The figure of Paul in the acts of the Apostles : the Areopagos speech

Abstract

As the second part of a single work the Acts of the Apostles provides the reader with a clear picture of the witnessing to the saving name of Jesus Christ by the fIrst Christian Communities. At this stage the Church was doing its utmost to propagate this name beginning from Jerusalem to Judaea, Samaria and to all the ends of the world, wherever her members were dispersed. Paul was one of the most important of these members, and he too did his utmost to make the name of Christ be proclaimed to all. The speech before the Areopagos in Athens (Acts 17,22-31), apart from the few verses in 14,15-17 delivered at Lystra, is the only discourse made to a Gentile audience in Acts. However, it presents us with an important depiction of this Apostle to the Gentiles. It is the aim of this study to bring out the fIgure of Paul as it emerges from this speech, as of one who obeyed the command of Jesus to the apostles to be His witnesses to the ends of the world. Paul did not completely act on his own initiative, but submitted his whole proclamation to the first responsible for that very proclamation - the Church.