From: Acts 17:15, 22-18:1
Reception in Beroea (Continuation)
Paul’s Speech in the Areopagus
[29] Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold,
or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. [30] The
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere
to repent, [31] because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assu-
rance to all men by raising him from the dead.
[32] Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but
others said, “We will hear you again about this.” [33] So Paul went out from
among them. [34] But some men joined him and believed, among them Diony-
sius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Paul in Corinth, with Aquila and Priscilla
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Commentary:
22-33. Of all Paul’s addresses reported in Acts, this address in the Areopagus is
his longest to a pagan audience (cf. 14:15ff). It is a highly significant one, paral-
leling in importance his address to the Jews of Pisidian Antioch (cf. 13:16ff). It is
the first model we have of Christian apologetic method, which tends to stress the
reasonableness of Christianity and the fact that it has no difficulty in holding its
own with the best in human thought.
The speaker is clearly the same person as wrote the first three chapters of the
Epistle to the Romans, someone with a lot of experience of preaching the Gos-
pel; his method consists in first talking about the one, true, living God and then
proclaiming Jesus Christ, the divine Saviour of all men (cf. 2 Thess 1:9-10).
After an introduction designed to catch the attention of listeners and highlight
the central theme (vv. 22ff), the address can be divided into three parts: 1) God
is the Lord of the world; he does not need to live in temples built by men (vv. 24f);
2) man has been created by God and is dependent on him for everything (vv. 26f);
3) there is a special relationship between God and man; therefore, idolatry is a
grave sin (vv. 28f). Then, in his conclusion, Paul exhorts his listeners to accept
the truth about God, and to repent, bearing in mind the Last Judgment (vv. 30f).
The terminology Paul uses comes mainly from the Greek translation of the Old
Testament—the Septuagint. Biblical beliefs are expressed in the language of the
Hellenistic culture of the people.
22-24. “To an unknown God”: St Paul praises the religious feelings of the Athe-
nians, which lead them to offer worship to God. But he goes on to point out that
their form of religion is very imperfect because they do not know enough about
God and about the right way to worship him; nor does their religion free them
from their sins or help them live in a way worthy of human dignity. Religious A-
thenians, he seems to say somewhat ironically, are in fact superstitious, and
they do not know the one true God and his ways of salvation.
Paul criticizes pagan religion and points out its limitations, but he does not to-
tally condemn it. He regards it as a basis to work on: at least it means that his
listeners accept the possibility of the existence of a true God as yet unknown
to them. They are predisposed to receive and accept the supernatural revelation
of God in Christ. Revelation does not destroy natural religion: rather, it purifies it,
completes it and raises it up, enabling a naturally religious person to know the
mystery of God, One and Triune, to change his life with the help of the grace of
Christ and to attain the salvation he needs and yearns for.
23. “Those who acted in accordance with what is universally naturally and eter-
nally good were pleasing to God and will be saved by Christ [...], just like the righ-
teous who preceded them” (St Justin, “Dialogue with Tryphon”, 45). The Church’s
esteem for the positive elements in pagan religions leads her to preach to all men
the fullness of truth and salvation which is to be found only in Jesus Christ. “The
Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She
has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines
which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often
reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men, yet she proclaims, and is in
duty bound to proclaim without fail, Christ who is the way, and the truth, and the
life (Jn 14:6). In him, in whom God reconciled all things to himself, men find the
fullness of their religious life” (Vatican II, “Nostra Aetate”, 2).
24. Paul’s language is in line with the way God is described in the Old Testament
as being Lord of heaven and earth (cf. Is 42:5; Ex 20:21). The Apostle speaks of
God’s infinite majesty: God is greater than the universe, of which he is the crea-
tor. However, Paul does not mean to imply that it is not desirable for God to be
worshipped in sacred places designed for that purpose.
His words seem to echo those of Solomon at the dedication of the first Temple:
“Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less
this house which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27).
Any worship rendered to God should be “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24). But the
Lord has desired to dwell in a special way and to receive homage in temples built
by men. “The worship of God”, St Thomas Aquinas writes, “regards both God
who is worshipped and men who perform the worship. God is not confined to any
place, and therefore it is not on his account that a tabernacle or temple has to be
made. Worshippers, as corporeal beings, need a special tabernacle or temple set
up for the worship of God; and this for two reasons. First, that the thought of its
being appointed to the worship of God might instill a greater sense of reverence;
second, that the way it is arranged and furnished might signify in various respects
the excellence of Christ’s divine or human nature. [...] From this it is clear that the
house of the sanctuary was not set up to receive God as if dwelling there, but that
his name might dwell there, that is, in order that the knowledge of God might be
exhibited there” (”Summa Theologiae”, I-II, q. 102, a. 4. ad 1).
25. The idea that God does not need man’s service and does not depend on
man for his well-being and happiness is to be often found in the prophetical books.
“Now in Babylon you will see”, Jeremiah proclaims, “gods made of silver and gold
and wood, which are carried on men’s shoulders and inspire fear in the heathen.
Their tongues are smoothed by the craftsmen, and they themselves are overlaid
with gold and silver; but they are false and cannot speak. [...] When they have
been dressed in purple robes, their faces are wiped because of the dust from the
temple, which is thick upon them. Like a local ruler the god holds a scepter,
though unable to destroy any one who offends it. [...] Having no feet, they are
carried on men’s shoulders, revealing to mankind their worthlessness. And those
who serve them are ashamed because through them these gods are made to
stand, lest they fall to the ground” (Bar 6:4, 8, 12-13, 26-27).
This does not mean that the Lord does not want men to respond to the love-offe-
ring which he makes them. “Hear, O heavens,” Isaiah prophesies, “and give ear,
O earth; for the Lord has spoken: Sons have I reared and brought up, but they
have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master’s crib;
but Israel does not know, my people does not understand” (1:2-3).
In addition to being offensive and senseless, sin implies indifference and ingrati-
tude towards God, who, in an excess of love, is tireless in seeking man’s friend-
ship. “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son,”
we read in the prophet Hosea. “The more I called them, the more they went from
me. [...] Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but
they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with
the bands of love” (11:1-4).
By far the greatest sign of God’s love for men is the Redemption, and the sacra-
ments of the Church, through which the fruits of the Redemption reach us. His
love is expressed in a special way in the Blessed Eucharist, which provides the
Christian with nourishment and is where Jesus wishes us to adore him and keep
him company.
26. “From one”: St Paul is referring to the text of Genesis 2:7: “then the Lord
God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life”; in other words, he is speaking of the first progenitor of the human race.
The expression “from one” should not be interpreted as meaning from “one princi-
ple” but from “one man”.
27-28. St Paul is speaking about the absolute nearness of God and his myste-
rious but real presence in every man and woman. St Augustine echoes this tea-
ching when he exclaims, “Yet all the time you were within me, more inward than
the most inward place of my heart, and loftier than the highest” (”Confessions”,
III, 6, 11).
Merely to exist, man needs God, his Creator. He also needs him if he is to con-
tinue in existence, to live and act. He needs him if he is to think and love. And
in particular he needs him in order to love goodness and be good. It is correct to
say that God is in us. This intimate union of God and man does not in any way
take from the fact that there is a perfect distinction and radical difference be-
tween God, who is infinite, and man, who is finite and limited.
“Men, who are incapable of existing of themselves,” St Athanasius writes, “are
to be found confined by place and dependent on the Word of God. But God ex-
ists of himself, he contains all things and is contained by none. He is to be found
within everything as far as his goodness and power is concerned, and he is out-
side of everything as far as his own divine nature is concerned” (”De Decretis Ni-
caenae Synodi”, 11).
Christian spirituality has traditionally seen in these ideas an invitation to seek
God in the depth of one’s soul and to always feel dependent upon him.
“Consider God”, says St John of Avila, “who is the existence of everything that
exists, and without whom there is nothing: and who is the life of all that lives, and
without whom there is death; and who is the strength of all that has capacity to
act, and without whom there is weakness; and who is the entire good of every-
thing that is good, without whom nothing can have the least little bit of good in it”
(”Audi, Filia”, chap. 64).
St Francis de Sales writes: “Not only is God in the place where you are, but he
is in a very special manner in your heart and in the depth of your soul, which he
quickens and animates with his divine presence, since he is there as the heart
of your heart, and the spirit of your soul; for, as the soul, being spread throughout
the body, is present in every part of it, and yet resides in a special manner in the
heart, so God, being present in all things, is present nevertheless in a special
manner in our spirit and therefore David called God ‘the God of his heart’ (Ps 73:
26); and Paul said that ‘we live and move and have our being in God’ (Acts 17:28).
By reflecting on this truth, you will stir up in your heart a great reverence for God,
who is so intimately present there” (”Introduction to the Devout Life”, II, chap. 2).
This quotation — in the singular — is from the Stoic poet Aratus (3rd century B.C.).
The plural in the quotation may refer to a similar verse in the hymn to Zeus writ-
ten by Cleanthes (also 3rd century).
“The devil spoke words of Scripture but our Saviour reduced him to silence”, St
Athanasius comments. “Paul cites secular authors, but, saint that he is, he gives
them a spiritual meaning” (”De Synodis”, 39). “We are rightly called ‘God’s off-
spring’, not the offspring of his divinity but created freely by his spirit and recrea-
ted through adoption as sons” (St Bede, “Super Act Expositio, ad loc”.).
29. If men are God’s offspring, and are in some way like him, clearly an inanimate
representation cannot contain the living God. Men have God’s spirit and therefore
they should recognize that God is spiritual. However, material representations of
God do serve a useful purpose, due to the fact that human knowledge begins from
sense experience. Visual images help us to realize that God is present and they
help us to adore him. Veneration of images — as encouraged by the Church — is,
therefore, quite different from idolatry: an idolater thinks that God dwells in the i-
dol, that he acts only through the idol, and in some cases he actually thinks that
the idol is God.
30. St Paul now moves on from speaking about natural knowledge of God to ex-
plaining the knowledge of God that comes from faith.
Although man can know God by using his reason, the Lord has chosen to make
known the mysteries of his divine life in a supernatural way, in order to make it
easier for man to attain salvation. “The Church maintains and teaches that God,
the beginning and end of all things, can be known with certainty, by the natural
light of human reason, from created things. [...] However, it pleased him in his
wisdom and goodness to reveal himself to mankind and to make known the eter-
nal decrees of his will in another, supernatural way” (Vatican I, “Dei Filius”, chap.
2).
“It was also necessary for man to be instructed by divine Revelation concerning
those truths concerning God, which human reason is able to discover, for these
truths, attained by human reason, would reach man through the work of a few,
after much effort and mixed in with many errors; yet the entire salvation of man,
which lies in God, depends on knowledge of these truths. So, for salvation to
reach men more rapidly and more surely, it was necessary for them to be ins-
tructed by divine Revelation concerning the things of God” (St Thomas Aquinas,
“Summa Theologiae”, I, q. 1, a. 1).
Supernatural Revelation assures man of easily attained, certain knowledge of
divine mysteries; it also includes some truths—such as the existence of God —
which unaided human reason can discover (cf. Rom 1:20).
“It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom”, Vatican II teaches, “to reveal
himself and to make known the mystery of his will (cf. Eph 1:9). His will was that
men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in
the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature (cf. Eph 2:18; 2 Pet
1:4). By this revelation, then, the invisible God (cf. Col 1: 15; 1 Tim 1 :17), from
the fullness of his love, addresses men as his friends (cf. Ex 33:11; Jn 15:14-15),
and moves among them in order to invite and receive them into his own company”
(”Dei Verbum”, 2).
The knowledge of the triune God and his saving will which supernatural revelation
offers men is not just theoretical or intellectual knowledge: it has the aim of con-
verting man and leading him to repent and to change his life. It is, therefore, a cal-
ling from God; and God expects man to make a personal response to that call.
“The obedience of faith” (Rom 16:26; cf. Rom 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) must be given to
God as he reveals himself. By faith man freely commits his entire self to God,
making ‘the full submission of his intellect and will to God who reveals’ (Vatican I,
“Dei Filius”, chap. 3), and willingly assenting to the Revelation given by him. Be-
fore this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and as-
sist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart
and converts it to God” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 5).
This practical knowledge of the living and true God revealed in Christ is in fact the
only way for man to know himself, despise his faults and sins, and find hope in
divine mercy. It is a self-knowledge—given by God—which enables the repentant
sinner to begin a new life and work freely with God at his own sanctification: “As
I see it, we shall never succeed in knowing ourselves unless we seek to know
God,” St Teresa writes. “Let us think of his greatness and then come back to our
own baseness; by looking at his purity we shall see our foulness; by meditating
on his humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble” (”Interior Castle”,
I, 2, 9).
31. On Jesus Christ as Judge of all, see the note on Acts 10:42.
32. When St Paul begins to tell the Athenians about Jesus’ resurrection from the
dead, they actually begin to jeer. For pagans, the notion of resurrection from the
dead was absurd, something they were not prepared to believe. If the Apostle
speaks in this way, the reason is that the truths of the Christian faith all lead into
the mystery of the Resurrection; even though he may have anticipated his liste-
ners’ reaction, he does not avoid telling them about this truth, which forms the
bedrock of our faith. “See how he leads them,” Chrysostom points out, “to the
God who takes care of the world, who is kind, merciful, powerful and wise: all
these attributes of the Creator are confirmed in the Resurrection” (”Hom. on Acts”,
38).
The Apostle fails to overcome the rationalist prejudices of most of his audience.
Here we have, as it were, an application of what he wrote later to the Corinthians:
“The Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.... folly to the Gentiles”
(1 Cor 1:22), the reason being that if people do not have an attitude and disposi-
tion of faith, then reason goes out of control and haughtily rejects mysteries. If
the human mind is made the measure of all things, it will despise and reject any-
thing it does not understand—including things which are beyond human understan-
ding. The mysteries God has revealed to man cannot be grasped by unaided hu-
man reason; they have to be accepted on faith. What moves the mind to accept
these mysteries is not the evidence they contain but the authority of God, who is
infallible truth and cannot deceive or be deceived. The act of faith, although strict-
ly speaking an act of the assenting mind, is influenced by the will; the desire to
believe presupposes that one loves him who is proposing the truth to be believed.
34. “Those careful to live an upright life do not take long to understand the word;
but the same does not go for others” (Chrysostom, Hom. on Acts, 39).
Among the few converts in Athens St Luke mentions Damaris. She is one of the
many women who appear in Acts—which clearly shows that the preaching of the
Gospel was addressed to everyone without distinction. In all that they did the A-
postles followed their Master’s example, who in spite of the prejudices of his age
proclaimed the Kingdom to women as well as men.
St. Luke told us about the first convert in Europe being a woman (cf. 16:14ff).
Something similar happened in the case of the Samaritans: it was a woman who
first spoke to them about the Saviour (cf. Jn 4). In the Gospels we see how atten-
tive women are to our Lord—standing at the foot of the Cross or being the first to
visit the tomb on Easter Sunday. And there is no record of women being hypocri-
tical or hating Christ or abandoning him out of cowardice.
St Paul has a deep appreciation of the role of the Christian woman—as mother,
wife and sister—in the spreading of Christianity, as can be seen from his letters
and preaching. Lydia in Philippi, Priscilla and Chloe in Corinth, Phoebe in Cen-
chrae, the mother of Rufus—who was also a mother to him—, and the daughters
of Philip (Acts 21:9): these are some of the women to whom Paul was ever-
grateful for their help and prayers.
“Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, charac-
teristics which are their own and which they alone can give—their gentle warmth
and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition,
their simple and deep piety, their constancy...” (St. J. Escriva, “Conversations”,
87). The Church looks to women to commit themselves and bear witness to hu-
man values and to where human happiness lies: “Women have received from
God”, Bl. John Paul II says, “a natural charism of their own, which features great
sensitivity, a fine sense of balance, a gift for detail and a providential love for life-
in-the-making, life in need of loving attention. These are qualities which make for
human maturity” (”Address”, 7 December 1979).
When these qualities, with which God has endowed feminine personality, are de-
veloped and brought into play, woman’s “life and work will be really constructive,
fruitful and full of meaning, whether she spends the day dedicated to her husband
and children or whether, having given up the idea of marriage for a noble reason,
she has given herself fully to other tasks.
“Each woman in her own sphere of life, if she is faithful to her divine and human
vocation, can and, in fact, does achieve the fullness of her feminine personality.
Let us remember that Mary, Mother of God and Mother of men, is not only a mo-
del but also a proof of the transcendental value of an apparently unimportant life”
(St. J. Escriva, “Conversations”, 87).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.