On Mars Hill (Study Abroad Blog Post Week 13)

"So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things" - Acts 17:22-25 

As I sat in the same spot that Paul spoke these words to a multitude of philosophers, I thought to myself, "I wonder if he was as cold as I am now?" I know that seems silly, but as the strong wind whipped my hair in my face and drowned out all other voices around me, I wondered how on earth Paul had the courage to speak up if it felt like even the wind was trying to shut him up. Staring down the hill at the sprawling city of Athens and then up the hill to the towering columns of the Parthenon, the reality of the Bible struck me. That the Apostles were very much human and the struggles I face are the same ones they faced. In Israel, we were told that the Bible would come alive for us, but I had that epiphany moment sitting there on Mars Hill. And like Dr. Edwards did when he was 19 years old sitting in that same spot, I fell in love with Paul, not just because of what he did or how he did it but because he had the courage to do something.