টীকা বর্তমানে শুধুমাত্র ইংরেজিতে উপলব্ধ। বাংলা অনুবাদ চলছে।
Acts 17 — In Him We Live, and Move, and Have Our Being
At Thessalonica Paul reasons three sabbaths from the Scriptures; some believe; a riot follows. At Berea they search the Scriptures daily. At Athens, his spirit stirred by the idols, he preaches in the synagogue and the market. The philosophers bring him to Areopagus. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. He proclaims the God who made the world, who does not dwell in temples, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. God now commands all men everywhere to repent, for He has appointed a day of judgment by the man He raised from the dead. Some mock; some believe — Dionysius, Damaris, and others.
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”
— Acts 17:28
- v.1-9 Thessalonica — three sabbaths of reasoning
- v.10-15 Berea — searching the Scriptures daily
- v.16-21 Athens — stirred at the idols
- v.22-34 The Areopagus address
Paul opens with Genesis 1. To philosophers who knew Plato and Aristotle but not Moses, he starts at the Creator. The proper foundation for any gospel conversation with a non-Christian world is the doctrine of God as Maker.
Dwelleth not in temples made with hands. The God who made everything cannot be housed in any building of marble. Idol-makers and shrine-builders alike are corrected by this sentence.
In him we live, and move, and have our being. God is closer than the breath. He sustains every moment of existence; the unbeliever lives off His provision even while denying Him.
Paul cites the Greek poet Aratus — we are also his offspring — using their own literature against their own idols. The Christian preacher can quote Aristotle to atheists; he is not obliged to limit his sources to the Bible when speaking to those who do not yet honor it.
Winked at — overlooked. God's patience held back judgment during the centuries when light was dim. But now the light has come; the ignorance no longer holds.
Commandeth all men every where to repent. Repentance is a universal command, not a regional suggestion. All men, every where. The gospel is global, and the call is the same in every culture and continent.
The Bereans are the model congregation. Be both eager and skeptical — eager to receive truth, skeptical until you have checked Scripture. If you find yourself believing whatever the favorite preacher says without searching, you are not yet Berean. If you find yourself refusing to receive without verification, you may be ready. Open the Bible alongside the sermon, and let the Word judge it.
The Areopagus address ends, as it must, at the man God raised from the dead (v.31). Paul does not finish on philosophy but on Christ. The Creator who upholds every breath is the Judge who will weigh every life, and the proof is the resurrection of His Son. The Athenian philosophers heard the same message the Jewish synagogue heard — Jesus, and the resurrection (v.18). Whatever the audience, the center holds.
Searched the scriptures daily. The Berean test. Even an apostle's preaching was checked against Scripture. The gold standard is not the speaker's authority but the Word's.
With all readiness of mind. Nobility was in two parts — eagerness to receive plus diligence to verify. The combination is rare; the lazy do not verify, the proud do not receive. Bereans do both.