Difference between revisions of "Areopagus"

<p> ("Mars' Hill".) A rocky eminence in Athens, separated from the W. of the Acropolis by a raised valley, above which it rises sixty feet. [[Mythology]] made it the scene of the god Mars' trim before the gods, at Poseidon's accusation, for murdering the son of the latter, Halirrhotius. The most venerable of all the [[Athenian]] courts, consisting of all exarchons of blameless life. It was the Upper Council, to distinguish it from the five hundred, who met in the valley below. It met on the S.E. top of the rock. [[Sixteen]] stone steps in the rock still exist, leading from below to Mars' hill, and directly above is a bench of stones cut in the rock facing S., and forming three sides of a quadrangle. Here the judges sat, in criminal and religious cases, in the open air. </p> <p> The accuser and accused had two rude blocks, still to be seen, one on the E., the other on the W. side, assigned them. Paul, "daily disputing" in the market ( '''''Agora''''' ), which lay between the Areopagus, the Acropolis, the Pnyx (the place of political assemblies), and the Museum, attracted the notice of "certain philosophers of the [[Epicureans]] and of the Stoics." They brought him up from below, probably by the steps already described, and, seated on the benches, heard from him the memorable address, so happily adapted in its uncompromising faithfulness, as well as scholarlike allusions, to the learned auditory, recorded in Acts 17. Paul's intense earnestness strikingly contrasts with their frivolous dilettantism. </p> <p> With the temple of [[Mars]] near, the [[Parthenon]] of [[Minerva]] facing him, and the sanctuary of the [[Eumenides]] just below him, the beautiful temple of Theseus, the national hero (still remaining) in view, what divine power he needed to nerve him to declare, "God that made the world ... dwelleth not in temples made with hands"; and again in the midst of the exquisitely chiseled statues in front, crowning the Acropolis, Minerva in bronze as the armed champion of Athens, and on every side a succession of lesser images, to reason, "Forasmuch as we are the offspring of God" ''(Which He Confirms By Quoting His [[Fellow]] [[Countryman]] Aratus' Poem, 'We Are His Offspring')'' , we ought not to think that the [[Godhead]] is like gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art or man's device." </p> <p> Yet he does not begin by attacking their national worship, but draws them gently away from their ignorant worship of the [[Deity]] under many idols to the one true God, "Whom ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." In opposition to the Greek boast of a distinct origin from that of the barbarians; he says, "God hath made of one blood all nations to dwell on all the face of the earth"; and ends with announcing the coming judgment by the Lord Jesus. </p>

<p> The [[Areopagus]] was an ancient and highly respected council of philosophers in Athens. The name came from the hill in [[Athens]] where the council originally met (commonly known as Mars Hill), though in New [[Testament]] times the council met in the commercial area of the town itself. The council consisted of philosophers from the two main schools of Greek philosophy, the Epicureans and the Stoics (see [[Epicureans]] ; [[Stoics]] ). </p> <p> Athens was a famous centre of learning where people publicly discussed philosophy, religion and politics (&nbsp;Acts 17:21). The Areopagus was responsible for the orderly conduct of all public lecturing in Athens. When some of its members heard Paul preaching in the public places of the city, they invited him to give the Areopagus an account of his religion. From what they had heard, they thought he was announcing two new gods, whose names were Jesus’ and Resurrection’ (&nbsp;Acts 17:16-20). </p> <p> Paul explained to the Areopagus the nature of the God they did not know. This God was the creator and controller of the universe, and the judge of all people everywhere. The death and resurrection of Jesus made forgiveness of sins available to all, but it also guaranteed judgment for those who refused to repent (&nbsp;Acts 17:22-31). Paul won the attention of the council with an explanation of the gospel that contained specific points relating to Epicurean and Stoic beliefs; but on the whole both groups rejected his teaching about the resurrection. There were a few, however, who believed (&nbsp;Acts 17:32-34). </p>

<p> The hill of Mars, the seat of the ancient and venerable supreme court of Athens, called the Areopagites, &nbsp;Acts 17:19-34 . It was composed entirely of ex-archons, of grave and blameless character, and their wise and just decisions made it famous far beyond the bounds of Greece. Their numbers and authority varied greatly from age to age. They held their sessions by night. They took cognizance of murders, impieties, and immoralities; punished vices of all kinds, idleness included; rewarded or assisted the virtuous; and were peculiarly attentive to blasphemies against the gods, and to the performance of the sacred mysteries. The case of Paul, therefore, would naturally come before them, for he sought to subvert their whole system of idolatry, and establish [[Christianity]] in its place. The Bible narrative, however, rather describes an informal popular movement. Having heard Paul discoursing from day to day in the market place, the philosophic and inquisitive [[Athenians]] took him one day up into the adjacent hill, for a more full and quiet exposition of his doctrine. The stone seats of the Areopagus lay open to the sky; in the court stood Epicureans, Stoics, etc.; around them spread the city, full of idolaters and their temples; and little south-east rose the steep height of the Acropolis, on whose level summit were crowded more and richer idolatrous structures than on any other equal space in the world. Amid this scene, Paul exhibited the sin and folly of idol-worship with such boldness and power, that none could refute him, and some were converted. </p>

<p> [[Areopagus]] ( ''Ăr-E-'' ''Ŏp'A-Gŭs,'' or ''Âre-Ŏp'A-Gûs'' ), ''Mars' Hill.'' A narrow naked ridge of limestone rock at Athens, sloping upwards from the north and terminating in an abrupt precipice on the south, 50 or 60 feet above a valley which divides it from the west end of the Acropolis. It had its name from the legend that Mars (Ares), the god of war, was tried here by the other gods on a charge of murder. Here sat the court or council of the Areopagus, a most ancient and venerable tribunal, celebrated through Greece. It examined criminal charges, as murder, arson, wounding; but the lawgiver [[Solon]] gave it also political powers. Those who had held the office of archon were members of this court, and they sat for life, unless guilty of some crime. The Areopagus was respected under the Roman dominion, and existed in the empire. Here it was that Paul made his memorable address, &nbsp;Acts 17:19-34; one of the council, persuaded by it or more fully instructed afterwards, becoming a Christian. But it does not appear that the apostle was, properly speaking, tried; rather he was placed on this spot in order that what he had to say might be more readily heard by the multitude. Sixteen stone steps from the agora (market) yet exist, and the stone seats forming three sides of a quadrangle looking southwards, also two blocks, appropriated, it is believed, to the accuser and the criminal. </p>

<p> '''Areop'agus.''' ''See '' '''Mars' Hill''' ''.'' </p>

<p> ''''' ar ''''' - ''''' ē̇ ''''' - ''''' op´a ''''' - ''''' gus ''''' ( Ἄρειος πάγος , <i> ''''' Áreios págos ''''' </i> ; &nbsp;Acts 17:19 , &nbsp;Acts 17:22 . Mars' Hill, &nbsp;Acts 17:22 the King James Version): A sort of spur jutting out from the western end of the Acropolis and separated from it by a very short saddle. Traces of old steps cut in the rock are still to be seen. [[Underneath]] are deep grottoes, once the home of the Eumenides (Furies). On the flat surface of the summit are signs still visible of a smoothing of the stone for seats. [[Directly]] below to the North was the old Athenian agora, or market-place. To the East, on the descent from the Acropolis, could be seen in antiquity a small semicircular platform - the orchestra - from which rose the precipitous rock of the citadel. Here the booksellers kept their stalls; here the work of [[Anaxagoras]] could be bought for a drachma; from here his physical philosophy was disseminated, then, through Euripides, the poetic associate of [[Socrates]] and the sophists, leavened the drama, and finally reached the people of Athens. Then came the Stoics and Epicureans who taught philosophy and religion as a system, not as a faith, and spent their time in searching out some new thing in creed and dogma and opinion. Five centuries earlier Socrates was brought to this very Areopagus to face the charges of his accusers. To this same spot the apostle Paul came almost five hundred years after 399 bc, when the Attic martyr was executed, with the same earnestness, the same deep-rooted convictions, and with even greater ardor, to meet the philosophers of fashion. The Athenian guides will show you the exact place where the apostle stood, and in what direction he faced when he addressed his audience. No city has ever seen such a forest of statues as studded the market-place, the streets and the sides and summit of the Acropolis of Athens. A large part of this wealth of art was in full view of the speaker, and the apostle naturally made this extraordinary display of votive statues and offerings the starting-point of his address. He finds the Athenians extremely religious. He had found an altar to a god unknown. Then he develops theme of the great and only God, not from the Hebrew, but from the Greek, the Stoic point of view. His audiences consisted, on the one hand, of the advocates of prudence as the means, and pleasure as the end (the Epicureans); on the other, of the advocates of duty, of living in harmony with the intelligence which rules the world for good. He frankly expresses his sympathy with the nobler principles of the Stoic doctrine. But neither Stoic nor Epicurean could believe the declarations of the apostle: the latter believed death to be the end of all things, the former thought that the soul at death was absorbed again into that from which it sprang. Both understood Paul as proclaiming to them in Jesus and <i> ''''' Anástasis ''''' </i> ("resurrection") some new deities. When they finally ascertained that Jesus was ordained by God to judge the world, and that <i> ''''' Anastasis ''''' </i> was merely the resurrection of the dead, they were disappointed. Some scoffed, others departed, doubtless with the feeling that they had already given audience too long to such a fanatic. </p> <p> The Areopagus, or Hill of Ares, was the ancient seat of the court of the same name, the establishment of which leads us far back into the mythical period long before the dawn of history. This court exercised the right of capital punishment. In 594 bc the jurisdiction in criminal cases was given to the archons who had discharged the duties of their office well and honorably, consequently to the noblest, richest and most distinguished citizens of Athens. The Areopagus saw that the laws in force were observed and executed by the properly constituted authorities; it could bring officials to trial for their acts while in office, even raise objections to all resolutions of the Council and of the General Assembly, if the court perceived a danger to the state, or subversion of the constitution. The Areopagus also protected the worship of the gods, the sanctuaries and sacred festivals, and the olive trees of Athens; and it supervised the religious sentiments of the people, the moral conduct of the citizens, as well as the education of the youth. Without waiting for a formal accusation the Areopagus could summon any citizen to court, examine, convict and punish him. Under unusual circumstances full powers could be granted by the people to this body for the conduct of various affairs of state; when the safety of the city was menaced, the court acted even without waiting for full power to be conferred upon it. The tenure of office was for life, and the number of members without restriction. The court sat at night at the end of each month and for three nights in succession. The place of meeting was a simple house, built of clay, which was still to be seen in the time of Vitruvius. The Areopagus, hallowed by the sacred traditions of the past, a dignified and august body, was independent of and uninfluenced by the wavering discordant multitude, and was not affected by the ever-changing public opinion. Conservative almost to a fault, it did the state good service by holding in check the too rash and radical younger spirits. When the democratic party came to power, after Cimon's banishment, one of its first acts was to limit the powers of the Areopagus. By the law of [[Ephialtes]] in 460 the court lost practically all jurisdiction. The supervision of the government was transferred to the <i> ''''' nomophulakes ''''' </i> (law-guardians). At the end of the Peloponnesian war, however, in 403 its old rights were restored. The court remained in existence down to the time of the emperors. From &nbsp;Acts 17:19 , &nbsp;Acts 17:22 we learn that it existed in the time of Claudius. One of its members was converted to the [[Christian]] faith (&nbsp; Acts 17:34 ). It was probably abolished by Vespasian. </p> <p> As to whether Paul was "forcibly apprehended and formally tried," see Conybeare and Howson, <i> The Life and [[Epistles]] of Paul </i> , chapter x, and <i> The Expositor </i> , 5th series, II, 209 f, 261 f (Ramsay). </p> Literature <p> P. W. Forchhammer, <i> De Areopago </i> (Kiel, 1828); Philippi, <i> Der A. und die Epheten </i> (Leipzig, 1874); Lange, <i> Die Epheten und der A. vor Solon </i> (Leipzig, 1874). </p>