Paul’s preaching in Acts 17 surely fit the situation of the Greeks in Athens. Much of what Paul said was directed at the Epicureans and also at the Stoics. We have seen that the Epicureans did not recognize the Creator and His providence over the world, but sought sensuous pleasures, especially in eating and drinking. The Stoics were pantheists who believed that everything was governed by fate and that all happenings were the result of the divine will. In his preaching on the Areopagus Paul first referred to God as the Creator in an objective way as the One outside of us and with whom we do not have a direct relationship. Then from the Creator Paul proceeded to point out that all humans are the offspring of God and that we have our living and our being in Him. Following this, Paul went on to speak of the day when Christ will judge the living. All these points were aimed at the Epicureans.
The Epicureans say that there is no Creator or Provider. They also claim that we should pursue sensuous pleasures without regard for the future. It is likely that Paul had the Epicureans in mind when he said, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, fur tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32). This appears to be a quote of a saying of that day, a maxim by the Epicureans. If there is no resurrection, we the believers shall have no hope in the future and become the most miserable of all men (1 Cor. 15:19). If so, we had better enjoy our life today, forgetting the future, like the Epicureans.
In his preaching in Acts 17 Paul seemed to be saying to the Epicureans, “There is a Creator, and He is the Provider who gives to all life, breath, and all things. You are God’s offspring, for you were produced of Him and derive your human life from Him. Because you have a human life, you live, move, and have your being in Him. You also need to know that there will be a judgment in the future. This future judgment is related to the resurrection of the Man Jesus. God has designated Jesus to be the One to judge everyone, and He has furnished proof of this by raising Him from among the dead. In the past God allowed you to go your own way. But He has sent me here to tell you that you now need to repent.” Paul’s word must also have been unveiling to the pantheistic Stoics. How marvelous was Paul’s preaching to the Athenians!
In Acts 17 we see that Paul’s preaching was full of the proper knowledge, for he was a person knowledgeable of both Hebrew culture and Greek culture. This enabled him to carry out a ministry in which he faced the situation among both Jews and Greeks. When Paul was facing the Jews, he used their Scriptures to preach Christ, pointing out where He is revealed throughout the Scriptures. He preached Christ not only as the Messiah, but also as the One who was God incarnate, who possessed humanity, who lived a human life on earth for thirty three and a half years, who died an all-inclusive death in order to solve the problems between man and God, who was resurrected in order to propagate the divine life by imparting it into His believers, and who ascended to the heavens where He was made Lord and Christ. Paul faced the situation among the Jews by using their Scriptures in this way. Not only was he knowledgeable in the black and white letters of the Old Testament; he also had the revelation and the insight to see into the depths of the Old Testament concerning Christ in His dual status as God and man concerning His human living, His all-inclusive death, His resurrection for propagation, and His headship as the ascended One.
When Paul faced the situation among the Greeks, he did so according to Greek culture. His preaching was based upon God’s creation. According to Acts 17, Paul pointed out that God created the heavens and the earth, that He provides life and all the necessities for its maintenance, that He produced mankind as His offspring, and that all humans live, move, and have their being in God. He told the Greeks of their need of God and that this God is Jesus Christ.
Paul’s way of preaching indicates that he was a learned vessel. In his ministry he could face the situation of the Jews according to the Scriptures and the situation among the philosophical Greeks according to God’s creation of the universe and man. I do not think that a Galilean fisherman such as Peter could bear this responsibility. Only one like Saul of Tarsus could fulfill this responsibility, for he was trained in the Jewish religion, educated in Greek philosophical culture, and lived in an environment of Roman politics. Therefore, he was fully qualified to bear the kind of ministry recorded in Acts.
Although Paul was educated according to Hebrew, Greek, and Roman culture, his main qualification was not his education; it was his spiritual constitution. Paul had been constituted of the Holy Spirit and of the Spirit of Jesus. For this reason, Paul did not preach Hebrew religion or Greek philosophy. Paul preached the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. No matter how highly educated he was, he did not preach his education. He preached the all-inclusive Christ realized as the all-inclusive Spirit.