1. Will you give an account of Paul's second missionary journey so far as we have followed it?

2. What account can you give of Athens?

3. How did the apostle feel when he entered the city and found it full of idols? 16.

4. What did he do in the synagogue and in the marketplace? 17.

5. What philosophers encountered him? 18.

6. What account can you give of the Epicureans and Stoics? 7. What did some say of Paul, and why? 18.

8. To what place was he led from the Agora, or marketplace? 19.

9. What can you say of the Areopagus?

10. What address did Paul deliver here? 22-31.

11. What phrase is it probable he used instead of "too superstitious "?

12. What is meant by "devotions" in verse 23?

13. What probably was the origin of altars "to the unknown God"?

14. What word would be better than "worshipped" in verse 25?

15. What would be better than "winked at " in verse 30? 16. What may we gather from this address concerning Paul's ideas of God?

17. What may we gather from it concerning his views of man?

18. How does this address resemble the one made by him at Lystra? xiv. 13-17.

NOTES. xvii. 16. Athens. This celebrated city was situated in the plain of Attica, about five miles from the Egean Sea, and surrounded by walls about seven and one-half miles in length. Its most prominent object was the Acropolis, a hill or rather a craggy rock, one hundred and fifty feet high, with a flat summit about one thousand feet from east to west, and five hundred feet from north to south. On this summit were three temples of unsurpassed symmetry and beauty. Among other notable objects with which the city abounded were the Areopagus, the Agora, the Pnyx, the Museum, the Ceremicus, and the Temple of Theseus. But the wealth of art in the city was inferior to the wealth of mind. Here for ages had been the home of famous patriots, statesmen, philosophers, orators, poets, sculptors, and painters. Its schools were resorted to from all parts of the world. It was

the world's most celebrated seat of learning and refinement. His spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. "His spirit was provoked within him, as he beheld the city full of idols.". Revised Translation. "A person could hardly take his position at any point in ancient Athens, where the eye did not range over temples, altars, and statues of the gods, almost without number."

17. In the market. The Agora or forum. This was not simply a place where provisions were sold, nor was it exclusively, or even chiefly, a place for trade of any kind. It was not a single building, but a great square with its surrounding buildings and neighboring streets. Here the Athenians came not only to buy and sell every conceivable article of traffic, but also to tell and hear the news; to converse and walk with friends; to hold arguments on all sorts of subjects, and even to worship. Here, as in every other part of the city, were temples, altars, and statues of the gods. The market, then, was not an undignified or ill-chosen place for preaching or debating religious subjects. It was precisely adapted to Paul's purpose; for here he could gain the ear of all classes as nowhere else in the city.

18. The Epicureans. This sect of philosophers was so named from Epicurus, who lived about three centuries before Christ. They denied that God was the creator of the world, and that he exercises a providential care over the affairs of men. They also denied the immortality of the soul. They held that pleasure is the highest good, and that virtue is to be practised only because it contributes to pleasure. By pleasure, however, Epicurus did not mean merely the gratification of the senses, although many of his followers in a large measure gave themselves up to this. The Epicureans were materialists in the strictest sense of the word. They held that the world was formed by an accidental concourse of atoms; that the gods, if they existed, exercised no active influence on it; that the universe was a great accident, and sufficiently explained itself without reference to a higher power. The Stoics. This sect of philosophers was so called from the stoa, or porch, where Zeno, the founder of the sect, was accustomed to teach. He, like Epicurus, lived about three hundred years before Christ. His philosophy was in some respects more spiritual and rational; for he extolled virtue, and urged the importance of becoming independent of the ordinary sources of enjoyment and suffering. He held that God was governed by fate, and extended no providential care to men. The Stoics were Pantheists: they held that God was the organizer of matter, not the creator of it; he existed in it, but not independently of it. Most of them believed that at death the soul is re-absorbed into the Deity. Such were the views of two sects of philosophers which Paul met in Athens. It will be seen how inferior were their views to those set forth by him in his address, and how well adapted that address was to those who heard it. He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods. Some of his hearers thought that he preached Jesus and the resurrection as a new god and goddess worthy of their adoration.

19. And they took him. Not by force or against his will. The act was

friendly, rather than unfriendly. - And brought him unto Areopagus. "The Areopagus."-Revised Translation. This was the name of Mars' Hill, - a rocky eminence a little to the west of the Acropolis, —and also of a celebrated Athenian court which sat here. It is probable that many members of this court were present when Paul was brought to this spot. He was not brought here, however, to answer any charge against him, such as that of subverting the established worship. The hill was ascended by steps from the Agora, and on its top were seats for members of the court. The steps and seats cut in the limestone rock are still to be seen.

22. I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. This translation does not convey the apostle's meaning. Nothing is more improbable than that he began so candid an address as the one that follows in such a way. Conybeare and Howson render his words: "All things which I behold bear witness to your carefulness in religion." Hackett: "In every respect I see that you are more religious [than others]." Lewin: "I perceive that in all things ye are devout to excess.' Noyes: "In all things I perceive that ye are very devout." Revised Translation: "In all things perceive that ye are somewhat superstitious." American Committee on the Revised Translation: In all things I perceive that ye are very

religious."

66

"For as I passed

23. For as I passed by I beheld your devotions. along I beheld the objects of your worship." - Revised Translation. - To the unknown God. "To an unknown God."- Revised Translation. There were several altars in the city to "unknown gods" and there may have been more than one to "an [or the] unknown God." "The precise historical origin of the altars at Athens bearing this inscription has been disputed. The conjectures are various. One is that they were very ancient, and that it was at length forgotten to whom they had been originally built; and that the words in question were placed on them at a later period, to apprise the people that it was unknown to what gods they belonged. If that were their character it is not easy to see what proper point of connection the apostle could have found for his remark with such a relic of sheer idolatry. Another is that in some time or times of public calamity, the Athenians, not knowing what god they had offended, - whether Minerva, or Jupiter, or Mars,-erected these altars so as to be sure of propitiating the right one. The same objection may be made as before, since their ignorance in this case relates merely to the identity of the god whom they would conciliate, and involves no recognition of any power additional to their heathen deities. The most rational explanation is unquestionably that of those who suppose these altars to have had their origin in a feeling of uncertainty inherent, after all, in the minds of the heathen, whether their acknowledgment of the superior powers was sufficiently full and comprehensive; in the distinct consciousness of the limitation and imperfection of their religious views, and their consequent desire to avoid the danger of any still unacknowledged god who might be unknown to them. That no deity might punish them for

neglecting his worship, or remain uninvoked in asking for blessings, they not only erected altars to all the gods named or known among them, but, distrustful still lest they might not comprehend fully the extent of their subjection and dependence, they erected them also to any other god or power that might exist, Ithough as yet unrevealed to them. . . . Under these circumstances the allusion to one of these altars by the apostle would be equivalent to his saying to the Athenians thus: You are correct in acknowledging a divine existence beyond any which the ordinary rites of your worship recognize; there is such an existence. You are correct in confessing that this Being is unknown to you; you have no just conception of his nature and perfections.'"-Hackett.

25. Neither is worshipped by men's hands. Not worshipped, but served, is the correct translation. He needs no offerings of food and drink, such as the heathen are accustomed to make to their gods, but is independent of his creatures.

26. And hath made of one blood all nations. Having asserted the unity of God, Paul proceeds to assert the unity of the human race.

28. For in him we live and move and have our being. This is not an assertion of Pantheism, but quite the reverse. The doctrine of Pantheism is that God is all and all is God; the doctrine of Paul is that God is in all, and all is dependent upon God. · As certain also of your own poets have said. The exact words used by Paul are found in a poem by Aretus. Nearly the same language is found in a sublime hymn to Jupiter by Cleanthes.

"Overlooked."

30. And the times of this ignorance God winked at. - Revised Translation. Those who, not knowing the true God, worshipped idols, were not condemned for it.

31. Because he hath appointed a day. The word "day" in the Scriptures often means a time or period, and we may suppose that such is its meaning here. God has appointed a time for the righteous judgment of the world; therefore all should turn to him, is Paul's argument.

33. So Paul departed from among them. His success in Athens so far as the visib'e fruit of his labors is concerned, was small. We hear of no church founded there, and of only a few converts made. He seems to have left abruptly, after a short stay; and we do not learn that he ever visited the city again.

REFERENCES. Conybeare and Howson (Ch. X.); Farrar (Ch. XVII.) ; Renan's "St. Paul" (Ch. VII.) ; "Bible for Learners" (Vol. III., Ch. VII.); "Footsteps of St. Paul" (Ch. XII.); "A Year with St. Paul" (Sundays XXV., XXVI.); Clarke's "Ten Great Religions" (The chapter on "The Gods of Greece "); Robertson's Sermons (First Series, the Sermon on "The Grecian "). Smith's "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography contains a very full description of Athens, and all histories of Philosophy accounts of the Epicureans and Stoics.

Published by the Unitarian Sunday-School Society, 7 Tremont Place, Boston. Price, $2.00 a hundred. [Entered as second-class mail matter.]

Follow with reverent steps the great example
Of him whose holy work was doing good;
So shall the wide earth seem our Father's temple,
Each loving life a psalm of gratitude.

GOLDEN TEXT: [Jesus said] I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. John v. 30.

1. What did you learn in the last Lesson about Paul at Athens?

2. When he left Athens, where did he go?

He went to Corinth.

3. Will you find Corinth on the map?

4. How long did he remain in Corinth? More than a year and a half.

5. At what trade did he work?

At the tent-maker's trade.

6. How did it happen that he had a trade?

7. What effect had his preaching at Corinth?

It led many to believe the Christian religion.

8. What did the Jews do when Paul had been in Corinth a while?

They rose up against him, and brought him before Gallio, the Roman pro-consul.

9. What did Gallio say to them?

That he would have nothing to do with the matter.