Acts 17:16-25

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-off  trying to say? ” Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities” #— #because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.  They took him and brought him to the Areopagus,  and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?  Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there spent their time on nothing else but telling or hearing something new. Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens! I see that you are extremely religious in every respect. For as I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it   #— #he is Lord of heaven and earth   #— #does not live in shrines made by hands.  Neither is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything,  since he himself gives everyone life and breath and all things.