This week we discussed a couple phases of Paul’s ministry in the thriving metropolis of Corinth. He was finally reunited with Silas and Timothy, his ministry partners who stayed in Berea when he left for Athens. By reading passages from Paul’s letters to the churches at Thessalonica, Philippi, and Corinth, we were able to piece…
For the first time in a LONG time, Paul left a city because he felt like it, not because he was being chased out (although we are left to wonder whether that meeting with the Areopagus Council wasn’t the catalyst to his decision to move on). Not many people in Athens were receptive to Paul’s…
This week we explored the origins of one of the most well-known phrases in Scripture: “In him we live and move and have our being.” Many in the class were interested to learn that the above phrase is a direct quote from a sixth century poem about Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. Not…
This week we studied the beginning of Paul’s sermon at the Areopagus (beyond verse 22)! Paul seized the opportunity to tell the Athenians and Areopagus Council about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in terms they would understand. His prop was an altar to an “unknown god,” and Paul used that as his jumping…
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This week we read through Paul’s speech at the Areopagus, and although I thought we were going to discuss more of it, we basically made it through one verse. It’s not my fault! ? We discussed the different translations of a rare Greek word in Acts 17:22 “deisidaimonesterous” (lit: δεισιδαιμονεστέρους). Was Paul following the classical…
This week we summed up the previous weeks’ (and months’) lessons about Athens, the Areopagus, Aeschylus’ play “The Oresteia,” Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Zeno. We also discussed Paul’s broad education in Tarsus and Jerusalem, and how his travels informed his discussion in Athens. We had a great discussion about everything from classical Greek philosophy,…