Today’s first reading is the well known account of St. Paul at the Areopagus, the academic meeting place in Athens. While Athens was no longer a center for political power, it remained the center of the very wide-spread Hellenistic culture. Paul’s speech sounds quite different from speeches he gave in synagogues which argued from Hebrew Scripture. In this different setting Paul’s remarks are addressed to Greek philosophers, nevertheless, it too is steeped in Scripture, but sticks to the parts that sound like philosophy and natural theology, that is, evidence from nature pointing to the God who created it. Continue reading →