Is There A God?

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Paul’s Address in the Areopagus


"Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you."

Acts 17:22-23 in the Berean Study Bible Version

[This is the 1st of a mini-series of lessons (within a series)]

In the 1st century, the Apostle Paul went around Europe to talk to people about Jesus Christ.

After passing through and speaking to those who were in Berea, where the people were studious and they read and study things over, for themselves, he and his party went to Athens.

While in Athens, he spoke to the intellectuals of the day, thinkers and philosophers, and those who discuss ideas, concepts and matters higher than themselves.

If we believe the things we read about in history books, then we can at least accept that the Book of Acts (where the excerpt above was taken) is also a history book. It is a book which details the story of those who first believed and followed Christ.

[All history books are written by someone, does not matter what political or belief system they belong to, all historical books are slanted one way or another, but we believe them anyway -- okay with Scriptural writing there is many of us who are saying "I don't know about those", but generally it is no different from any other source we get our information from, and yet we accept and don't question most of those, except Scriptural writings, "don't you ever wonder why").]

Paul of Tarsus, 1st Century

Paul of Tarsus was a real person who spoke several languages, he lived in the 1st century. While visiting Athens, he told the intellectuals of the day that he saw a statue in their city that was marked, To An Unknown God. Incidentally there was an altar with this inscription that was unearthed among the ancient ruins in Palatine Hill, Athens.

"Altar To The Unknown God", Sailko, Wikimedia Commons

Through the centuries, more and more archaeological sites have produced artifacts that support historical events as written in Scriptures.

Men of Athens

Back to the excerpt, Paul went up the hill were the people there meet, to speak with these learned people and he spoke to them about the God of Creation.

Now people always stumble over this topic of evolution or the origin of life on earth and also over the origin of the universe. Scientists believe in evolution, yet and even though there are still a few things they cannot completely wrap their minds around and ascertain 100%. 

I mean, let us face it, science is a continuing study, what we have or should come to accept is that we learn new things constantly. We change our long standing scientific beliefs every generation or everytime a new scientific "discovery" takes place. We cannot just believe one thing and be obtuse about the fact that what we believe in might be correct and acceptable for right now but all may change after some time or after our lifetime.

Would you believe that those who believe in God also believe in science and in evolution to a certain degree, and also believe in the big bang, and many other scientific beliefs? They do. 

There are more that unites science and faith than those which separates it.

Scientific Minds

All the great scientists believed in God, Galileo, Copernicus, Bacon, Descartes, Boyle, Newton, Kepler, Harvey, Liebniz, Pascal, Mendel, Marconi, Kelvin, Pasteur, Faraday, Hertz, Joule, Volta, Babbage, Fleming, Davy, Morse, Boyd and so many others. Even Einstein reconciled God and science. So many scientists alive today believe in God.

But then again, we shouldn't compare what we personally believe in with what others believe. We should all find our own beliefs. And it is alright to challenge our beliefs, whatever it might be. If God is God, He welcomes this. Why would He give us intellect if not to use it? 

If there is no God then pondering if there is and if there isn't, is not necessarily a waste of time. If we are unsure, then why should we want to remain as such, why shouldn't we want to be sure?

Settling In

What is wrong is if we stubbornly just hold on to the idea that what we already decided to believe in will not change. Why? Because everything changes.

[Have you forgotten scientists and philosophers used to believe the earth is flat? Some people still do today, but that's a different story. There are countless theories and practices in science and in medicine which were strongly held as true but later on debunked. Yes, stop thinking about it, it was once "scientific" to believe that the earth was flat. I said, it once was.]

So why shouldn't we be at least like Einstein and reconcile our scientific beliefs with God? He did. 

It shouldn't be mutually exclusive. If God is God then He knows science. (He knows mathematics, anatomy, technology, everything). And He knows that science and everything He created will lead people to Him. One can be a scientist and be open to the concept of God.

The problem is when we close our mind to the idea of God and if we shoot down the possibility that there is one. 

Nothing is impossible. And in fact if there is a God, then nothing is impossible with God.

Paul spoke to the intellectuals of his day and reasoned with them. That's how intellectuals do this kind of thing. Of course some of them didn't believe, some did and the rest wanted to hear more.

We too have to decide where we are, if not now then somewhere down the line. Just be keenly aware that we do not live forever, things happen in an instant. There might be events that will occur any minute now, and we may not have the luxury of time.

Paul told the intellectuals in Athens, in that day and time these:

In the Message Paraphrase Version

23 When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.

24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”

And he left it at that. 

Some laughed, some said this is a new teaching and that they want to hear more and he explained further, others eh, we don't care. 

From there Paul moved on to Corinth and many other places to continue on his mission to tell the whole world. People today are still doing the same thing, not to force people to believe. But merely to inform, to share. It's up to the listener what they would do with what they heard.



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