BINGHAM: Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham with Ligonier Ministries. And we are here in Athens,
Greece as part of our 2022 Mediterranean study tour. And I'm joined by Steve Nichols,
president of Reformation Bible College, also a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow.
Well, Steve, we have seen some incredible sights today. Can you tell us where are we right now,
what have we seen this morning, and what was one of your highlights?
NICHOLS: We have had an incredible day. We are in the agora, the marketplace of ancient Athens. And
you ask me my highlight-- well, it had to be just a little bit ago, Nathan, when we were up there
on Mars Hill, or the Areopagus, where Paul gave his speech in Acts chapter 17. And we were up
there with the group, and I was able to give a little talk on the speech. And I've got to say,
for me personally, it was a very moving experience knowing that Paul was at that very
spot and knowing the importance of Acts chapter 17 in the life and the example of Paul for us.
BINGHAM: Could you set the context for us. What
happened leading up to Paul being up there on Mars Hill?
NICHOLS: Yeah, absolutely. Of course, we arrived here by bus. Paul walked here from
Berea. He was on a second missionary journey, and he had been to Philippi,
Thessalonica, Berea-- these Greek cities.
Then he left Timothy and Silas there in Berea. And he had an escort who brought him here to this
town. Paul was a scholar, and the reputation of Athens preceded it. This was the home of Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle, had a famous university, of course, Paul's going to want to come here.
And we read in those verses of chapter 17 that he was at the synagogue here in the ancient city
and he was right here in the agora, speaking with the philosophers, speaking with just the public of
Athens. And there's a very important mention in Acts before Paul gives a speech that his spirit
was provoked within him. Paul saw these folks as lost and they're going to give him the opportunity
to address them publicly as they grab him and take him up there to Mars Hill to deliver a speech.
BINGHAM: So, what are some of the significant moments in that speech?
NICHOLS: Well, he starts with where the Greeks are. When he's in the synagogue,
he starts with the Old Testament and he shows how the Old Testament points to Christ as the Messiah,
points to Christ as that sacrificial lamb who shed his blood for sin.
But he doesn't have that common ground with these pagans and these Greek philosophers,
so he starts with this world that God made and as a testimony to who God is. So,
he talks about God as creator, he talks about God as sovereign. But
it's also very interesting how he ends his speech, and he talks about God as judge.
BINGHAM: This is what I love when I read in Acts 17 Paul speech,
that he's talking to learned man, philosophers--
NICHOLS: Right.
BINGHAM: --because he's skilled to engage in that conversation but he doesn't just
deal with arguments. He's not just trying to win an argument. And apologetics isn't
about winning arguments, we're trying to win souls. We want to present the gospel,
and so he does do just that, and even brings up the subject of the coming judgment,
which sometimes as Christians were hesitant to do in conversation.
NICHOLS: Absolutely, Nathan. You know, we do the always ready, the apologetics, and we want
the youth who come to those-- and as we engage in apologetics, we want people to know who God is,
we want people to know who they are. Those are really important. There's so much distortion out
there and that's where we have to start. If you don't have a proper understanding of who God is,
the gospel, in one sense, is going to fall on deaf ears. But Paul doesn't end there.
It's so interesting as you analyze the speech. He begins with these words-- "Men of Athens." Now,
this was 51 AD. Exactly 450 years prior, 399 BC, Socrates, on trial for his life,
stood there and delivered his apologia, his defense. This is where we get the word
apologetics from. And he starts off with "Men of Athens." Paul does the exact same thing.
But he's not going to defend-- he doesn't have his life to defend-- his life to defend,
he wants to give a defense of eternal life and eternal death. And so he ends
this with the most serious thing he could tell these Athenians-- you will be judged.
That rock-- and it's a massive rock, you can only see the top of it-- that rock was where criminals
were taken to make their case before the Athenian tribunal. Well, Paul, looks way past the Athenian
tribunal. There is a judge who will judge you in righteousness, Paul says. Now we're talking about
the terrifyingly pure, holy God who will judge. But then Paul says, but he's appointed a man.
And that man he gives assurances of by raising him from the dead. Well, this is the Athenians
only hope. Whether they're philosophers or pagans, it is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ that paid the penalty, that bore that judgment, the wrath of God for sin.
And so, we talk to people, as apologists, who God is, who they are as ultimately religious beings,
right? Paul says, "for in him we live, and we move, and we have our being." But,
ultimately, it's like the it's like the bull's eye of the target,
we want to lead people to the gospel and lead them to who Jesus is.
BINGHAM: So how did they respond after Paul preached to them?
NICHOLS: Yeah, it's fascinating. It's a mixed bag, isn't it? Some of the philosophers mocked
him. And you can almost picture it. When we were up there, I could see it in my mind's
eye these philosophers just mocking him for these ideas. Some were ambivalent or ambiguous-- "Hey,
he says interesting things, maybe we'll hear them again tomorrow." But there were some who believed,
and Luke identifies them by name. And we were just up there-- in fact, there's Mars Hill
and then way up there is the Acropolis, which means "high city." And it lives up to its name.
BINGHAM: It's a beautiful high city.
NICHOLS: It's stunning up there. You can just see the top of the Parthenon and
then you have a clear vision from here of the old temple of Athena.
But that Acropolis, that's where the gods were up there.
BINGHAM: Little g.
NICHOLS: Little g. In fact, at one point in Acts it says,
gods made by hand are not gods and Paul's here to tell them about the living God.
BINGHAM: So, what lesson can we learn from their response?
What encouragement does that give us today as we're evangelizing?
NICHOLS: Yeah, so as we were up there and walking around,
it's all these temples. It's all about the gods. It's about Athena,
the Greek goddess of war. Mars Hill, Mars is the Roman god war. But we saw it, as we were up there,
crosses-- every once in a while a cross. What that meant was that later there was a Christian
community here that was right up there, and they left behind the testimony of their presence.
But I think the takeaway-- and the temptation is to visit these sites and get caught up in the
past. And I teach church history, I'm all for getting caught up in the past, but we have to
bring the past forward and we have to think about what do we learn as we look at Acts chapter 17?
Well, we learned that, just as the Athenians had a lot going for them, they were lost. We live in
this world of technological advancement, we see people buttoned up in their suits,
the reality is they're lost. They are without hope without the gospel of Christ.
And it just reminds us that as Dr. Sproul taught us, everyone's a theologian. Well, everyone's an
apologist and so reminds us of finding those opportunities of knowing those places where we
help people think about who God is, who they are, and then introduce them to Jesus Christ.
BINGHAM: And Mars Hill is essentially wherever we are,
whether it's our workplace, our school, whoever is around us, social media.
NICHOLS: Yeah, you think about, well, where is Mars Hill today? And is it one of the great
cities-- London, or Tokyo, or New York City? Is it Harvard, is it Oxford, or Cambridge? I think
in many ways it's social media where ideas are exchanged, where ideas are promoted. There's a lot
of people on social media trying to persuade you about a worldview and what you should live for.
Well, that's our marketplace. And as you so well put it, really our marketplace is wherever we are.
There are lost people around us and we have this obligation. And God has chosen us to be
the instruments of the proclamation of the Gospel. And he's called us to give an answer for the hope
that is in us. Paul did that here in 51 AD in a very formal way but we have opportunities every
day of our lives to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we need to take them.
BINGHAM: Steve Nichols, thank you so much.
NICHOLS: My pleasure. It's great to be here and great to be on this site with you, Nathan. Thanks.
BINGHAM: Well, that's just a little taste of what you get when you travel with
Ligonier Ministries. So, if you'd like to join us for an upcoming study tour,
then you can learn about all of those upcoming tours at ligoniertours.com.