The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 71

1t&nd the Scriptures in the new light thrown by history upon them. The study of the Bible is a right, a duty, and e. profound science. He.sty generalizations and fixed opinions must give way before larger light. ~II. TRUE FAITH AND FREE INQUIRY oo HAND·IN·ITANll. It is only the profound believer who can afford to doubt. The faith which condemns inquiry or stops it at a certain point, or is afraid of" going too far," is a blind faith. On the ~thcr hand, the "free-thinking," which owns no religious impulse, is never deep nor sound thinking. The sincere spirit of inquiry, as seen in the noblest scientific men, is closely allied to the true evangelical temper. What we all need is a living love in all our studies, as opposed to a dead e.nd notional knowledge. The enthusiasm for truth is a noble form of faith ; and each who pursues it for himself will cn_ioy a measure of its rewards. We must try the grounds of faith as we try the metal of coins, and with the greater attention, in that more is at stake. No resting upon the ipsi dixit even of an npostle satisfied the BerCD&ns, nor ought it to satisfy us.-J. Vera. 16-34.-Paul at Athens. Paul stands in Athens, amidst the master-pieces of Greek art and the memorials of Greek wisdom. It is not admiration or resthetic delight which is awakened in him, but moral indignation. Christianity is not opposed to art; but Christianity does not approve the worship of sensuous or ideal beauty apart from moral earnestness. In the true relation, religion absorbs art into itself; when art is substituted for religion, there is moral decay. Nor is Christianity hostile to philosophy. On the contrary, there was in Greek philosophy a preparation for Christ. There were germs of truth in the Epicurean and the Stoic schools which Christianity incorporated, while it corrected the one-sidedness of these philosophies. The Epicurean built his practical system on human weakness, the Stoic his on pride. The gospel will not excuse sin on the ground of weakness ; nor found a righteousness of man's own on pride (see the noted discussion of these schools, and the relation of the gospel to them, in Pascal's 'Pensees '). Between these extremes, as between those of Sadduceeism and Pharisecism, the gospel ever makes its way. These academicians of Athens might well be anxious to know what the "ugly little Jew" had to say. Long had the mighty logos or dialectic of Plato and .Aristotle and their successors and rivals ruled the world. "\ \ hat could the fanatical Jew have to say? A.n immortal discourse is the reply to these questions of curiosity. I. Gon fil"KNOWN, YET KNOWABLE. The speaker recognizes the reverence of the .Athenians. The heathen were prepared for the gospel, all the more from the weariness and failure of their age-long "groping after God." In the inscription on the altar was the witness of the desire to worship all forms of divinity, whether to them known or unknown. Both Greeks and Romans recognized, above and beyond the definite gods and goddesses of the Pantheon, the indefinable in Deity, the mystery of that Essence, to us and to all, as to them, incomprehensible. So far we are all on a level with the .Athenians. But there are special senses in which God is unknown to the worshipper. 1. To the sensual and sin-loving heart. Many there are whose heart is like the Agora of Athens or a Pantheon; one idol stands beside another. Wrath, pride, lust, avarice, treachery, am bition,-these are their gods. And again, science, art, muney, the husband, the wife, the goods of this world. .And in a neglected corner stands the altar with the inscription, "'l'o the unknown God!" 2. To the wise in their ow::i conceit. "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God;'' "He resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the lowly." 3. To the fon:nali.sts and externalists in religion. For the drama of an external ritual is rather a screen between the soul and God, if the soul be not bent on finding liim. 4. To all who seek him otherwise than with the pure and lowly heart, coming by the iVay, the Truth, and the Life to the Father. Though in one sense" God iB great; I know him not," must be the confession of all hearts, from the lowliest to the wisest, in another the good news of the gospel proclaims-God may be known, is known ; and every name by which he is known resolves itself into love. He is concealed, yet revealed ; unknown, yet known ; defined, yet indefinable. "l'is a great yet a small part of his ways that we can understand. II. Gon REVEALED IN THE cnEATION. He has made the world and all things therein . .Animate and inammate nature, body and spirit, all have the stamp of omnipotence and of omniscence in the UJ1 ity of a Mind. Every step in science makes more clear CH, XVII, 1-34.] '!'HE ACTS Oil' THE APOSTLES. 73