Paul in Athens
Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. As he walked around
the city he saw many beautiful buildings. He also saw numerous idols.
Men would carve statues out of stone or wood, and they would call them
their gods. They would bow down and worship these statues as if the
stone or wood had some power.
They wanted to make sure they hadn't left out some "god" so they made
an idol "To an unknown god". Paul said, "I want to tell you about this
God", and he began to tell them about the true God who had created the
world and everything in it. He told them about Jesus and how he had
come to earth, been killed and made alive again.
The people of Athens were extremely interested. They loved to hear new
ideas, and this was certainly something new to them. Some people
believed the preaching of Paul and became followers.
If you visit Athens today you can climb the tall hill and view the
Acropolis. You will see the ruins of the same buildings Paul viewed
when he preached to the Athenians. During Paul's time the buildings
were already over 400 years old. Today they are more than 2400 years
old.