(AN: Without shame or apology, we plunge into this chapter.)
Unknown
Paul and Silas bade farewell to their friends in Philippi, reminding them to keep the faith and that they would write as soon as possible, and then went on their way throughout the Greek city-states. Lucas remained in Philippi to continue the work they had begun, but Timothy decided that he would go with them to their next stop. They boarded a ship to Amphipolis and, after spending a few days there, journeyed on to Apollonia. While they remained there, however, a messenger arrived, looking for one Paul of Tarsus.
The message was from Rome.
"What news do you bring?" Paul asked the messenger.
"The Jews, I mean, the sons of Israel that are in Rome," he began. "Have heard of your works abroad. They speak very highly of you in Galatia, and of your message."
"It is hardly warranted," Paul shook his head. "My duty is to the LORD, and I seek no honor for myself."
"Even so," the messenger said. "The brothers in Rome want you to come to them and speak the words that you have spoken throughout Greece and Asia."
"If the Spirit commands," was all that Paul said.
-~-|-O-|-~-
But the Spirit did not command them towards Rome. Its path led them as they had begun: along the coast of the country of Macedonia. Now they came to Thessaloniki, another major city of this great kingdom of the Greeks. Unlike Philippi, however, there was a Jewish quarter in Thessaloniki, complete with a synagogue where the faithful sons of Israel would convene every Sabbath to hear the Torah and discuss it. This made Paul a little happy, since he would be once more in familiar grounds where he could preach to those who knew HaShem already.
So it was on the Sabbath that Paul, Silas and Timothy made their way to the synagogue. Here, they saw, the rabbi read the Torah in Greek, since many had almost forgotten their ancient tongue. The rabbi read from the prophecy of Isaiah and told them to await with eagerness the coming of the Christ, who would return to the kingship to Israel.
"If I may interject," Paul said, rising up from where he stood. "I wish to comment on what has been read this day."
"That is good," the rabbi nodded. "Moses commanded us to write the Law upon the doors of our houses, upon the bands of our foreheads and to discuss the words of the Law at times."
"Yes, yes," Paul nodded, turning now to the congregation. "People, we believe that the Law is the word of God, and yet, we have come under the belief that the Christ will give the kingship to Israel and that his reign will never end."
"But is that not what the Law and the prophets do say?" one of the men up at the front asked.
"It is true," Paul said. "All of it: both that the Christ shall rule forever, and that He must suffer, die and rise from the dead."
"How is that possible?" another asked.
"It is written," Paul said, pacing about the raised platform as he spoke. "'Thou didst not leave my soul in the grave, nor didst thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.' Yet these words cannot speak of David the King, for he indeed is in his grave and his s..."
"What did he say again?" Paul was hard-pressed to keep from shouting out, even as the woman had done to her husband.
"For verily David the King is dead and his soul has seen corruption." Paul continued. "Yet, there is a prophecy, given by Daniel, that says that the Christ shall be cut off, 'but not for Himself.' I return now to this passage that our dear rabbi has read: 'Surely He hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows, and yet we did esteem him smitten, stricken of God and afflicted of men: but He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed...for the transgression of my people was He stricken.'"
"Did he say 'my' or 'thy?'"
"Please, restrain yourselves until after the service!" Paul announced, since he saw that the rabbi wasn't even keeping order. "Surely, brothers and sisters, you see how the very word of God makes it plain that the Christ must first, before He claims the kingship, suffer, die and rise from the dead."
There were many gasps in the crowd as they heard his word. Behind Paul's back, the rabbi waved to one of his acolytes and began whispering instructions into his ear.
"Men of Thessaloniki," Paul continued. "There is but One who suffered, died and rose again from the dead, who is indeed the Christ: His name is Jesus. Let me tell you about Him!"
-~-|-O-|-~-
Later that night, Paul, Silas and Timothy were staying at the house of one called Jason. It was packed, for many in Thessaloniki had believed the words he had spoken. But now the night had come and Jason had the unhappy duty of telling the people to return to their homes.
"I guess we should retire as well, eh?" Silas asked.
"Not yet, at least," Jason said. "But, didn't you see it?"
"See what?" Paul asked.
"Well, I saw..." Timothy spoke up. Once again, all eyes looked at him as if he had spoken out of turn. He hung his head and sat down again.
"Come on, now. What did you see?" Paul asked.
"Nothing." Timothy replied.
"Out with it, lad!" Paul returned. "Do not let anyone despise your youth."
"Well, if you insist," Timothy shrugged. "While you were preaching, I saw the rabbi whispering instructions to his assistants. They might be planning something."
"This lad has a keen eye," Jason said. "The rabbi isn't exactly happy with what you've been saying, that Jesus is the Son of God and all the prophets are fulfilled in Him."
"I care not." Paul said. "I have a mission from God and I must accomplish it."
"But you can't do that when you're dead!" Jason returned. "I saw the rabbi's servant in the poor district, passing around a money purse to some shady people and ruffians. I think they might be waiting for the Sabbath to end and attack you." He crossed the room to the back-wall of his house and parted the window. "Here, you can escape this way. Take the ship to Berea: they're more accepting over there, they will believe your words."
"Thank you, Jason." Paul nodded. He then ushered Silas and Timothy out first before he himself joined them. Just as he was leaving, he turned to Jason and deposited a silver coin into his hand.
"What's this?" Jason asked.
"A gift," Paul said. "In case you find yourself in trouble on our account."
"No, I can't take your money!" Jason returned. "You need it, you keep it."
"'Freely you have received,'" Paul quoted. "'Freely give.' You saved my life, by the grace of God, this money may save yours. But remember, my friend, to put no trust in it: the love of money is the root of all evil." With those words, he departed.
Berea ended in a fiasco akin to that in Lystra. The rabbi of Thessaloniki wasn't content when he discovered that Paul was not in the house of Jason anymore. Even after Jason had been dragged out of his house and imprisoned, for housing people who 'have turned the whole world upside down', the rabbi was not content until his band of renegades and pick-pockets had slain the blasphemers. Therefore, even though the people of Berea believed and many were baptized, Paul had to leave. Silas and Timothy decided to remain in Berea to draw off the mobs, while Paul would go alone and they would meet up with him later.
Athens. The heart of vain philosophy on earth. From the earth to the sky, from heaven to Hades, the sole purpose of those great thinkers who gathered here was to sequester nature, to master the gods and place them under their power, if only in their own 'reason'. Despite the over-abundance of the long-winded libertines, the old customs remained and shrines to the old gods dotted the city. Thus it was that Paul, while on his way to the Jewish quarter, saw the many shrines to the great pantheon of Zeus and his brothers and children. But as he walked, he saw one shrine that made him scoff, laugh and wonder all at the same time.
Over the next few days, Paul waited for Silas and Timothy, while doing as he often-times did: preaching to the Jews in the synagogues, to the Gentiles in the agora, and receiving visitors in the home. However, this soon alerted the chief philosophers of the city. Epicureans, they were, the Pragmatists: they held that the natural world was all there is, and used their reason to undo God and any notion of the supernatural. They took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, a court of justice situated upon a hill of rock where, as they held, Ares had been judged for crimes against Poseidon. Now Paul would be judged for crimes against the Pragmatists. Gathered in the Areopagus court were the Stoics, the Virtuous, who held that nature itself was a god and that, as being products of nature, all men, even slaves, were the equals of other men. These were the greatest philosophical opposition of the Pragmatists and, since they knew the Pragmatists never engaged in political contest, were intrigued as to why they brought this stranger to the courts.
"What is the meaning of this?" one of the men of the Areopagus council.
"This man," one of the Pragmatists stated, pointing at Paul. "No, this fool, this miscreant, this babbling coxcomb, disrupts the peace of our fair city by his nonsense!"
"Careful, my good fellow," a Virtuous spoke up. "It is not reasonable to treat a man such. He hasn't done anything wrong: he's just preaching this new god of his."
"And how is that tolerable?" another Pragmatist asked. "Just another piece of wood to steal money off us!"
"Any notion of a god is pure poppy-cock!" the first Pragmatist stated. "There is suffering and death in the world: why? Cannot the gods do something about it? If they cannot, they are not omnipotent and therefore are not gods. If they can, why do they not eliminate bad things all-together? If they have the power to remove death and suffering, and yet do not, then they are evil and not worth worshiping!"
"Bad things, friend," a Virtuous stated. "Come because of grievous lacks of judgment and faults of reason, not because of the gods."
"Can't we let this man speak for himself?" another Virtuous asked, indicating to Paul. "Let him defend this new doctrine of his!"
"I second that!" Dionysus, a gray-headed Areopagite council member, named after the god of reveling and drinking, stated.
The Pragmatists held up their hands. "Fine. Let's see this small-brained simpleton out-wit us!"
At last, Paul spoke.
"I do not claim great wit or understanding," Paul said. "But, if I may say so: you, who believe there is no god, and you, who believe that the gods are in nature, you both are up to your ears in the gods! Every street, every high place, every grove, is filled with the engines of worship to your gods." He chuckled. "I was walking through your city, and I cast my eyes on your shrines and saw one that stood out: Agnostos Theos, was its dedication. You worship so many gods, you make a shrine for any one you might have forgotten!"
Several laughed, others kept their eyes trained on Paul, or listening intently to his words.
"Athenians," Paul continued. "I am here today, preaching to you the God you worship, though you do not even know Him." He turned to the Virtuous. "The God I declare unto you created the world and all things within it. By this reasoning, He is LORD of Heaven and earth: He does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He, the LORD of Heaven and earth, worshiped by your deeds, as if He would need anything. He gives to all men life and breath and all things they have. Equally He made all the nations of the earth and appointed their time and the limits of their rule, that all men may seek the LORD if, perchance, they may feel after Him..." He turned towards the Pragmatists. "...as a blind man feels the ground before him, and find Him: for He is never far away from any one of us!
"In His power we live and move and have our being. Do not your great poets ascribe your kings as the sons of the gods? Therefore, being the offspring of this One God, who made all man through one, it would only serve that God is not gold, silver, brass, stone or wood. Yea, even so, the LORD understood that you labored under the extent of the knowledge that you knew, and therefore overlooked this ignorance for a space and a season. But now He commands all to repent, for He has appointed One, Jesus the Christ, to judge all the world in righteousness very soon. And as proof, He raised this Man, Jesus the Christ, from the dead!"
All the Pragmatists exploded in fits of laughter. "Fool! Idiot!" they mocked. "Even a madman knows better than to say the dead rise again."
"Please," one of the Virtuous interjected. "He makes a good point. Let's hear more of what he has to say."
"You stoics are as stupid as he is!" a Pragmatist shouted.
So it was that this house of reason fell into utter, unreasonable chaos. Pragmatist against Virtuous, philosopher against believer, they seemed merely content to rationalize their defense or mockery of what Paul had said and wouldn't go fully one way or another. With the council of the Areopagus throwing their lot one way or another, Paul shook his head, muttered "Oh, well." beneath his breath, and walked out from among the crowd. As he was going, one of the gray-headed Areopagites left his stone seat and walked through the crowds after him.
"Good fellow," the gray-headed man said. "My name is Dionysus. I listened to your argument very carefully, and, I must say, it seems only reasonable. I would like to hear more about this Agnostos Theos."
Paul smiled. "Come with me."
(AN: Fun fun fun! Well, since they are in Athens, I felt I should use the Greek name for the Greek pantheon [like Julius Caesar calling Lugh Lamhfhada Mercury, lol. That's how I feel when they're in Athens, a Greek city-state, and I see the word Mars' Hill. Same with Lystra. When they get to Rome, though, all the Joves, Jupiters and Marses will be there]. Yes, Agnostos Theos does, in fact, mean "Unknown God" in Greek.)
(I think the Yiddish word "Oy vey!" would have been a great touch as Paul is leaving the Areopagus. However, I don't think an Israelite would have known a word of Ashkenazi origin. Maybe, maybe not, I'm not entirely sure.)