Acts 17:32

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. Thus Paul went out from among them.

Paul's fearless proclamation of God's absolute demand of universal repentance on the part of men, plus the reference to a final judgment in which the righteous shall be rewarded and the wicked punished, plus the additional fact that Jesus Christ will be the final judge of all who ever lived - these are considerations which must evoke awe, apprehension, and even terror when fully understood and contemplated by sinful men. There is therefore in such preaching a move to awaken fear in the hearts of sinners. As McGarvey said:

The wicked man must be made afraid to continue in sin, before the goodness of God can lead him to repentance; and the preacher of the gospel who neglects to employ the thunders of this heavenly artillery not only fails to preach according to the divine model, but he will preach a feeble gospel that can never work deep-seated repentance.[45]

Some of the Athenians mocked at the truth; but Paul never altered a word of it. He walked out of their presence.

The mockers would reap what they sowed; the procrastinators never heard Paul again, as far as we know; but the vital nucleus of believers would continue to preach the divine wisdom in the center of Greek civilization.[46]

Bruce commented that "Paul made few converts in Athens; and we are not told that he planted a church there."[47] However, Bruce himself admitted that Luke's account of Paul's speech at Athens is "a greatly shortened summary of his actual speech";[48] and that's being true suggests also that his account of the results is a token report of far more conversions than are given. Note the following verse:

[45] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 129.

[46] E. H. Trenchard, op. cit., p. 323.

[47] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 364.

[48] Ibid., p. 362.