The Shepherd, October 2004
SAINT PAUL’S VISIT TO ATHENS, 1
By Miriam Lambouras of Broadstairs
WITH THE OLYMPIC GATES being staged in Athens this year [do any of our readers remember that? - ed.], it seemed particularly appropriate to consider the visit to Athens by the great Apostle to the Gentiles, and to see how he applied illustrations from the Greek Games to the Christian life in his preaching and letters.
It appears that St Paul had not originally planned to go to Athens, but Divine Providence had ordained that he should do so. On his arrival in Thessalonica, as his custom was, St Paul began his teaching in the Jewish synagogue, and “some were persuaded,” mainly the Greek proselytes and “God-fearers,” that is, those on the outer circle of the synagogue, who, while accepting the monotheistic faith of the Jews, felt unable to be circumcised, and were therefore not received as proselytes with full rights in the synagogue. These were joined by many of the leading women of the city.
The unbelieving Jews, furious atSt Paul’s acceptance by their Gentile converts, stirred up the mob and a riot ensued. The house of Jason, where Paul and Silas were staying, and which was presumably the main base of the Christians in the the city, was attacked. Not finding St Paul there, the Jews dragged Jason and other Christians before the local authorities on a double charge of disturbing the peace - “these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” - and disloyalty to the Roman Emperor - “saying that there is another king, one Jesus.” The officials decided to take a middle course and made Jason and his companions give bail to keep the peace. Seeing that there was no hope for the present of St Paul continuing to preach openly in Thessalonica, that same night, under cover of darkness, the local brethren sent him and Silas away to Berœa (modern Verria) about sixty miles distant.
The Jews at Berœa were not prejudiced and gave the Apostle a fair hearing. They “received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so,” and “many of them believed.” But the hostile Jews from Thessalonica, hearing of this, came hunting for St Paul and stirred up the mob as before, forcing the Christians once again to remove him for his own safety, this time putting him aboard a ship bound for Athens. The Church at Berœa, of all the Churches founded by St Paul inGreece, is the only one that, so far as we know, never received a letter from him.
For three days St Paul sailed along a coast past sights evoking vivid memories of heroic deeds and epic poetry - the grandeur of Mount Olympus, home of the Homeric gods, its summit glittering with snow, and on the plain at its foot, the Temple of the Olympian Zeus, in whose honour the Olympic Gates were held, - the Pass at Thermopylae, where Leonides and his Spartans had died, - and Marathon, recalling the defeat of the Persians. St Paul, a native of the great Hellenistic university city of Tarsus, and himself a fluent Greek speaker and writer, would surely have had a knowledge of, and an interest in, Greek history.
Finally, passing the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, the sailors and passengers, looking for the first sight of Athens, would have seen, flashing in the sunlight, the gold tip of the spear grasped in the hand of the colossal seventy feet high statue of Athena Promachos, the protectress of Athens, on the summit of the Acropolis. Athens, cultured, famous and glorious - for so long the centre of knowledge, philosophy, beauty and art, the greatest that the human mind could achieve. Greek culture had been “the mother of all the civilisation of Europe.” Art, science and literature had all come from Greece, and the Athenian orators, poets and philosophers had been teachers of the world.
But as a Jew, righteousness was St Paul’s ideal, not beauty, nor art, nor philosophy. Perhaps he had Athens in mind when he later wrote in his Letter to the Romans, “the world by (human) wisdom knew not God.” And the beautiful pagan city would be a lonely place for him. He would write to the Thessalonians that he was “left at Athens alone.” On parting with his friends from Berœa he had directed that Silas and Timothy should come and join him as soon as possible
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