Introduction and Paul's Mission (vs.16-21)
Athens รป the center of scholarly debate, intellectual cultivation and philosophical deliberations. At the time of Paul's second missionary journey, (AD 49-52), Athens was not as strong a political city as Corinth during this time; however, Athens was still one of the great epochs of intellectual fortitude in the world. At the heart of this intellectual stronghold in Greek culture were two competing schools of thought regarding life and the after life; Stoicism and Epicureanism (IVP, 24.) The passage of Acts 17:16-34, written by the apostle Luke, looks at how Paul, a Greek and Hebrew scholar himself, introduces a new school of thinking (mainly the gospel) into the Greek system. This new message was pointed and clear, Paul was in Athens to present Christianity to the political leaders and the message of Christ's resurrection.
Paul's second missionary journey began about 49 AD, and like the first journey, it was no "10-day excursion." He would not return for about 3 years, until 52 (NIV, 1086). Paul's mission was to spread the gospel to the Greeks and challenge their religious presuppositions through a series of debates, questioning, eloquent presentations and culturally relevant analogies. Evidently, the apostle did not intend to stay long in Athens. He was heading for Corinth, the political capital, for Paul always focused upon those areas where the commerce of life flowed and where the influence of a church would rapidly reach out into the surrounding regions (IVP, 122). While waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, Luke tells us what Paul experience while there, forming the impetus for his mission:
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit became distressed as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the market place every day with those who chanced to be there. Some also of the Epic...