Where did Paul’s companions take him? What did he command them to do before they left?
What provoked Paul’s spirit in Athens?
What places did he reason with the people? What types of people did he reason with?
What two classes of philosophers encountered him? What were their various reactions to him?
Where did they take him? What did they want to know?
What was the favorite pastime of the Athenians and the foreigners there?
Where did Paul stand to speak to the people?
What did he observe about the Athenians?
What was the inscription on the altar that Paul found?
According to Paul’s sermon, why does God not dwell in temples made by human hands? Why does He not need anything from humans?
What has He made every nation from? What two things has He determined? Why?
How does Paul describe our relationship to God in verse 28? On what point did he agree with the Greek poets?
What should we believe as a result of the knowledge that we are God’s offspring?
What has God done with people in times past? But what is he doing now? Why?
Who will God judge the world by? How has He given assurance of this?
What point caused some of the Greeks to mock Paul?
Who ended up believing Paul?

Thought Questions

Do you think your city is given over to idols? Is your spirit provoked within you because of it? What have you done as a result?
Would you be willing to reason in the marketplace with non-believers? What would you say?
What similarities do you see between the Athenians and our culture?
What are the pros and cons of a society’s obsession with telling and hearing “some new thing”?
Give an overview of Paul’s points. Do you think he did a good job with his reasoning? What were some of your favorite points? Would you have reasoned the same way?
Most of us no longer worship Zeus and Venus and stone idols, but what are some idols in your life that you are tempted to worship–that is, to hold more dear to you than Christ? How can you apply what Paul is saying to help you through that temptation?
What do you think about God overlooking or “winking at” sins such as idolatry in times of ignorance? What do you think that means? What is the reason Paul gave at that time that “now” He commands all men everywhere to repent? Can you use ignorance as an excuse to get away with sins?
Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead–not just in spirit, ghostlike; but in body at the last day? What reasons do you have for what you believe? (Read the last half of verse 31 again.)
Compare Paul’s sermon here to the ones he gave in other places (such as chapter 13). What can we learn about preaching to different demographics? Did Paul compromise his message for them?

My prayer is:
That God would inspire me to share the right words with each type of people I come in contact with, in order to best share Christ with them;
That I would understand that since I am God’s offspring, He is much higher than any idol I am tempted to worship;
And to repent from sin, since through Christ’s example and sacrifice I have no excuse of ignorance of sin.