A city that can be walked today
Above Athens rose the Acropolis with the Parthenon (447–432 BC). In the agora, the Stoa of Attalos, built by Attalus II in the second century BC, was rebuilt in 1953–56 and today houses the Agora museum.
Biblical context · Approved edition
Paul in Athens: the Areopagus
Acts 17 tells of Paul’s brief stay in Athens: the dialogue in the synagogue and the agora, the encounter with Epicureans and Stoics and the speech at the Areopagus. We will first observe the sacred text and then the first-century city, its philosophical schools and the question of exactly where Paul spoke. The study on Paul’s journeys provides the wider setting of this episode.
By the end: you will be able to distinguish what the sacred text affirms, what the history and archaeology of Athens contribute and what remains a proposal about the place and the altar.
- Passage
- Acts 17:16–34
- Central question
- What does Acts affirm about Paul in Athens, and what can the city, its philosophers and the Areopagus contribute?
- Estimated reading time
- 10–12 minutes
- Status
- Approved for publication · version 1.0
First, look at the sacred text
Observe before reconstructing
Read Acts 17:16–34 and follow the movement of the account: what does Paul see in the city, whom does he talk with, where do they take him, where does his speech begin and how do the listeners respond?
Compare with a guided observation
| Element | What the passage tells us |
|---|---|
| What he sees | While he waits for Silas and Timothy, Paul’s spirit is provoked as he sees the city full of idols (Acts 17:16). |
| Dialogue | He reasons in the synagogue with Jews and devout persons, and every day in the marketplace with those he meets (17:17). |
| Philosophers | Epicureans and Stoics call him a “babbler” and “a proclaimer of foreign deities”, because he preaches Jesus and the resurrection (17:18). |
| Areopagus | They bring him to the Areopagus to learn what this “new teaching” is (17:19–21). |
| Starting point | Paul mentions an altar with the inscription “To an unknown god”: “What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you” (17:22–23). |
| The message | The Creator God does not dwell in temples made with hands; now he commands all people to repent, because he will judge the world by the man he raised from the dead (17:24–31). |
| Response | Some mock, others want to hear him again and some believe, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris (17:32–34). |
The sacred text says that Paul was brought “to the Areopagus” and spoke “in the middle of the Areopagus”, but it does not make clear whether this means the hill or the council that bore its name.
Degrees of certainty
What can be recognized and what remains open
First-century Athens is a well-known city; even so, the monuments and ancient texts that can be studied, the proposals about where the speech took place and the message narrated by Scripture should be kept apart.
Philosophers with schools in Athens
Epicureans and Stoics were Athenian schools: Epicurus taught in his Garden, and Zeno founded Stoicism in the Stoa Poikile, in the agora, in the early third century BC.
“We are also his offspring”
The phrase in Acts 17:28 comes from the opening of the Phaenomena of Aratus of Soli (about 315–245 BC), a poem widely read in antiquity and Stoic in tone.
The hill or the council?
The Areopagus was both a hill beside the Acropolis and the council that met there. Some think Paul spoke on the hill; others that he appeared before the council, which in the first century may also have met in the Stoa Basileios in the agora.
The specific altar
Ancient writers such as Pausanias mention altars in Athens “of the gods named Unknown”, but the altar Paul cites has not been found. Nor is there agreement on whether “in him we live, move, and have our being” quotes Epimenides.
Three complementary lenses
How to read the account and its context
These three lenses do not compete with each other: they answer different questions and must keep different degrees of certainty.
Theological reading: the Creator God who calls to repentance
What it contributes
It presents the God who made the world, gives all people life and breath and is not far from anyone; he calls everyone to repent and has given proof of his judgement by raising Jesus (Acts 17:24–31).
Which details it helps explain
Paul starts from what his hearers know — an altar, a Greek poet — without diluting the message: the true God does not dwell in temples or take the form of gold, silver or stone (17:24, 29), and the resurrection provokes both mockery and faith (17:32–34).
Which limit must remain
The theological reading does not by itself fix where Paul spoke or which altar he saw.
First-century Athens under Rome
What it contributes
It places the account in a city conquered by Sulla in 86 BC but respected by Rome, with its classical monuments, its markets and an intellectual prestige that was still alive.
Which details it helps explain
The Acropolis and the Parthenon dominated the city; in the agora stood the Stoa of Attalos, rebuilt today, and the Stoa Poikile of the Stoics. Some think Paul’s daily dialogue (Acts 17:17) took place in the Roman market, built with help from Caesar and Augustus. The Epicureans taught that the gods pay no attention to human beings; the Stoics, that a divine logos orders the cosmos, and Aratus, close to them, had written “we are also his offspring”.
Which limit must remain
Knowing the city and its philosophies illuminates the setting, but it cannot tell us what each listener said or reconstruct the dialogue beyond the text.
Related readings: source 1 and source 2 and source 3 and source 4 and source 7.
The Areopagus: hill, council and altars
What it contributes
It explains why the word “Areopagus” is ambiguous: it names the hill of Ares, northwest of the Acropolis, and the ancient council that met on it and that in the Roman period regained administrative, religious and educational functions.
Which details it helps explain
One reading places the speech on the hill, where a bronze plaque today reproduces the text; another, before the council, perhaps meeting in the Stoa Basileios in the agora. Pausanias (second century AD) mentions altars “of the gods named Unknown” at the port of Phalerum, and Philostratus also speaks of altars to unknown gods in Athens. Dionysius, one of those who believed, was a member of the council (17:34).
Which limit must remain
Ancient texts show that such altars existed, but they do not identify the one Paul saw; and neither the hill nor the Stoa Basileios can be pointed to with certainty as the place of the speech.
Related readings: source 5 and source 6 and source 7 and source 8.
Comparison of lenses
What each approach answers and leaves unanswered
| Approach | Basis | Main contribution | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theological reading | The speech in Acts 17:22–31 and the listeners’ response. | Shows the Creator God, near to all, who calls to repentance. | Does not fix the place or the altar. |
| Athens under Rome | Monuments, agora excavations and philosophical texts. | Gives a verifiable setting and explains the listeners. | Does not reconstruct the dialogue beyond the text. |
| The Areopagus | Topography, history of the council and ancient writers. | Explains the ambiguity of the term and the background of the altar. | The exact place and the altar remain unidentified. |
Criterion: the sacred text, historical and archaeological data and proposals about the place and the altar are presented as different levels of evidence.
What you can now recognize
What Athens contributes to the Areopagus speech
The Acropolis, the agora with its stoas and the schools of the Epicureans and Stoics are well documented, and the quotation from Aratus shows that Paul knew the poetry of his hearers. This gives historical solidity to the account in Acts. But the exact place of the speech and the specific altar remain open questions.
The centre of the account lies in the proclamation: the God who created the world does not dwell in temples, is not far from anyone and calls everyone to repentance through the risen Jesus. Athens illuminates the setting; the sacred text defines the message.
Return to the sacred text
What does this add to my reading?
1. Where does he begin?
In Acts 17:16 and 22–23, what does Paul feel about the city, and where does his speech begin?
See a guided answer
His spirit is provoked at the sight of so many idols, but he does not begin with a condemnation. He begins with something the Athenians know: an altar “To an unknown god”. From there he proclaims to them the God they worship without knowing him.
2. A God who is near
In Acts 17:24–28, what does Paul say about God and his relationship with all human beings?
Back to Acts 17:24–28See a guided answer
God made the world and everything in it, does not dwell in temples or need anything, and gives all people life and breath. From one man he made every nation so that they would seek him, and he is not far from any of us: “in him we live, move, and have our being”.
Result of the journey: you can now recognize the central message of the speech, place it prudently in Roman Athens and distinguish firm data, such as the quotation from Aratus, from proposals about the place of the speech and the altar.
Key terms
Brief glossary
- Areopagus
- “Hill of Ares”, northwest of the Acropolis, and the name of the ancient Athenian council that met on it.
- Agora
- Public square of a Greek city, centre of trade, politics and conversation; in Athens, at the foot of the Acropolis.
- Stoa
- Colonnaded portico or hall; in Athens the Stoa of Attalos, the Stoa Poikile and the Stoa Basileios stand out.
- Epicureans
- Followers of Epicurus, who sought a tranquil life and taught that the gods do not intervene in human affairs.
- Stoics
- School founded by Zeno in the Stoa Poikile; they saw the cosmos as ordered by a divine reason, the logos.
Editorial record
Scope and review
- Responsible person
- Jose A Bejarano V
- Version
- 1.0 · trilingual edition
- Last reviewed
- Approved for publication by the responsible editor on 27 September 2026
- Method
- A guided reading that distinguishes the sacred text, the historical and archaeological context and theological interpretations.
About the images: the illustrations are conceptual visual aids; they do not constitute historical, archaeological or geographical evidence.
Sources for further study
Works consulted
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Athens — Hellenistic and Roman times” — Athens under Rome, the Stoa of Attalos rebuilt in 1953–56 and Paul’s visit with the conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Acropolis, Athens — official record of the Acropolis and the building of the Parthenon (447–432 BC).
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Greek philosophy — Hellenistic and Roman philosophy” — Epicureans and Stoics: Epicurus’ Garden, indifferent gods, Zeno in the Stoa Poikile and the divine logos.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Phaenomena” (Aratus) — the astronomical poem of Aratus of Soli and its opening verse quoted in the New Testament.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Areopagus” (Greek council) — the council of the Areopagus, the hill where it met and its functions in the Roman period.
- Michael R. Preece, “Acts 17: Paul Before the Areopagus” (Brigham Young University, 2013) — university thesis arguing that Paul spoke before the council, probably meeting in the Stoa Basileios.
- Bryan Windle (Bible Archaeology Report): “Top Ten Discoveries Related to Paul” — the Greek agora, the Roman market and the Areopagus hill as the likely place of the speech.
- Pausanias, “Description of Greece” 1.1 (Theoi Classical Texts Library) — ancient text mentioning altars “of the gods named Unknown” at the port of Phalerum.