splendour of its architectural decorations, as well as surrounded with proofs of its scientific and literary eminence, the apostle mourned over its religious destitution, and "his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry." On this new scene Paul exhibited his usual activity and earnestness. "He disputed in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him."+ The Christian preacher, doubtless, soon became an object of no little curiosity. He was of diminutive stature; he seems to have laboured under the disadvantages of imperfect vision;§ and his Palestinian Greek must have sounded harshly in the ears of those who were accustomed to speak their mother tongue in its Attic purity. But, though his "bodily presence was weak,"|| he speedily convinced those who came in contact with him, that the frail earthly tabernacle was the habitation of a master mind; and though mere connoisseurs in idioms and pronunciation might designate "his speech contemptible,"¶ he riveted the attention of his hearers by the force and impressiveness of his oratory. The presence of this extraordinary stranger could not remain long unknown to the Athenian literati; but, when they entered into conversation with him, some of them were disposed to ridicule him as an idle talker, whilst others seemed inclined to denounce him as a dangerous innovator. "Certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him; and some said-What will this babbler say? other some-He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection."** Upwards of four hundred years before, Socrates had been condemned *Acts xvii. 16. See Conybeare and Howson, i. 241. + Acts xvii. 17. T2 Cor. x. 10. to death by the Athenians as "a setter forth of strange gods,"* and it may be that some of these philosophers hoped to intimidate the apostle by hinting that he was now open to the same indictment. But it is very improbable that they seriously contemplated a prosecution; as they had themselves no faith in the pagan mythology. They were quite ready to employ their wit to turn the heathen worship into scorn; and yet they could point out no "more excellent way" of religious service. In Athens, philosophy had demonstrated its utter impotence to do anything effective for the reformation of the popular theology; and its professors had settled down into the conviction that, as the current superstition exercised an immense influence over the minds of the multitude, it was inexpedient for wise men to withhold from it the tribute of outward reverence. The discourses of Paul were very far from complimentary to parties who valued themselves so highly on their intellectual advancement; for he quietly ignored all their speculations as so much folly; and, whilst he propounded his own system with the utmost confidence, he, at the same time, supported it by arguments which they were determined to reject, but unable to overturn. It is pretty clear that they were to some extent under the influence of pique and irritation when they noticed his deviations from the established faith, and applied to him the epithet of "babbler;" but Paul was not the man to be put down either by irony or insult; and at length it was found necessary to allow him a fair opportunity of explaining his principles. It is accordingly stated that "they took him and brought him unto Mars Hill saying-May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is, for thou bringest certain strange things to our ears-we would know, therefore, what these things mean." t * Αδικεί Σωκράτης -ἕτερα δὲ καινὰ δαιμόνια εἰσφέρων.—Xen. Mem. i. l. + Acts xvii. 19, 20. It is very evident that he was not arraigned before the court of Areopagus as our English translation seems to indicate. The speech delivered by Paul on this memorable occasion has been often admired for its tact, vigour, depth, and fidelity. Whilst giving the Athenians full credit for their devotional feeling, and avoiding any pointed and sarcastic attack on the absurdities of their religious ritual, he contrives to present such an outline of the prominent features of the Christian revelation, as might have convinced any candid and intelligent auditor of its incomparable superiority, as well to the doctrines of the philosophers, as to the fables of heathenism. In the very commencement of his observations he displays no little address. "Ye men of Athens," said he, "I perceive that, in every point of view, ye are carrying your religious reverence very far; for, as I passed by, and observed the objects of your worship, I found an altar with this incription-To the unknown God -whom, therefore, ye worship, though ye know him not, him declare I unto you.' The existence in this city of inscriptions, such as that here given, is attested by several other ancient witnesses t as well as Paul, and the altars thus distinguished appear to have been erected when the place was afflicted by certain strange and unprecedented calamities which the deities, already recognised, were supposed to be unable to remove. The auditors of the apostle could not well be dissatisfied with the statement that they carried their "religious reverence very far;" and yet, perhaps, they were scarcely prepared for the reference to this altar by which the observation was illustrated; for the inscription which he quoted contained a most humiliating confession of their ignorance, and furnished him with an " Acts xvii. 22, 23. This translation obviously conveys the meaning of the original more distinctly than our English version. See Alford, ii. 178; and Conybeare and Howson, i. 406. It is a curious fact that the impostor Apollonius of Tyana, who was the contemporary of the apostle, speaks of Athens as a place "where altars are raised to the unknown Gods." "Life," by Philostratus, book vi. c. 3. See also Pausanias, Attic. i. 4. excellent apology for proposing to act as their theological instructor. * His discourse, which treats of the Being and Attributes of God, must have been heard with no ordinary interest by the polite and intelligent Athenians. Its reasoning is plain, pertinent, and powerful; and whilst adopting a didactic tone, and avoiding the language and spirit of controversy, the apostle, in every sentence, comes into direct collision, either with the errors of polytheism, or the dogmas of the Grecian philosophy. The Stoics were Pantheists, and held the doctrine of the eternity of matter; whilst the Epicureans maintained that the universe arose out of a fortuitous concurrence of atoms; † and therefore Paul announced his opposition to both these sects when he declared that "God made the world and all things therein." The Athenians boasted that they were of nobler descent than the rest of their countrymen; § and the heathen generally believed that each nation belonged to a distinct stock and was under the guardianship of its own peculiar deities; but the apostle affirmed that "God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth." || The Epicureans asserted that the gods did not interfere in the concerns of the human family, and that they were destitute of foreknowledge; but Paul here assured them that the great Creator "giveth to all life and breath and all things," and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." ¶ The heathen imagined that the gods inhabited their images; but whilst Paul was ready to acknowledge the excellence, as works of art, of the statues which he saw all around him, he at the same * See Cudworth's "Intellectual System, with Notes by Mosheim," i. 513, 111. Edition, London, 1845. + See Mosheim's "Commentaries on the Affairs of the Christians before Constantine," by Vidal, i. 42. Acts xvii. 24. || Acts xvii. 26. § See Alford on Acts xvii. 26. time distinctly intimated that these dead pieces of material mechanism could never even faintly represent the glory of the invisible First Cause, and that they were unworthy the homage of living and intellectual beings. "As we are the offspring of God," said he, "we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."* After having thus borne testimony to the spirituality of the I AM THAT I AM, and asserted His authority as the Maker and Preserver of the world, Paul proceeded to point out His claims as its righteous Governor. "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.”† The pleasure-loving Epicureans refused to believe in a future state of rewards and punishments; and concurred with the Stoics in denying the immortality of the soul.‡ Both these parties were, of course, prepared to reject the doctrine of a general judgment. The idea of the resurrection of the body was quite novel to almost all classes of the Gentiles; and, when at first propounded to the Athenians, was received, by many, with doubt, and by some, with ridicule. "When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them." § The frivolous spirit cherished by the citizens of the ancient capital of Attica was exceedingly unfavourable to the progress of the earnest faith of Christianity. "All the Athenians, and strangers which were there, spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Though they had acquired a world-wide reputa § Acts xvii. 32. Cudworth, with Notes by Mosheim, ii. 120, and Mosheim's "Commentaries," by Vidal, i. 42. || Acts xvii. 21. |