When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
And so Paul left them.
Arriving in Athens Saint Paul must have felt as if he had come home at last. To this day we think of Athens as the birthplace of civilization. It was the ancient home of philosophy, science and learning. Rome had the power to rule the world but Athens had the learning. Cultivated Romans not only studied the Greek writers, they spoke the Greek language. Mel Gibson’s recent movie mistakenly portrayed Pontius Pilate speaking Latin; but the lingua franca of the Roman Empire was Greek. Athenian scholars cultivated old ideas and welcome new ideas; and so Paul, the well-educated former Pharisee, was eager to mount his soap box and announce Jesus Christ in the center of the intellectual world.
He flopped. If they were curious about the excited Jew and his familiar notions about One God, they didn’t want to hear about an executed criminal who had been raised from the dead. You want me to join a religion whose deity has been hanged? You gotta be kidding.
Fortunately there were a few kindly people in the crowd who took him to their homes and listened more intently; but Saint Paul departed for Corinth a defeated man. He would think long thoughts on the road and had changed his tune considerably by the time he arrived:
When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God. (I Corinthians 2: 1-5)
To this day the Church strives to announce the good news with “spirit and power” and without the worldly wisdom that persuades no one. During the Enlightenment the intellectual world lost all interest in the idea of God. God could not be proved or disproved and God’s presence seemed to make no difference. There's nothing in my automobile manual that says what prayer I have to say to start the engine. If there were I wouldn't buy it. In many ways, it seems, the world gets along quite nicely without a creator, prime mover or first cause.
Today, in this post-modern age, after hammering each other into nonsense (e.g. atheism and creationism) science and religion are quietly withdrawing to their respective corners to reconsider their separate missions. How might science and religion assist the world in its current crises? And we the Church wonder what “Jesus Christ and him crucified" means to us today.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.