While Paul was waiting in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks. A group of philosophers began to dispute with him. “What is this babbler trying to say?” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. (Acts 17:16)
The Good Shepherd pilgrims managed to find their way to the train station in Thessaloniki and from there had a very pleasant journey – interrupted only by an occasional game of cards, many laughs, and a few naps – to the classical city of Athens. (Greece, not Georgia.)
In Paul’s time Athens was acknowledged as having been the historic center of the ancient classical world. It had enjoyed a brilliant “golden age,” never again equaled, which had left the ancient world forever in its debt.
But every street had altars and statues depicting the pagan gods. Though Paul had long before worked out a response to paganism in other cities, his claims of there only being one God (and it not being Athen’s patron goddess Athena for whom the Parthenon was built) brought him before the Areopagus, the highest court in all the land.
We ventured to the base of the Acropolis, to the very site from which Paul preached the Good News while making his defense for “introducing foreign divinities” to the Athenians. We enjoyed a spectacular view of the city below and were entertained by our guide as she related stories of Paul’s journey to Athens.
Before checking in to our hotel, we took a side trip to visit the a truly incredible site: the Panatheniac Stadium, build entirely of marble and situated at the very site of an original stadium built in 330 B.C. The stadium has a capacity of 67,000 and served as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics held in 1896.
Good Shepherd Pilgrimages 