The sermon of the Apostle Paul in Athens, recorded in Acts 17 is the only one of its kind in the Bible. I believe it is masterful not only in its encounter with secularism and sophisticated reason and declaration, with its rhetorical excellence in structure and movement to conclusion, but as proof that the Apostle Paul was well educated, even scholarly, had applied that education to his life, thought, and faith. He had worked through some of the most vexing questions that a Christian might face. The trend of thought in the sermon was perceived by Wilbur Smith, an eminent Bible expositor in the mid-twentieth century as so outstanding he could not resist writing a book on its inspiration. We have had other sermons, well known to us, that belong to the genre used by the Apostle. They are sometimes believed to be secular sermons, so called speeches and studies or appreciated as great and sacred to national memory. The Gettysburg Address by Lincoln belongs to this approach, as does the I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.
I heard Smith on a number of occasions and was a speaker at some of the same conferences as he. I heard King twice, once in Seattle and once in Washington, D. C. I have read the Gettysburg Address a sufficient number of times as to have it nearly committed to memory. I have read negative analyses of the Athens sermon/speech of Paul, even by persons who believe all other communications from Paul came from God, and may have negated the sermon. For example, as one critic put it, Paul after Athens seemed to apologize for the sermon when he wrote the first paragraph of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, when he appears to have made clear that he used simple language rather than any flourish of oratory. The context of functioning and speech I have heard from others following the Pauline approach convinced me that the critics just didn’t get something from Paul they really needed to get – that the Apostle used whatever approach served to greater purpose of the occasion. He was clear to the unlettered and the sophisticate. He used what was needed, to win persons to Christ from any culture. This approach appears to have been common with him. (Note: 1 Cor. 4:19; 2 Cor. 3:12 & 7:4; 10:10; 11:6; Col.4:6; and Titus 2:8.)
The management of the Christian life is basic for us. The context of the Christian life is carried through in righteousness, love and peace. Whatever we seek, the Christian is to be an overcomer in the belief that God, in the person of the Holy Spirit is maintaining the believer, and that the Christian’s orientation is above strife, mistreatment, misunderstanding, prejudice, scorn, abuse or any other negation – or admiration, compliment, agreement, support or any other affirmation. The Christian is called to be obedient to Scripture, to be evangelistic in the essentials of Christian experience, and to model the Christian life in everyday experience. There is much more to be done, and a deeper responsibility to be felt often expressed in prayer. To accomplish this Christians ought to adapt to the context of the friend presented to their attention. The Apostle made this clear in trying to be all things to all persons for the sake of the Lord’s ministry. The Apostle can’t really be slotted in one way or the other (say in denominations) except in the essentials of the Christian life. Christians may not even deal with the prejudices of persons present before them. They would lose time for the affirmations they want to make. If they were successful for correcting the prejudice, and did not win the person to Christian experience, they had lost persons.
Lost persons, good or bad, remain lost. Christian apologists must not take more than is due for any defense to the faith in God, or the Church and Scripture. God has a way of caring for us, even if we, in paucity of knowledge on all sides, may not do well. Apology tends to strengthen Christians, but may seem ludicrous to non-Christians – so to firm up their skepticism. Jesus did not spend a great deal of time arguing with persons. Sometimes he fell silent, and was challenged. He had good news for every person. If that was not wanted, or was derided, or left to skepticism, he moved on to the next stop to proclaim his gospel. He challenged the disciples to the same conduct and attitude. If they wanted to vent their disappointment they could do so with a simple gesture of conclusion – shake off the dust of their shoes, and go on their way. It is presumed by God that Christians will choose peace in the course of all life. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020