The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 63

yers. 16;-34.-!iie ":°ss ef Christ in tlie metropolis ef_a,·t and philosopl,y. There is a srngular 10!er~s~ m this_ first encounter of !he gospel with the a.rt and philosophy of Athens, and 1t 1s mstruct1ve to note the attitude taken by the great preacher in the encounter. v\Thether St.. Paul had artistic taste we have llO means of knowing. But probably, as a devout Jew, seeing that sculpture was so largely employed in the images of the gods aud the deified emperors, his eye would not have been trained to look with pleasure even upon the master-pieces of Grecian art. In like m:1.nncr Greek architecture was mainly devoted to glorify the temples of the gods. The Parthenon at Athens, the temple of Di1ma at Ephesus, the temples of Apollo and Diana at Antioch, at Daalbee, in the many cities of Asia adorned by the Selcucidro, were indeed materially beautiful, but that material beauty was eclipsed by the moral deformity of their consecration to idolatry, to imposture, and to falsehood. 'l'he devout eye of the apostle would therefore be more shocked by the dishonour done to God, and the injury to the moral nature of man, than gratified by mere beauty of form, or architectural grundeur and grace. Hence, as far as we learn from the inspired narrative, the dominant effect upon his mind of the sight of the unrivalled statues and temples of Athens was grief and indignation at their homage to idolatry, rather than admiration of the artistic genius which produced them. In like manner he found himself face to face with philosophy. He was trending the courts of the academy ,.-here Plato had taught; he was in the city where Socrates had lived and died; there Aristotle had both learnt and taught; there the successors both of Zeno and Epicurus were still inculcating the tenets of their re~pective schools. What was to be the attitude of an evangelist in the presence of these august representatives of human intellect? In what language was the apostle of Jesus Christ to address himself to them? In that of apology? In that of compro- mise ? in that of conscious inferiority ? or as if the possessors of so much wisdom had nothing t-0 learn from him? Or, on the other hand, was he to speak the language of scorn and indignation-was he to shut his eyes to all that might be true and noble in the sentiments of those men, and to put them on a level with the vilest of mankind, because they were ignorant of the great truths of revelation? The actual conduct of St. Paul was as modest as it was wise, and as dauntless as it was modest. Looking around him at the altars of the gods, he seized upon the one favourable aspect of them -their witness to a worshipful i;pirit in the people towards the Unseen. Gathering from Greek literature a true description of the relation of man to the living God, he proceeded with wonderful simplicity ann force to enunciate those truths of natural religion which an untainted reason perceives and approves. And then, rising to those higher truths which are the domain of revelation, he preached, as he had done before in the Agora, Jesus and the resurrection. He bid them repent of their sins done in ignorance; he told them of the coming of the day of judgment; he spoke to them of the awful Judge, and of his unerring righteousness. '!'here was no faltering in his speech, no watering down of the severity of the gospel, no wincing at the subtle wits or the preteutious wisdom of those who heard him. He i;poke as a man who knew that he had the truth of God, and that that truth would prevail. And such should ever be Lhe attitude of the Christian teacher before the powers of the world. Humble, chari- table confident, and firm; owning all that is good and beautiful and true in the world aro~d him, but always feeling, and acting as if he felt, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is better and truer and more beautiful than all ; valuing true wisdom, and vrizing the great gift of reason as the brightest jewel of our human nature; yet always remembering that in our fallen state reason could bring no remedy for sin nor cast a light upon the world to come; but that the only Name whereby we may be saved is tbc .Name of Jesus, and that he alone has abolished death, and brought life and immor- tality t.o li~ht through the gos~ To hipi be glo17 for ever ~nd ever. A!D~, CH. XVJII. 1 -11.] THI<~ .AO'l'S OF 'fHE APOSTLES. 65