Acts 17:16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.”
As Paul and his missionary team went on into the provinces of the Roman Empire, they continued to have mixed responses to the Gospel. At Thessalonica some Jews and not a few Greeks responded before the Jewish leaders gave them such grief they had to move on. Next, at Berea, they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so, until once again, the Jewish leaders came and stirred things up, forcing Paul to move forward, leaving his team behind. They joined him in Athens for the events described above. They really wanted to hear what Paul had to say. By the end of the chapter we find believers listed by name, and many continuing to follow them to find out more.
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