And because he preached to them of Jesus, and of his rising from the dead, some said, "This man seems to be talking about some strange gods!"
There was in Athens a hill, called Mars' Hill, where a court was held upon seats of stone ranged around. They brought Paul to this place, and asked him, saying, "May we know what is this new teaching that you are giving? You bring to our ears some strange things, and we wish to know what these things mean."
Then Paul stood in the middle of Mars' Hill, with the people of the city around him, and he said:
"Ye men of Athens, I see that you are exceedingly given to worship. For as I passed by I saw an altar, upon which was written these words, 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.'That God whom you know not, and whom you seek to worship, is the God that I make known to you. The God who made the world and all things that are in it, is Lord of heaven and earth, and does not dwell in temples made by the hands of men; nor is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything. For God gives to all men life, and breath, and all things. And he has made of one blood all the peoples who live on the earth: that all men should seek God, and should feel after him, and should find him; for he is not far away from any of us. For in him we live, and move, and have our being: even as some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are the children of God.' Since we are God's children, we should not think that God is like gold, or silver, or stone, wrought by the hands of men. Now God calls upon men to turn from their sins; and he tells us that he has fixed a day when he will judge the world through that man Jesus Christ whom he has chosen, and whom he has raised from the dead."
PAUL PREACHING ON MARS' HILL
When they heard Paul speak of the dead being raised, some laughed in scorn; but others said, "We will hear you again about this." After a time Paul went away from Athens. Very few people joined with Paul, and believed on Jesus. Among these few was a man named Dionysius, one of the court that met on Mars' Hill, and a woman named Damaris. A few others joined with them; but in Athens the followers of Christ were not many.
Paul at Corinth
Acts xviii: 1 to 22
Paul went from Athens to Corinth, another city in the land of Greece. He was alone, for his fellow-workers, Silas and Timothy, had not yet come from Thessalonica. But in Corinth, Paul met people who soon became his dear friends. They were a man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who had lately come from Rome to Corinth. Every Jew in those times was taught some trade, and Paul's trade was the weaving of a rough cloth used for making tents. It happened that Aquila and Priscilla were tent-makers also, and so Paul went to live in their house, and they worked together at making tents.
On the Sabbath-days Paul went into the synagogue, and there preached the gospel and talked about Christ with the Jews and also with the Greeks who worshipped God in the synagogue. Some believed Paul's words, and some refused to believe, but opposed Paul, and spoke against him. After a time Silas and Timothy came from Thessalonica to meet Paul. They brought to him word about the church at Thessalonica, and some questions that were troubling the believers there. To answer these questions, Paul wrote from Corinth two letters, which you can read in the New Testament. They are called "The First Epistle to the Thessalonians," and "The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians." These two letters are the earliest of Paul's writings that have been kept. We do not know that Paul wrote any letters to churches earlier than these; but if he did write any, the letters have been lost.
CORINTH
Now that Silas and Timothy, as well as Aquila and Priscilla, were with Paul, he was no more alone, and he began to preach even more earnestly than before, telling the Jews that Jesus was the Christ of God. When he found that the Jews would not listen, but spoke evil words against him and against Christ, Paul shook out his garment, as though he were shaking dust from it, and he said to the Jews, "Your blood shall be upon your own heads, not on me; I am free from sin, for I have given you the gospel, and you will not hear it. From this time I will cease speaking to you and will go to the Gentiles."
And Paul went out of the synagogue, and with him went those who believed in Jesus. He found a house near to the synagogue belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a Gentile who worshipped God, and in that house Paul preached the gospel to all who came, both Jews and Gentiles. Many who heard believed in Christ, and were baptized; and among them was a Jew named Crispus, who had been the chief ruler of the synagogue. But most of those who joined the Church of Christ in Corinth were not Jews, but Gentiles, men and women who turned to God from Idols. One night the Lord came to Paul in a vision, and said to him, "Paul, do not be afraid; but speak and do not hold thy peace. I am with thee, and no one shall come against thee to do thee harm; for I have many people in this city."
And Paul stayed in Corinth a year and six months, teaching the word of God. After a time the Jews in a great crowd rushed upon Paul, and seized him, and brought him into the court before the Roman governor, "This man is persuading people to worship God in a way forbidden by the law."
Paul was just opening his mouth to speak in answer to this charge when Gallio, the governor, spoke to the Jews, "O ye Jews, if this were a matter of wrongdoing or of wickedness, I would listen to you. But if these are questions about words, and names, and your law, look after it yourselves, for I will not be a judge of such things." And Gallio drove all the Jews out of his court. Then some of the Greeks seized Sosthenes, who was the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judge's seat in the courtroom. But Gallio did not care for any of these things; for he thought it was a quarrel over small matters.
After staying many days Paul took leave of the brethren in the church at Corinth, and sailed away in a ship across the Ægean Sea to Ephesus, which was a great city in Asia Minor. With Paul were his friends Aquila and Priscilla. At Ephesus, Paul went into the synagogue of the Jews and talked with them about the gospel and about Christ. He could stay only for a little while, although they asked him to remain longer; but he said, "I must go away now; but if it be the will of God, I will come again to you."
And he set sail from Ephesus, but left Aquila and Priscilla there until he should return. Paul sailed over the Great Sea to Caesarea, in the land of Judea. At that place he landed, and from thence went up to Jerusalem, and visited the mother-church. Then he journeyed back to Antioch, the city from which he had set forth.
And this was the end of Paul's second journey among the Gentiles preaching the gospel.
Paul at Ephesus
Acts xviii: 23, to xx: 1.
The Apostle Paul did not stay long at Antioch, but soon started out for another journey among the churches already formed and into new fields. He went through Syria, the country around Antioch, and then to the region near Tarsus, which had been his early home, everywhere preaching Christ. He crossed over the mountains and entered into the heart of Asia Minor, coming to the land of Galatia. The people in this land were a warm-hearted race, eager to see and to hear new things. They listened to Paul with great joy, and believed at once in his teachings. Paul wrote afterward that they received him as an angel of God, as though he were Jesus Christ himself, and that they were ready to pluck out their own eyes and give them to him, so eager were they to have the gospel.
But soon after Paul went away some Jewish teachers came, saying to these new believers, "You must all become Jews, and take upon you the whole Jewish law, with all its rules about things to be eaten, and fasts, and feast-days, or you cannot be saved."