Difficulties in Thessalonica
1 Paul and Silas took the road through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 As Paul used to do, he went to the synagogue and on three Sabbaths he held discussions with them about the Scriptures.
3 He explained and proved to them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and he said, “Such a Messiah is this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”
4 Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas. So too did a great number of Greeks sympathetic to Judaism and many prominent wo men.
5 This only made the Jews jealous, so they gathered some of the good-for-nothing street loafers and formed a mob to start a riot in the town. They came to the house of Jason, in an attempt to bring Paul and Silas before the people’s assembly.
6 Not finding them there, they dragged off Jason and some believers to the city author ities shouting, “These people who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
7 and Jason has given them hospitality. They all disregard the decrees of the Emperor and claim that there is another king, Jesus.”
8 In this way they upset the crowd and the city officials who heard them.
9 The officials released Jason and the others on bail.
10 As soon as night fell, the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea. On their arrival they went to the Jewish synagogue.
11 Its members were more open-minded than those in Thes salonica and welcomed the mes sage with great enthusiasm. Each day they examined the Scriptures to see if these things were so.
12 Many of them came to believe, as did numerous influential Greek wo men, and many men as well.
13 But when the Jews of Thes sa lonica came to know that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea also, they hurried there to cause a commotion and stir up the crowds.
14 At once, the believers sent Paul away to the coast; but both Silas and Timothy stayed in Beroea.
15 Paul was taken as far as Athens by his escort, who then returned to Beroea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible.
Paul in Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he felt very uneasy at the sight of a city full of idols.
17 He held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing people, as well as daily de bates in the public square with ordinary pass ersby.
18 Epicureans and Stoic philosophers debated with him, some of them asking, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others commented, “He sounds like a promoter of foreign gods,” because he was heard to speak of Jesus and ‘the Resur rec tion.’
19 So they took Paul and led him off to the Areopagus hall, and said, “We would like to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about.
20 Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us, and we would like to know what they mean.”
21 Indeed, all Athenian citizens, as well as the foreigners who live there, have as their favorite occupation talking about or listening to the latest news.
22 Then Paul stood up in the Areopagus hall and said, “Athenian citizens, I note that in every way you are very religious.
23 As I walked around looking at your shrines, I even discovered an altar with this inscription: To an unknown God. Now, what you worship as unknown, I intend to make known to you.
24 God, who made the world and all that is in it, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, being as he is Lord of heaven and earth.
25 Nor does his worship de pend on any thing made by human hands, as if he were in need. Rather it is he who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.
26 From one stock he created the whole human race to live throughout all the earth, and he fixed the time and the boundaries of each nation.
27 He wanted them to seek him by themselves, even if it were only by groping for him, succeed in finding him.
Yet he is not far from any one of us.
28 For in him we live and move and have our being, as some of your poets have said: for we too are his offspring.
29 If we are indeed God’s offspring, we ought not to think of divinity as something like a statue of gold or silver or stone, a product of human art and imagination.
30 But now God prefers to overlook this time of ignorance and he calls on all people to change their ways.
31 He has already set a day on which he will judge the world with justice through a man he has ap pointed. And, so that all may believe it, he has just given a sign by raising this man from the dead.”
32 When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection from death, some made fun of him, while others said, “We must hear you on this topic some other time.”
33 At that point Paul left.
34 But a few did join him, and be lieved. Among them were Diony sius, a member of the Areopa gus court, a woman named Dama ris, and some others.
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Comments Acts, Chapter 17
• 17.1 In this mission, we should note the case of Thessalonica, capital of Macedonia. The Christian community will begin with people of Greek origin, worshippers of God, whom Paul met in the synagogue, and with other Greek pagans. The few Jewish converts (v. 4) will probably become the pillars and the educators of the community. They had a lasting experience of God’s word and knew how to use the Bible. They sang the psalms, had some idea of a liturgy in the framework of a community, and had a better grasp of moral principles. Paul will always be careful not to let the Jews bring the converts back to a religion of commandments, but it was doubtless that among them he would, for a time, find the better prepared elements. Persecution prevents Paul from staying more than two months. How could a church formed under such conditions and consisting of pagans with little training survive? Yet it persevered: see the Letters to the Thessalonians.
• 16. Athens was the most famous city in the Greek world. Even after the loss of political control, Athens remained the cultural center of the Roman world. Paul goes there, as he al ways aims for large cities or ports, where news travels from one place to another and spreads through sea travel.
He is offered the chance of speaking before the philosophers and the authorities of Athens, and he accepts. For these intellectuals he formally states his message, but it is a flop. It might have been expected. Usually those who accept the faith are those whose life draws nearer to Christ. His audience was only interested in novelties; they were masters, and Paul had no title. Paul confronted the Christian faith with the other religions, showing that for all peoples it was time to begin a new worldwide age. A first part recalled the fact of religious plurality: it was only a first stage in God’s plan. Then came the Gospel: all humanity was to unite in order to prepare for God’s judgment. It was there without a doubt that Paul would have given his own witness, but they did not allow him to finish his discourse.
Different than what the Jews often did (see again Wisdom 11–15), Paul does not attack images and the honor given to them. Paul knows that in all religions, many people give images their due place and do not confuse these traditional images and rites with the true and only God, for they have a certain idea of him. Paul only wants to show that this God is far beyond the figures we attribute to him, and immediately affirms the unity of humankind in the plan of God. From one stock he created the whole human race. Let us not resume the outmoded discussions to know if Paul condemns or not the theories of human origin from different individuals. Paul affirms that the race is one in God’s plan: the first among them, the model, the elder brother is not the little prehistoric ancestor but Christ, Son of God.
He wanted them to seek God by themselves – and eventually to find him. An as tonishing affirmation of a humanity to which God has not said everything and which has to advance by groping and making many mistakes. God has so willed it, even if dictators think to impose a truth. Here, Paul does not condemn philosophers with out faith, or whose theories have many harmful aspects.
How many interesting perspectives! Are we to be satisfied in just condemning our world in crisis? Never has humanity known such an upheaval in its conditions of life, such challenges to face, such changes to accept in everyday life. It is normal for a person to be disoriented, to have to grope and make enormous errors: this is part of God’s plan. Very often the Church is unable to say what is the best choice: are not Christians the Church? And they are divided. God has not the habit of supplying prophets who would think and know for others. We can only reaffirm what is our faith: every thing should end with judgment and the judgment will be made before Christ. Peoples are saved and condemned according to whe ther they accept or not this God who became one of us and one of those who serve.
Later, however, Paul points out that God prefers to overlook that time. Christ has come: starting with him, who is the head (Col 1:18), the dispersed children of God are going to be gathered in one body (Jn 11:52; Eph 1:10), and since he is the definitive truth, all must believe in the Gospel. God judges the world through Christ, that is to say, that people are saved or condemned depending on whether they accept or reject this God who appeared humble.