Athenian Idols

Photo by Cristina Gottardi

“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.” (Acts 17:16 NASB).

Much of the book of Acts recounts the story of the apostle Paul on his missionary journeys throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. In chapter 17 of the book, Paul finds himself in the city of Athens. Athens, even in the time of Paul (ca. 50 CE), was an ancient city, established some 3,000 years earlier. While no longer a seat of political power, it remained a city recognized for its great cultural and intellectual achievements; a center for philosophy, literature, and art.

It is not entirely clear from the story in Acts 17 that Paul had planned on going to Athens, at least at that time. He was brought there to secure his safety by a group from a nearby city in Macedonia who were recently persuaded by his claims regarding Jesus—that he was Israel’s promised messiah, and thus the true Lord and Savior of the world. (Note that Paul’s missionary efforts often got him in trouble, either from members of his own Jewish people group or from local civic authorities.) In any case, while Paul was waiting in Athens for his travelling companions to catch up with him, he became deeply distressed by what he saw.

The city derived its name from its patron deity, the Greek goddess Athena. A temple dedicated to her, the Parthenon, stood on top of the acropolis, a large hill overlooking the city. Beyond that famous structure (which still stands today), Paul would have found himself amid a city replete with temples, altars, and cultic images of all kinds. It was these extensive symbols of idolatry throughout the city that provoked him, and seemingly intensified his desire to proclaim the good news to them.

But why the distress? What is it about idols that was so troubling to Paul?

An idol is something that stands in the place of the Creator God, the God of Israel. The first of the Ten Commandments is that God’s people are to have no other gods except the one who had delivered them out of Egypt. Accordingly, throughout the Old Testament it is repeatedly mentioned that God is a jealous God.

Is this command and characterization of God evidence of an insanely insecure, ego-driven cosmic being that simply cannot tolerate any potential rivals? I think we have an answer in the way the first commandment is introduced.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 20:2 NIV). What Israel’s God recognizes is that other gods people may attach themselves to are not the God of the Exodus. They are not the God who is staunchly opposed to human oppression and who provides liberation.

Idols are not the God “who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. . . [who] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing” (Deuteronomy 10:17–18 NIV).

Idols are not the Creator who shares power with his creation and desires creaturely flourishing (see Genesis 1:16–18, 26–30).

Idols are not the God “who so loved the world that he gave his one and only son” (John 3:16 NIV).

So, again, why no idols? Because God loves us far too much to see us give ourselves over to cheap imitations that can only ultimately offer pain, frustration, and despair.

Paul understood this.

In keeping with his usual missionary practice, he went to both the synagogue and marketplace in Athens to reason with them concerning the good news about Jesus. He was eventually brought by intrigued Athenians to the Areopagus, a section of the acropolis that had historically been the place where court was held (it may have derived its name from Ares, the Greek god of war; in Paul’s day it was also called “Mars Hill,” as Mars was the Roman equivalent of Ares). 

Being given the opportunity to speak, and seeking as much common ground as he could, he went on to proclaim the truth of the Creator God and how this God has acted once and for all to bring justice to the world through the person of Jesus Christ.

The results were mixed. Some Athenians believed him while others scoffed.

And this divided response to his gospel message was also something Paul understood quite well. For so long as there are alternative gods that people may cling to—whether they be divine beings of some sort, ideologies, or even our own selves—some will always be drawn for one reason or another to the counterfeits. As it was then so it is today.

But the offer to embrace the true God still stands. And, frankly, the truth is much better. As Paul would later write to a community of believers that he founded in the nearby city of Corinth: “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NET).