(Acts 17:16-22)
16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was
greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17So
he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing
Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who
happened to be there. 18A group of Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers began to dispute with him. 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. 19Then
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? 20You are bringing some strange ideas
to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.” 21(All
the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time
doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest
ideas.)
22Paul
then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of
Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. . . .”
(Acts 17:32-34) 32When
they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them
sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this
subject.” 33At that, Paul left the Council. 34A
few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was
Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris,
and a number of others.
