Evening star., 1925-10-03

street. were all monuments of the
Athenian's idolatry and craze after
gods. Everything possible was deif1ed.
1t did not take Paul long to find out
that the city. crowded as it was with
its religious shrines of beauty, was In
reality sink OF infamy.
In his Indignation against idolatry
Paul would find sympathetic agree
ment with the worshippers in the
synagogues. whether they were Jews
or God fearing" Gentle converts.
When he commenced to argue with
the members Of the various schools
of philosophy in the market place,
or "agora," that was the city'S civic
center. the apostle met for the first
time the philosophy and defense of
the pagan world, whose spirit he had
faced in other places. When the
philosophers saw that their prestige
and income was imperiled by Paul's
popular teachings, they tried to cast
ridicule upon his gospel, which they
claimed was folly" They called him
in the slang of their day a seed
picker" classifying him with the
idler in the "agora," who picked up
scraps Of information from others and
tried to obtain a reputation for wis
dom by presenting his ''babblings" as
original contributions of knowledge.
Others took him by force before the
Areopagus, the highest court of
Athens, that was authorized to pass
upon his religious teachings. They
decided ''as to what gods should be
admitted, and what teachings were
for the good Of the city" Mars Hill
was fateful place. 1t was a Rock
of 1mpudenCe," where criminals made
defense In an effort to save their
lives. Socrates had made his defense
ri t,EaI Il Il Il tt,1s
the fatal hemlock.
Mars Hill Message.
Standing upon the historic site
where the eloquent Demosthenes had
delivered his great Grafton "On thte
Crown and that had heard the echo
of other eminent orators patriotic ap-
peals, and surrounded by the mute
evidence of the colossal ruins on the
Acropolis of the glory and greatness
OF ancient Athtens, one catches some
thing of the spirit of that hour when
Paul revealed his courage, courtesy
and culture by delivering his mastery
defense Of Christianity. His great
speech contains only $50 words. Nev-
ertheleSS 1t was a worthy discourse
delivered before an intelligent congre-
CATION and environment that inspired
Paul TO give of his Very best.
Although the temple of the Eu-
mendes was Immediately below him:
and if he looked to the east he beheld
the Propylea Of the Acropolis front
ing him, and thte Parthenon rising
above him: and on his left the bronze
Colossus Of Minerva, the champion of
Athens: and the Temple of Victory TO
the right; behind him was the altar of
TheSeus and countless multitude OF
smaller temples and altars in the
A nd 'nyy love laln i'm,
Paul's address was nodded largely by
the two schools of philosophers whose
views he had learned in his daily ar
gumentS in the market place. He
knew that the serious Epicureans and
StoicS We're responsible for his ap-
pearance before the court that had
condemned Socrates and many others
for promoting false religions and de.
nying the reality of the Athenian
gods.
The Epicureans had degenerated
during the 400 years that had passed
since the death Of Epicurus. They
had perverted his philosophy, reduc-
ing it TO the grossest cenSualism by
their views of pleasure. These mate.
rialiSts of ancient days made happi-
ness and pleasure the chief aim of
life. Their philosophy was antagon-
iStic to the gospel, as holding the
atomic theory in opposition to the
creation of matter-the disconnection
of the divinity from the world and
its affairs. in opposition to the idea of
a ruling Providence, and the indissolu-
bic union and humiliation together of
soul and body, S opposed to the hope
of eternal life and. indeed, of all spir,
itual religion whatever"
The Stoics extolled virtue. insisted
on subiecting the passions to reason
and urged the Importance of becom-
ing Independent of the ordinary
sources of enjoyment and suffering.
They were essentially fatalists, whose
confused and conflicting views on the
existence of the soul after death made
their faith hopeless of Immortality,
comfortless and weak as to the pres
ent life, infinitely below what man
needs and. the gospel gives" Their
philosophy approached the truth by
emphasizing the one Supreme Ruler OF
all, "and compromised it. in allowing
of any and all ways of conceiving and
worshiping Him-and contravened it,
! in its pantheistic belief that all souls
were emanationS of Him."
Salient Sermonic Points.
Reading Paul's address over or
Mars Hill and in the quiet of the study
one is impressed by the apostles
courageous and courteous presenta
! ton of The principles of the Christian
| faith He tactfully recognized theil
| ing out that in their searching after
! a knowledge of Deity some darken
remarkably religious" spirit by point
| ed and dissatisfied soul had erected
an altar ito the unknown God" that
! had attracted his attention. Abou,
! Is years ago a similar altar was un
| earthed at Pergamum by an explorer
| digging among the ruins of an ancien,
! temple. In the deep sense of a recog
niZed human need and dependence
upon the higher power of an unknown
! God. Paul found a point Of contact
between his faith and their recog
nized religion that he amplified b.
pointing out Gods greatness, good
ness and government. In the creation
| of the world and in the rulership OF
| the universe and men Paul found his
argument for Gods greatness. In his
| assertion of the personality of an in
| finite, independent and intelligent
| spiritual God, the apostle differed from
both schools of philosophy. 1t was
denial of the epicurean's view ot
Deity as an idol being in human
form and refutation Of the stoic's
faith that Deity was an impersona
| fate.
| Assuming the being of God, Pau
I denied theism. His claim that there
was one eternal Creator denied polthe
ism. BY his assertion Of the creation
Of matter he denied materialism. BY
assuming the existence Of God, before