Athens and Areopagus

 First Friday of Easter

Lectionary Texts:

1 John 1:5-2:2

John 21:15-19

Please read Acts 17:16-21.

Paul's sojourn in Athens and his speech on the Areopagus there may be the most important part of the Book of Acts. It has certainly been the part that has gotten the most scholarly attention. It will also require me several blog posts to unwrap it. 

First, some brief historical geography. Athens was founded probably in the seventh century B.C. The "Golden Age" of Greece was during a brief but incredibly productive period from the end of the Persian War in 479 B.C. to the end of the Peloponnesian Wars in 404 B.C. The Athenian victory over the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 479 B.C. gave the Greeks a tremendous sense of self-confidence. For the small city-state of Athens to defeat the greatest empire the world had known up until that time was an astonishing achievement. The military excellence that the Athenians displayed at Battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis they turned to cultural excellence during the Golden Age. The Golden Age would see the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides and the comedies of Aristophanes, which were written in Athens during these years, performed in beautifully designed amphitheaters throughout Greece.

 

Marianne and I have been to the theater at Epidaurus, which seats about 18,000 people. We did the acoustics test. I sat on the top row farthest end seat, while she dropped a penny and whispered to a friend center stage I could distinctly hear the penny drop and every word she and her friend said, even though they were so far away I could barely see their lips moving. The Greeks had a better understanding of acoustics than any present day architects.

 

Many of the great Grerrk temples were built during this period. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus were two of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Also during this period was built the most beautiful of all temples, the Parthenon, which sitting high on the Acropolis, crowns the city of Athens. Built 448-432 B.C. by the two greatest architects, Ictinis and Callicrates, the Parthenon, actually a ponderously massive marble structure, appears so light it's as if it is about to float right off the Acropolis. 

 

A complex series of optical illusions gives the Parthenon the appearance of perfection, when actually millimeters of difference between interior columns and corner columns make them appear equal in size, tenths of degrees of angle from center columns to corner columns give the appearance that all columns are straight up and down, when they're not. There is a whole catalogue of these little difference that give the appearance of perfection. Ictinis and Callicrates understood optics better than any architects before or since. 

I had friend who was a jumbo jet airline pilot for Delta. He got the route from Atlanta to Athens. He always flew straight in from the Aegean Sea over the Parthenon do give both himself and his passengers that most spectacular view. He told me it was the most inspiring sight he had ever seen.

To this magnificent city Paul traveled. It had declined in both population and beauty by Paul's time. Constant cleaning and repairs had not been kept up. Still it was magnificent. Population had declined from over 20,000 to under 10,000 (now it's five million). 

The Areopagus, from which Paul preached his most important sermon was a hill just down from the top of the Acropolis, where the Parthenon sits.  I have twice stood atop the Areopagus and read Paul's sermon to students and bystanders there. It was quite a feeling.

 

God of the Ages,

Bring us closer in our study of Acts and Paul's sermons to the truth he preached and the Christ who embodied that truth. In His name. Amen.

 

Faithfully,

Christian