Transcript Document

Confronting
Intelligent Ignorance
(17:16-34)
3 Questions
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why am I here?
3. Where am I going?
Stephen Hawking
British Theoretical Physicist
“As recent advances in cosmology
suggest, the laws of gravity and
quantum theory allow universes
to appear spontaneously from
nothing. Spontaneous creation
is the reason there is something
rather than nothing, why the
universe exists, why we exist. It
is not necessary to invoke
God...”
Acts 17:16
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens,
his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that
the city was full of idols
Acts 17:17
– So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews
and the devout persons, and in the marketplace
every day with those who happened to be there.
Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also
conversed with him.
Epicurus
Zeno
of Citium
Acts 17:18
And some said, "What does this babbler wish to
say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of
foreign divinities"--because he was preaching
Jesus and the resurrection
Stephen Hawking
British Theoretical Physicist
“I regard the brain as a
computer which will stop
working when its components
fail. There is no heaven or
afterlife for broken down
computers; that is a fairy
story for people afraid of the
dark,”
1 Corinthians 1:18
– For the word of the cross is folly to those who
are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is
the power of God
1 Corinthians 3:18-20
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you
thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a
fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of
this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He
catches the wise in their craftiness," and again,
"The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that
they are futile.
Acts 17:19-21
And they took him and brought him to the
Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new
teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring
some strange things to our ears. We wish to know
therefore what these things mean." Now all the
Athenians and the foreigners who lived there
would spend their time in nothing except telling or
hearing something new.
Acts 17:22-23
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus,
said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way
you are very religious. For as I passed along and
observed the objects of your worship, I found also
an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown
god.' What therefore you worship as unknown,
this I proclaim to you
Jeremiah 9:23-24
Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast
in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his
might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but
let him who boasts boast in this, that he
understands and knows me, that I am the LORD
who practices steadfast love, justice, and
righteousness in the earth. For in these things I
delight, declares the LORD
Hosea 6:6
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the
knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings
1 Chronicles 28:9
"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your
father and serve him with a whole heart and with
a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts
and understands every plan and thought. If you
seek him, he will be found by you, but if you
forsake him, he will cast you off forever
John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they know you the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have
sent
Philippians 3:8-10
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things
and count them as rubbish, in order that I may
gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which comes through faith in Christ, the
righteousness from God that depends on faith—
that I may know him and the power of his
resurrection, and may share his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death
1 Corinthians 1:21
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not
know God through wisdom, it pleased God
through the folly of what we preach to save those
who believe
Acts 17:24-25
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not
know God through wisdom, it pleased God
through the folly of what we preach to save those
who believe
Acts 17:26-28
And he made from one man every nation of
mankind to live on all the face of the earth,
having determined allotted periods and the
boundaries of their dwelling place, that they
should seek God, in the hope that they might feel
their way toward him and find him. Yet he is
actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him
we live and move and have our being'; as even
some of your own poets have said, "'For we are
indeed his offspring
Acts 17:29-31
Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think
that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone,
an image formed by the art and imagination of
man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but
now he commands all people everywhere to
repent, 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
assurance to all by raising him from the dead."
Acts 17:32-34
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the
dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear
you again about this." So Paul went out from their
midst. But some men joined him and believed,
among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite
and a woman named Damaris and others with
them
The True God is…
1. Creator
2. Sustainer
3. Ruler
4. Near & Knowable
Acts 16:19-26
But when her owners saw that their hope of gain
was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged
them into the marketplace before the rulers. And
when they had brought them to the magistrates,
they said, "These men are Jews, and they are
disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are
not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice."
The crowd joined in attacking them, and the
magistrates tore the garments off them and gave
orders to beat them with rods…
Acts 16:19-26
And when they had inflicted many blows upon
them, they threw them into prison, ordering the
jailer to keep them safely. Having received this
order, he put them into the inner prison and
fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to
God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and
suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the
foundations of the prison were shaken. And
immediately all the doors were opened, and
everyone's bonds were unfastened.
Acts 16:27-34
When the jailer woke and saw that the prison
doors were open, he drew his sword and was
about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners
had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do
not harm yourself, for we are all here." And the
jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling
with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then
he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I
do to be saved?“…
Acts 16:27-34
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved, you and your household." And they
spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who
were in his house. And he took them the same
hour of the night and washed their wounds; and
he was baptized at once, he and all his family.
Then he brought them up into his house and set
food before them. And he rejoiced along with his
entire household that he had believed in God.