Appealing to the Crowd

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen! 

Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the Deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, a representation by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.” 

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” (Acts 17:22-32)

The above text is one of the first known sermons to a totally non-Jewish, non-Godfearing assembly. So, it is interesting to take note as to what Paul emphasizes to these Hellenistic Gentiles. His evangelism is based on what he thinks might speak to them about Christianity. He doesn’t mention the law or Jewish history or the Old Testament prophesies, rather Paul uncharacteristically starts with a positive message about their pagan religiosity, and then introduces the idea of one Creator God who created all the people of the world and now wishes all to know Him. He is telling these folk they should be interested in the God he is proclaiming because this is their Creator, a God who cares about all His creatures – the peoples and nations on earth. Each human is an offspring of this one Creator God who thus has a claim on everyone’s life. God also rightfully brings everyone before His judgment seat which is why all these people should be interested in what Paul has to say.

St Basil the Great, writing about 300 years after St Paul, also makes an appeal to reason as to why everyone should be interested in God. Basil sees order in the universe (as did many ancient philosophers), and it is this order in creation which Basil says we should pay attention to for it points to the one who placed order in the universe – its Creator, the Word of God (in Greek the Word = Logos and also means reason and even wisdom).

‘All his works are done with faithfulness‘ (Psalm 32:4). What, then, does this mean? ‘If you see the heavens,’ he says ‘and the order in them, they are a guide to faith, for through themselves they show the Craftsman; and, if you see the orderly arrangement about the earth, again through these things also your faith in God is increased. In fact, it is not by acquiring knowledge of God with our carnal eyes that we believe in Him, but by the power of the mind we have perceived the invisible God through visible things. Therefore, ‘all His works are done with faithfulness.‘ Even if you consider the stone, it also possesses a certain proof of the power of its Maker: likewise, if you consider the ant or the gnat or the bee.

Frequently in the smallest objects the wisdom of the Creator shines forth. He who unfolded the heavens and poured out the boundless expanses of the seas, He it is who hollowed out the very delicate sting of the bee like a tube, so that through it the poison might be poured out. Therefore, ‘all His works are done with faithfulness.’ Do not say: ‘This happened by chance’ and ‘that occurred accidentally.’ Nothing is casual, nothing indeterminate, nothing happens at random, nothing among things that exist is caused by chance.  (EXEGETICAL HOMILIES, p 232)

Basil appeals to the order seen in creation as a sign that there is a reasonable Creator who fashioned the universe with wisdom. Like St Paul before him, he is trying to appeal to reason with the people of his day. We in the Church today can do the same thing, but to do so we have to understand what are the basic philosophical ideas underpinning what people think and believe today. It is not always easy to discern and in a multi-diverse culture there can be many assumptions (some contradictory) at work. We still need to understand the thinking of the people around us if we want to bring the Gospel to them. There is no one size fits all thinking in evangelism.

We have to learn to speak the language (speak to the assumptions of people) in order to evangelize them. Paul could appeal to the general religiosity of the people of Athens, but today we have to recognize there are around us atheists, agnostics, as well as folk with eclectic beliefs. Paul and Basil’s approach may not work with 21st Century folk, so we have our work cut out for us to discern what we might appeal to in order to cause others to consider the Gospel message. There are many today who are influenced by scientific reasoning and are no longer convinced there is order in the universe because they see the forces at work to be random, chaotic and they deny there is order to the universe as all is governed by chance. We don’t have to attack and criticize their beliefs and assumptions, but need to find common ground so that we can build upon what they already accept. Note St Paul did not confront or attack their beliefs but tried to find common ground so they could dialogue.