St. Paul coming to Athens was like the country boy entering Harvard. He wanted to dazzle the sophisticates who lived there with his wit and erudition. The sermon St. Luke records in Acts 17 shows the Apostle using logical and persuasive argument. The sermon was not very successful. That caused St. Paul to re-think his strategy. He reports in his letter to the Corinthians “I resolved only to preach Christ Jesus and him crucified.” Rational argumentation was not going to warm the hearts and minds of his hearers. Rather it was (and is) introducing people to the grace and mercy of God we experience in Jesus that changes people.
MAY42016
By Church Staff
