Intro (00:00:00) Context is Key (00:00:55) Overall Context ‘Ad’ Break (00:0 Text Me (00:0 Section 1: Acts 17:16-21 “Lets Find Something to Do While We’re Waiting” Section 2: Acts 17: “In Him we Live and Move and Have our Being” (00: Addendum 1: Acts 17:32-34 Mixed Reviews” (00: Foreshadowing: Next Week on Tales of Faith (Philippians 1) That’ll Preach (00: Sermon Thoughts Teaching Children Intro (00:00:00) L: Greetings, and welcome back to Tales of Faith, a podcast on the Narrative Lectionary. I am n. A: And I am n. This is episode 443 for Fifth Sunday of Easter on May 3, 2026, though we are recording on April 27, so if something major has happened between when we record and when you listen, then we won’t be able to comment on it. L: Today we are talking about Acts 17:16-31, Paul’s Sermon in Athens, and will be using the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. So let’s get started with the Context: Context is Key (00:00:55) Overall Context * Athens the center of philosophical thought for the ancient word in a way that continues to influence Western thought down to today. * Socrates, 5th Century BCE * ‘Socratic Method,’ asking questions to get to deeper meaning (or exposing logical fallacies) * no one desires what is bad, and so if anyone does something that truly is bad, it must be unwillingly or out of ignorance * all virtue is knowledge * Plato, Generation after Socrates * Student of Socrates * Wrote in dialogues, much of our knowledge of Socrates comes through Plato * Metaphysical understanding, Realm of Forms; realm of ideas with more reality than the material world * immutability of the human soul, also reincarnation * Allegory of the Cave * Established the Academy * Aristotle, 4th Century BCE * Enrolled as a student in Plato’s Academy, became the tutor for Alexander the Great, and then returned to Athens to establish the Lyceum. * Countered Plato’s metaphysics, giving greater weight to empirical observation and practical concerns * Life is valuable, resources should be allocated to reduce poverty/death * Epicurianism, 3-2nd Centuries BCE * Atomism * “the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain” (though not quite hedonism * Stoicism, 3rd Century BCE * applied the concept of apatheia (indifference) to personal circumstances rather than social norms * Materialism * Living in accordance with nature * Place of power- Agora (marketplace) Context for Acts * After getting run out of Philippi, Paul and Silas are run out of Thessalonica * Went to Borea, had a decent reception, but then a mob from Thessalonica came and stirred up trouble. * Sent Paul to the coast while Silas and Timothy remained in Borea to finish setting up the church there. * Paul is meeting up with them in Athens ‘Ad’ Break (00:0 L: Today’s episode is brought to you today by Pascalism. A: Are you pretty sure that you follow the correct religious teaching, but that little bit of you wonders? Do you generally reject any non-materialistic view of the universe, but wouldn’t mind making a side-bet on the spiritual (without all of the messy ethical implications). Why not try Pascalism, just in case. We will add you to our list so that you have an eternal back-up plan. L: Named after 17th Century French Philosopher, Blaise (Blaze) Pascal; who suggested that it is logically beneficial to wager on the existence of God. A: Oh wait, not Pedro Pascal? L: No, Blaise Pascal. A: This is not the way. L: Anyways, cover all of your bases with Pascalism. Text Me (00:0 Section 1: Acts 17:16-21 “Lets Find Something to Do While We’re Waiting” L 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and also in the marketplace[d] every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this pretentious babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19 So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new. d. 17.17 Or civic center Section 2: Acts 17: “In Him we Live and Move and Have our Being” (00: A 22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26 From one ancestor[e] he made all peoples to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God[f] and perhaps fumble about for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we, too, are his offspring.’ 29 “Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30 While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” e. 17.26 Gk From one; other ancient authorities read From one blood f.17.27 Other ancient authorities read the Lord “For in him we live and move and have our being” (ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν [En autō gar zōmen kai kinoumetha kai esmen]) and “For we are indeed his offspring” (Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν [Tou gar kai genos esmen]). The first is likely drawn from Epimenides of Crete a semi-mythical 6th-century BCE Cretan philosopher, poet, and prophet. He is known for his mystical insights and association with Greek religious reforms and is credited with a famous “Liar Paradox” statement about Cretans (see below). The biblical phrase originates from a hymn to Zeus who was the chief deity in the Greek pantheon. Here is the whole fragment of the quotation: “Ζεὺς ἄρχει· Ζεὺς δ’ ἔσχατος, Ζεὺς κεφαλή, Ζεὺς μέσσα, πάντα δὲ Ζεύς· ἐν τῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν, κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν.”“Zeus is the beginning, Zeus is the end, Zeus is the head, Zeus is the center; all things are Zeus. For in him we live and move and have our being.” The hymn emphasizes Zeus’s omnipresence, creative power, and sustaining role in the universe. Paul takes the concept originally applied to Zeus and applies it to the God of Israel, the creator, and sustainer of life (Psalm 104:29-30; Colossians 1:17). While Zeus in the Greek hymn is part of creation, Paul emphasizes that the true God is distinct from His creation but also intimately involved in it as a sustainer (Acts 17:25) and personal God (Acts 17:27). The second is likely drawn from Aratus (Phaenomena, c. 315–240 BCE), though some attribute it to Cleanthes (Hymn to Zeus). Phaenomena by Aratus of Soli is a didactic poem describing constellations and weather patterns rooted in Stoic cosmology. Paul’s quotation of τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν is located right at the beginning, praising Zeus as the divine principle governing the universe. Humans are described as Zeus’s “offspring” because of their dependence on him as the source of life and order in the universe. The other possible source of the quotation is Cleanthes, a Stoic philosopher who wrote Hymn to Zeus. Although, the form of the quotation is ἐκ σοῦ γὰρ γένος ἐσμέν, which is a bit different, Cleanthes echos similar themes of divine immanence and governance, writing of humanity’s connection to Zeus and their responsibility to live in harmony with the divine order. For Aratus and Cleanthes, “offspring” (γένος [genos]) denotes a shared essence with Zeus as the divine principle. In this sense, humans are rational beings who participate in the universal logos (principle, reason). Paul reframes “offspring” (γένος [genos]) to emphasize humanity’s relationship to the Creator, not as beings sharing divinity but as creatures made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). He uses this idea to critique idolatry (Acts 17:29). In both cases, the original context refers to humanity’s relationship to Zeus. Paul is repurposing the sense to refer to the God of Israel presenting Him as the one true creator. Source: https://ginoskos.com/paul-s-direct-quotations-of-greco-roman-philosophers-and-poets Addendum 1: Acts 17:32-34 Mixed Reviews” (00: L 32 When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed, but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 At that point Paul left them. 34 But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. Get full access to Tales of Faith at talesoffaith.substack.com/subscribe
