behind. "They that conducted Paul, brought him as far as Athens," and
then went back to Berea with a message to Silas and Timothy to come to
him "with all speed." "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his
spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols."
Being thus vexed, and having the gospel of Christ to preach, he reasoned
with the Jews and devout people in the synagogue and every day in the
marketplace with those he met there. He came in contact with
philosophers of both the Epicurean and Stoic schools, and it was these
philosophers who took him to the Areopagus, saying: "May we know what
this new teaching is which is spoken by thee?"

The Athenians of those days were a pleasure-loving set of idolaters who
gave themselves up to telling and hearing new things. Besides the many
idols in the city, there were numerous temples and places of amusement.
Within a few minutes' walk was the Stadium, capable of holding fifty
thousand persons, and still nearer were the theater of Bacchus and the
Odeon, capable of accommodating about thirty and six thousand people
respectively. On the Acropolis, probably within shouting distance, stood
some heathen temples, one of them anciently containing a colossal statue
of Athene Parthenos, said to have been not less than thirty-nine feet
high and covered with ivory and gold. In another direction and in plain
sight stood, and still stands, the Theseum, a heathen temple at that
time. Take all this into consideration, with the fact that Paul had
already been talking with the people on religious subjects, and his
great speech on Mars' Hill may be more impressive than ever before.

"Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are very religious.
For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found
also an altar with this inscription, To an unknown God. What therefore
ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you. The God that made