Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
(Acts 17:15.22-18:1; John 16:12-15)
The scene of the first reading will inspire many Christians. Athens represents the epitome of Western Civilization, the home of the philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; of the playwrights Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and Euripides; and of the historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Now Paul, the best educated and most successful of Christian missionaries, clears his throat to speak to the learned populace. His words do not disappoint us. They, in colloquial terms, “meet the people where they are.” They hint at the superior Greek culture and mention its traditional regard for religion. They also appeal to the people’s strong sense of justice. Certainly, we feel, Paul will win Athens for Christ.
Of course, the result of Paul’s preaching is catastrophic. The Athenians not only reject his ideas; they scoff at him. Their response, “We should like to hear you on this some other time,” is only a nice way of saying, “Get lost.” But Paul learns from this bitter experience. No longer will the apostle meet his audiences with lofty elocution. He will tell the Corinthians that he came preaching Christ crucified. Following Paul, Christianity through the centuries has often defended the gospel with reasonable argument. But it has realized all along that faith is God’s gift that neither rhetoric nor logic can implant.
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