Arriving in Macedonia, Paul and his companions, Timothy, Luke, and Silas, proceeded without delay to the town of Philippi (see Acts 16:11-40). Philippi was one of the chief cities of Macedonia and a Roman colony, but its Jewish population was small. On the sabbath the missionaries set out for the riverbank where, as Acts says, "prayer was wont to be made." This may have been a synagogue, as the Greek word proseuche could imply, though since the small group gathered there was composed of women, it seems more likely to have been an informal or even open-air meeting place where Paul and the others simply talked with the worshipers. Thus it came about that their first convert in Europe was a woman, Lydia.
Whether Lydia was her name or merely referred to her home district, she had come from the Lydian city of Thyatira in Asia Minor, but now she made her living by selling the rich purple cloth which was in great demand at that time. She was not a Jewess but had been attracted by the monotheistic faith of Judaism, and now she readily accepted Christianity; she and all her household were baptized.
Here was the nucleus of that flourishing and kindly church to which Paul wrote later (Phil. 1:3), "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you," and which he characterized as the only church in Macedonia that again and again supplied his needs (see 4:15-8). Lydia was hospitable as well as prosperous, for she urged Paul and his companions to make her house their home during their visit.
They seem to have carried on their work at Philippi for some time, until the healing of a slave girl who was a fortune-teller led to the scourging and imprisonment of Paul and Silas on charges brought by the girl's masters. Acts tells of a great earthquake occurring that night, shaking the prison and opening the dungeon doors. In the morning the magistrates were willing to release the apostles, especially when they heard that they were Roman citizens, but they requested them to leave town.
Paul and Silas then set out with Timothy for Thessalonica, about a hundred miles away (see Acts 17:1-9). Possibly Luke was left to carry on the work at Philippi, since for several chapters (16:18—20:14) he ceases to write as an eyewitness. When the record again uses the first person, it tells of his leaving Philippi to join Paul at Troas.
At Thessalonica Paul's preaching in the synagogue led to a great multitude of devout Greeks accepting the faith but also to a riot instigated by Jewish opponents. Jason, Paul's host, and a few other disciples were brought before the magistrates, accused of treason and of harboring men who "have turned the world upside down" —proof of the success of Christianity and the immense influence of Paul's work.
Fortunately the magistrates showed themselves men of moderation. The Christians were released after giving security for the good behavior of themselves and their guests.
Paul with his companions left the city by night for Berea, some forty-five miles further west (see 17:10-14). Here many were converted, both Jews and Greeks, until some Thessalonian Jews got wind of it and came to cause trouble. Silas and Timothy remained in the city awhile longer, but the disciples persuaded Paul himself to go down to the seacoast and take ship for Athens.
Paul's visit to Athens (see vv.15-34) was an event of historic importance. In the ancient center of Greek civilization the message of the Christ was about to face the philosophy and intellectualism of the pagan world. The very name of Athens summons thoughts of its fame and classic beauty, of the white marble pillars of the Parthenon standing guard over the blue Aegean from the summit of the Acropolis.
There were in those days statues everywhere, representative of the classic art of centuries, which still forms a standard for the sculptor. But as a Jew, Paul would have been brought up to believe the carving of any likeness, whether of God or man, constituted a breach of the second commandment of the law. In the words of Acts, "His spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry."
"Therefore," the account continues, "disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him." The agora, or market, was the center of commercial and civic life. While teaching there he met some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, who scoffed at his exhortations, with words which James Moffatt translates (v.18): "Whatever does the fellow mean with his scraps of learning?" Others claimed he was "a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection"—apparently mistaking the Greek word resurrection (anastasis) as a proper name and thus assuming Jesus and Anastasis were a god and a goddess!
These men of Athens were always eager "to tell, or to hear some new thing," so they took the apostle with them to the Areopagus and bade him explain his teaching. The Areopagus (Mars' Hill) was an eminence in the center of the city; it gave its name to the council of the Areopagus which held its meetings there. As Paul stood on that famous spot, Athens, the center of Greek culture, lay at his feet; around him the crowd of novelty-seeking strangers waited for him to speak.
In the King James Version Paul appears to accuse his hearers of being too superstitious. On the contrary, he began his speech by conciliating them: "I perceive that in every way you are very religious"— as the Revised Standard Version renders Acts 17:22. He had seen among the innumerable objects of their devotion an altar inscribed "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD," and he drew the attention of his audience by announcing that he would make known to them this God whom they already worshiped. From the Areopagus, where his hearers could see around them temple after temple, Paul explained that the creator could not dwell in man-made sanctuaries, since He is Himself the giver of all things; our very being is found in Him. "As certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
Then Paul turned from their temples to their statues. Since we are God's children, he reasoned, we cannot think God is like statues of gold or silver or stone. In the past God overlooked this ignorant mistake, but now God's judgment is coming "by that man whom he hath ordained," and whom He has raised from the dead.
Clearly, Paul was on the verge of giving his explicit Christian message, but the moment he referred to the resurrection his listeners would not let him finish. Not today, they said in effect, come back some other time. "So Paul departed from among them."
He had made only a few converts in Athens, but he had laid a foundation there. Instead of flatly condemning paganism he had laid hold upon the grains of truth that might be gleaned: the people's reaching out for God, their admission that we are God's offspring. Starting from these admitted facts he had been able to prove that the power and greatness of the one God infinitely transcended their altars, their temples, and their statues, for all their dignity and beauty.
