What Would This Babbler Say?
Athens, Greece
Today we traveled through the city of Athens and visited the Parthenon and the Areopagus. The Parthenon is a visible representation of the glory of Athens, the cornerstone of philosophy with great figures like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle all gazing upon this temple of Athena I gazed upon today. Athens is also known as the seedbed of western civilization. I remember studying American civilization at the University of Dallas, my professor began the class with the study of Athens. She said, you can’t start with the foundation of America, in order to know the founding Fathers of the United States you have to understand Athens and how they formed the proceeding culture, followed by Jerusalem, Rome, and finally England. Only then can you begin to understand what the founding Fathers wanted to establish in the United States.
Acts 17 tells the story of St. Paul’s journey to Athens. Paul being a Jew, Roman citizen, and Christian Apostle became in Athens the nexus of Western civilization standing in their midst. He debated with the Jews in the synagogue, the Epicurean and stoic philosophers and the people in the marketplaces. Pretty much anyone who would listen to him. And if I were righting the story it would end with the conversion and accompaniment of the Jews and Philosophers he encountered. It would seem only fitting that this be the ending, knowing what we know now about how the history of cultures has reached us. But that is not what happened. The most striking line in Acts 17 for me is the response of the philosophers’, “What would this blabber say?” (Acts 17:18) In the end Paul left Athens with few followers. We can be tempted to see this mission as a failure to consider what might have come from the immediate and vast conversion of Athens. And at least for me this seems to be the fear that arises when I am faced with the prospect of spreading the good news. What if I am rejected? If they take me as just some babbler. Paul teaches us an important lesson with this encounter. He did not fear the shame of failure for the work he was performing was the Lords work, not his. The Holy Spirit moves hearts and is truly in charge. While few ended up following Paul the seeds of Christian society were planted on this trip, Acts 17:33 says “among them [who believed] was Dionysus the Areopagite” He became the first bishop of Athens who laid the groundwork of the Christian society that is still present today. Be not afraid to share the Gospel for it is not our work, it is God who shapes history and uses us to plant seeds that will grow even if we never see the fruit.
In Christ,
Jacob Hartman , Seminarian for the Diocese of Jefferson City
