannot now be known. As to the results of his labors, we are informed that Dionysius, a member of the court of Areopagus, and a woman by the name of Damaris, with some others, became converts to Christianity.
From Athens Paul proceeded to Corinth, the commercial metropolis of Greece, and a city renowned for its wealth, its luxury, and its wickedness. Corinth was about sixty miles from Athens, in a direction very nearly west. Two of the exiled Jews, Aquila and his wife Priscilla, whom a decree of the Emperor Claudius had expelled from Rome, had taken refuge in Corinth. They cordially received Paul, and he abode with them. They were tent-makers by occupation; making tents, then in great demand, of cloth woven from goat’s-hair. Paul, who was unwilling to be burdensome to any one, met his expenses by his daily or rather nightly toil at this trade, which he had learned in his early youth. After preaching the gospel all day, we can see him in the evening diligently aiding Aquila and Priscilla in their manual labor.
Soon Silas and Timothy, coming from Thessalonica, joined Paul in Corinth. As he witnessed the great wickedness of the city, his spirit was stirred within him to an unusual degree. Earnestly he testified to the degenerate Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But the Jews would not receive Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. They reviled the preacher and his gospel. Luke writes,—
“And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads: I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”
He thus abandoned the synagogue; and it seems that it was necessary for him to leave the residence of his Jewish hosts, and to take up his abode with a Gentile by the name of Justus. This man lived near the synagogue, and, though a Greek, had renounced idolatry, and was a worshipper of the true God. Paul’s labors among the Jews had not been entirely in vain: for “Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord, with all his house;”and Paul in person baptized him.[142]