Paul had to leave Berea because troublemakers followed him from Thessalonica and tried to stir up a mob against him. He left Timothy and Silas at Berea to strengthen the believers and gave them instructions to rejoin him shortly. Then he was escorted by some of the believers to Athens, a city that has an altar to "the unknown god".
"While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols." (Acts 17:16) The Athens of Paul's day was a center of learning and culture. The beautiful architecture was a sight to behold. The statues were stunningly lovely. There is an old saying about ancient Athens that it was easier to meet an idol there than a living human being, and this is what strikes Paul to the heart as he tours the great city. Everywhere he looks there is a magnificently sculptured pagan idol. He can't walk a block without encountering an altar dedicated to a false god. He can see that these people need to know the one true God. The city square and the marketplace were areas where intellectually-minded people could meet to discuss or debate philosophy, science, and religion. Paul begins talking with the people there as well as preaching to those in the synagogues. "So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there." (Acts 17:17)
"A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him." (Acts 17:18a) The Epicureans believed that the gods created everything but that the gods had little to no interest in the doings of human beings. The Epicureans didn't believe humans and the gods could have a relationship with each other. They didn't think the gods cared about them or acted on their behalf. They also didn't believe in life after death, so their motto was similar to one we hear in our own times: "You only live once." Because they believed this life on earth was all that was granted to each human being, their philosophy was that enjoyment and pleasure should be the chief purpose of anyone's life.
The Stoics believed the gods were a part of everything. They thought the spirits of the gods dwelt in all living things, including plants and trees, and they believed after each living thing died the spirit in it returned to the gods. Their philosophy was that man must accept whatever comes his way because it is the will of the gods. They had an attitude of resignation about them, thinking there was nothing man could do to change his circumstances, feeling certain that everything was up to fate and that man had no control over his destiny in this life or his destiny in the afterlife. In our day we would refer to someone as being stoic when they show no dismay or disappointment no matter what happens to them. In modern times the word means "detached, long-suffering, unemotional, resigned, unmoved". So we see that the Epicureans were pleasure-loving folks who concentrated only on the here and now, while the Stoics were serious-minded people who believed in some sort of spiritual existence after death but didn't expect it to be a particularly satisfying existence where they could commune with the creators of all things.
Naturally these two groups would have trouble grasping the idea of a God who knows and loves every human being. The notion of a bodily resurrection is foreign to them. The thought of a God who would die to save mankind is utterly alien to them. They don't know what to make of Paul's message. "Some of them asked, 'What is this babbler trying to say?' Others remarked, 'He seems to be advocating foreign gods.' They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection." (Acts 17:18b)
"Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, 'May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.' (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)" (Acts 17:19-21) Athens prided itself on being a university town. Many philosophical schools of learning were present there. Hearing fresh news and discussing new ideas is what the citizens lived for. It's not surprising they would invite Paul into the assembly to speak, although they don't do it out of a desire to know Jesus Christ but to satisfy their desire to be "in the know" about all current events.
Paul's opening statement to them is brilliant. He meets them on common ground, on a subject they dearly love to discuss: religion. He doesn't criticize them for their rampant idolatry but instead uses it as a jumping-off point. "Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: 'People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship---and this is what I am going to proclaim to you." (Acts 17:22-23)
The Athenians were so superstitious that they feared offending gods whose existence they weren't aware of. It simply wouldn't do for a god to visit the city and not find a statue or altar in his honor, so they put up an altar and dedicated it to a god whose name they did not know. People are usually insulted when someone calls them ignorant, but when Paul calls the Athenians ignorant it's a challenge to them. They have a burning and insatiable hunger to know everything, so when Paul says they are ignorant of the unknown god they absolutely have to hear more. I bet you couldn't have paid anyone in the Areopagus to leave before hearing what Paul had to say. I think they fell so silent you could have heard a pin drop as they all fastened their eyes on him. He has their full attention and he plans to use it to proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The people of Athens have been seeking the meaning of life in knowledge or pleasure while all along the meaning of life is found in a person, a person who loved them so much He died for them even though they don't know His name. This is the God the people of Athens do not know. This is the only God, the God who created and knows and loves each of them. This is the God with whom they can finally find the personal relationship that will satisfy their souls.
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