mpany, after the
usual tumult, pass on to another city but the church
remains to send its blessed influence through all that
region. The Epistles to the Thessalonians (see Study 7)
give us some graphic pictures of the converts and their
ways of working.

3. Berea (Acts 17:10-14) was a secluded inland city.
It must have been somewhat of a surprise to Paul to find
the Jews of this place so ready to receive the Word of
God, which he preached to them in their synagogue.
There was great searching of the Scriptures and many
believed. A large work was in progress when Jews from
Thessalonica, hearing of the success of Paul in Berea,
came down and stirred up the people against him. It
became quite evident now that there was a persistent and
organized effort being made to drive Paul out of this
section. As the opposition seemed to be directed against
Paul alone, the brethren proposed to send him away, and
to have Silas and Timotheus remain for a short time.
This plan was carried out.

4. Athens (Acts 17:15-34) was the most cultivated
city of the old world; a statue was set upon every
corner and an altar in every street. "Here the human
mind had blazed forth with a splendor it has never
exhibited elsewhere. In the golden age of its history
Athens possessed more men of the very highest genius
than have ever lived in any other city. To this day their
names invest her with glory. Yet even in Paul's day the
living Athens was a thing of the past. Four hundred
years had elapsed since its golden age, and in the course
of these centuries it had experienced a sad decline.
Philosophy had degenerated into sophistry, art into dilettanteism,
oratory into rhetoric, poetry into verse making. It
was a city living on its past." Paul entered into the open
places where the people gathered and talked with them.
So much interest was aroused by what he had to say that
he was asked to speak to them upon Mars Hill. Thither
they all went. Paul as his custom was sought a common
starting point in the altar to the unknown God. So long
as he spoke of God and man in general terms he was
listened to, but when he came to touch their hearts and
consciences and to apply what he said, speaking of the
judgment through Christ and His resurrection from the
dead, he was left alone. Paul did not fail, the trouble
with the Athenians was that they possessed only intellectual
curiosity; they had no appetite for the truth. But
still some convert