Actes 17:22-24, Deutéronome 32:6-8 BDS

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:24

Verse 24− 24.God, who hath made the world. Paul’s drift is to teach what God is. Furthermore, because he hath to deal with profane men, he draweth proofs from nature itself; for in vain should he have cited − (291) testimonies of Scripture. I said that this was the holy man’s purpose, to bring the men of Athens unto the true God. For they were persuaded that there was some divinity; only their preposterous religion was to be reformed. Whence we gather, that the world doth go astray through... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:16-34

The cross of Christ in the metropolis of art and philosophy. There is a singular interest in this first encounter of the gospel with the art and philosophy of Athens, and it is instructive to note the attitude taken by the great preacher in the encounter. Whether St. Paul had artistic taste we have no means of knowing. But probably, as a devout Jew, seeing that sculpture was so largely employed in the images of the gods and the deified emperors, his eye would not have been trained to look... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:16-34

Paul at Athens. Paul stands in Athens, amidst the master-pieces of Greek art and the memorials of Greek wisdom. It is not admiration or aesthetic delight which is awakened in him, but moral indignation. Christianity is not opposed to art; but Christianity does not approve the worship of sensuous or ideal beauty apart from moral earnestness. In the true relation, religion absorbs art into itself; when art is substituted for religion, there is moral decay. Nor is Christianity hostile to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:16-34

Paul at Athens. Consider— I. The connection of the whole with THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY . The Greek mind evangelized. The function of Greek thought in the development of doctrine. The contrast between the gospel and philosophy. The step towards the conquest of the world. II. The illustration of THE APOSTOLIC METHOD . Adaptation of the truth to every class of mind. Difference of the preaching when the foundation of the Jewish Scriptures was for the time forsaken.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:22

And for then, A.V. ; the Areopagus for Mars ' hill, A.V.; in all things I perceive that for I perceive that in all things, A.V.; somewhat for too, A.V. In the midst is simply a local description. He stood in the midst of the excavated quadrangle, while his hearers probably sat on the scats all round. Ye men of Athena . The Demosthenes of the Church uses the identical address— ἄνδρες ἀθηναῖοι — which the great orator used in his stirring political speeches to the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:22-29

God revealed: his nature and relation. Paul's spirit was "stirred" with holy indignation, and with pure and strong compassion, as he witnessed the abounding signs of superstition in the streets of Athens. But he had the wisdom to begin his address to these "men of Athens" by an expression which they would take to be complimentary. He told them that he perceived they were abundantly religious. He did not conclude this from witnessing their numerous divinities, but from the inscription he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

Passed along for passed by, A.V.; observed the objects of your worship for beheld your devotions, A.V. ( τὰ σεβάσματα υμῶν : see 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ); also an altar for an altar, A.V.; an for the, A.V.; what for whom, A.V. and T.R.; worship in ignorance for ignorantly worship, A.V.; this for him, A.V. and T.R.; set forth for declare, A.V. AN UNKNOWN GOD . There is no direct and explicit testimony in ancient writers to the existence of any one such... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

The worship of faith. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Christianity aggressive. Insufficiency of all forms of religion apart from true knowledge. The true philanthropy of the missionary spirit. I. THE WORLD 'S IGNORANCE OF GOD INCONSISTENT WITH ACCEPTABLE WORSHIP OF HIM . 1. Athens the representation of the moral helplessness of men without revelation. Knowledge which is ignorance. 2. The practical view of the Divine... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

"The unknown God." For description of the statues and altars to various divinities with which Athens was crowded, see Conybeare and Howson, 'Life and Epistles of St. Paul,' vol. 1. pp. 415-417. "Roman satirists say, ' It was easier to find a god in Athens than a man.' Athenian religion ministered to art and amusement, and was entirely destitute of moral power. Taste and excitement alone were gratified. A religion which addresses itself only to the taste is as weak as one that appeals only... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

Athenian religion. "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." The materials for an introduction are found in the following suggestive passage from F.D. Maurice:—"This language assumed that the Athenians were in search of God; that they were ignorantly worshipping him; that they had a sense of his being a Father; that they wanted some one living human image of him, to supplant those images of him which they had made for themselves This teaching was adapted to all that... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:24

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:16-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:16-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:16-34

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:22

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:22-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 17:23

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