Paul at Berea and Athens
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saw the city crowded with idols, his spirit was stirred with jealousy for
God, whom he saw dishonored on every side.
His heart was drawn out in deep pity for the citizens of that grand
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metropolis, who, notwithstanding their intellectual greatness, were
given to idolatry. Paul was not deceived by the grandeur and beauty
of that which his eyes rested upon, nor by the material wisdom and
philosophy which encountered him in this great center of learning.
He perceived that human art had done its best to deify vice and make
falsehood attractive by glorifying the memory of those whose whole
lives had been devoted to leading men to deny God.
The moral nature of the apostle was so alive to the attraction of
heavenly things, that the joy and splendor of those riches that will never
fade occupied his mind, and made valueless the earthly pomp and glory
with which he was surrounded. As he saw the magnificence of the
city, with its costly devices, he realized its seductive power over the
minds of the lovers of art and science. His mind was deeply impressed
with the importance of the work before him in Athens. His solitude
in that great city where God was not worshiped was oppressive; and
he longed for the sympathy and aid of his fellow-laborers. As far as
human fellowship was concerned, he felt himself to be utterly isolated.
In his Epistle to the Thessalonians he expresses his feelings in these
words: “Left at Athens alone.”
Paul’s work was to bear the tidings of salvation to a people who
had no intelligent understanding of God and his plans. He was not
traveling for the purpose of sight-seeing, nor to gratify a morbid desire
for new and strange scenes. His dejection of mind was caused by
the apparently insurmountable obstacles which presented themselves
against his reaching the minds of the people of Athens. Grieved at
the idolatry everywhere visible about him, he felt a holy zeal for
his Master’s cause. He sought out his Jewish brethren, and, in their
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synagogue at Athens, proclaimed the doctrine of Christ. But the
principal work of Paul in that city was to deal with paganism.
The religion of the Athenians, of which they made great boast,
was of no value, for it was destitute of the knowledge of the true God.
It consisted, in great part, of art worship, and a round of dissipating
amusement and festivities. It wanted the virtue of true goodness.
Genuine religion gives men the victory over themselves; but a religion
of mere intellect and taste is wanting in the qualities essential to raise