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A Problem of Worshipping an Unknown God

SCRIPTURE TEXT: ACTS 17:16-34

As we read the scripture text, we find Athens so attractive in those days, though it was not that important in terms of political impact or commercial activity. However, Athens was the seat of famous schools and other higher institutions which symbolized the world's intellectual mecca. In other words, Athens was a very modem and advanced city where a lot of cultural activities were taking place. Athens was a very promising place to keep abreast with the new trends in lifestyle, to catch up with new philosophical teachings. It was a place where people, both local and foreigners, enjoyed telling and hearing the most exciting and modern world views. So a lot of people had dreams of visiting Athens to learn something new or to discover the latest ideas. In short, Athens was the centre of ideas in arts and sciences and was a highly developed metropolitan city.

Religious Plurality

'While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was" (v. 16). The Athenians were looking for something new all the time. As a result, they were able to produce a lot of idols according to their own taste. Above all, religious plurality was the main problem of Paul while he was there. He was quite concerned about the superstitious tendencies of the people, and was deeply

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involved in the discussions about worshipping God with Jews and other devout people in the synagogue. Paul did not only discuss about worshipping God with Jews but with Gentiles, too.

He went out to the market place to meet ordinary people and to preach about Jesus and his resurrection. In the course of his preaching, Paul was confronted with two particular characters: Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. They were members of the two most influential schools of thought at that time. Paul debated with them. As a result, some of them asked, "What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?" (v. 18). The other version says, "What would this babbler say?" (RSV). They were not convinced by Paul's arguments. They felt that Paul was talking about foreign gods only.

Epicureans advocated that the one end of life is happiness and a prerequisite to its attainment is deliverance from the fear of the gods. For them, god is not a matter above all. Instead, they believed that the great unfailing spring of happiness is friendship (philias), which is close to agape or the Christian virtue of love. In this context, when Paul talked about Jesus and his resurrection, it was not attractive at all to the Epicureans.

On the other hand, the Stoic school of thought was the dominant philosophy of the Hellenistic world in those days. Stoic philosophers were very much concerned about the unity of human nature—that was a fundamental doctrine of the Stoic philosophy. For Stoics, God is a secondary matter. They concentrated on the practical philosophy of ethics based on human nature. Therefore, Paul's debates were unattractive to them, and were considered babble-talk about foreign religions.

Post-Modern Era

Today, we are living in a post-modern era where we are experiencing fast-paced technological innovations, metropolitan lifestyles, remarkable advancements in the sciences. The notion of post-modernism is relatively well-established in general issues such as racism in a multi-cultural context; ecology and environment movement; cultural and intellectual criticism in the field of arts, history, science and aesthetic theory.

Arnold Toynbee's Study in History (Vol. 8) presents the notion that "a post-modern era is emerging with the growing importance of multi-culturalism as a consequence of Europe's expanding

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penetration into other cultures." This has been proven in the modem era by western cultural domination over Third World countries. In this respect, post-modern fields such as art, religion, politics and other spheres of life are considered to be in crisis.

Perhaps, the counter-culture experience of the 60s is a good example of the efforts of the young generation in those days to break through the existing value system of the prosperous, comfortable and self-centered middle class and turn to simple, expressive and creative ways of life.

Post-modernism, therefore, can be understood as a product of counterposition to an entrenched modernist establishment in all spheres. Thus, post-modernism regarded as a reactionary force, an alternative progressive trend or as reinforcing the efforts of contemporary milieu on society. In other words, our opinion on post-modernism whether it be anti-modernism or pro-moving beyond modernism, is an important subject matter for observers.

Growing Fundamentalism

In spite of the fact that we live in a post-modern era in Asia, we are increasingly encountering religious fanaticism which has resulted in much violence and conflict within our societies. For example, on 6 December 1992, in Ayodhya, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Hindu fundamentalists reduced to rubble a mosque built over 400 years ago by the Mughal Emperor Babur. This incident caused the death of more than 1,000 people.

The Babri Mosque, erected on the supposed birthplace of the Hindu God, Ram, is but one of the ancient mosques built by the Mughals on the site of the demolished Hindu temples. If Hindu militants have their own way, all these offending mosques would be torn down. This fanaticism had spread over to Bombay and became a serious problem in India for some time.

In Sri Lanka, dominant Singhalese Buddhists and militant Tamil Hindus and Muslims continue to kill each other. This trend is growing in other parts of Asia too. In other parts of the world, we have the Catholics versus Protestants in Northern Ireland; Christians versus Muslims in Lebanon, and the latest outbreak of such a conflict is in war-torn Serbia and Bosnia. All these killings are being done in the name of their beliefs in their own gods.

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In ancient times, no one pretended that God belonged to only one people but rather, they believed that God was God of all peoples. The image of the tribal god was conceived in the course of battle for settlement between the different races and tribes. For the purpose of mobilizing their people to fight against other races or tribes, it was inevitable that they use the name of their tribal gods to do so. Unfortunately, this ancient belief is still being practised even in our post-modern era.

Inter-Faith Dialogue

How then, can we overcome this 'tribal gods syndrome' that exists in some of our societies? Is there any clue to resolve this danger of separating and demarcating between faiths and ideologies? It is our responsibility to provide good news to people victimized by religious and ideological chauvinism.

One possible way is to work together with peoples of other faiths and ideologies to find new paradigms of creating new communities based on peace, justice, freedom and happiness. Unless we work to overcome the 'tribal gods syndrome' of chauvinistic faiths and ideologies, it will be difficult to build a just society.

Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, "I found an altar on which is written, 'To An Unknown God', that which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you." (v. 23) Here is a sharp contrast between Paul and the Athenians on the understanding of God.

Paul knew exactly all about God so that proclaiming Jesus and his resurrection was the major emphasis of his missionary movement. Whereas, the Atheanians were projecting the image of God according to their own taste and preference. The image was not based on either facts or faith, and so they made an altar which was marked, 'To An Unknown God'.

Such things are happening in our midst even today. Many people are fond of creating different images of God—whether it is in a scientific way in the age of computer technology, or in a religious way as per sectarian convenience. Also, this human-made image, often portrays symbols of worshipping idols. In this post-modern era, idols are everywhere—superstars in drama, rock stars in pop music, superball stars in football, movie stars in motion picture and electronic stars in television, etc. We may be

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able to easily identify with all kinds of idols, but the problem is that idols become our idols of worship. And we see a lot of people worshipping idols—of unknown gods—in our time.

According to Paul, unknown god means "without knowing who he is". And when we believe in an unknown god, that which we worship, then that is a serious problem for all of us. Let us ask ourselves—do we really know God?

Conclusion

I am reminded of my days at the Divinity School. Our Professor, Krister Stendahl, an eminent theologian, always began his prayer with, "Our God, we partly know you and we partly do not know you..." then he would continue. Even a well-known scholar like him, confessed that he knew God, only partly! Therefore, we have to be serious about knowing God in our day-to-day life.

At this juncture, it may be useful for us to think of a biblical passage from the Gospel of John, "You, Samaritans, do not really know whom you worship. But we, Jews, know whom we worship because it is from the Jews that salvation comes" (John 4:22).

This is more or less the same situation, but Jews seem to be confident in their faith commitment. And they are sure that the Messiah will bring salvation for all.

Paul was enthusiastic about preaching Jesus and His resurrection, which he knew very well—Jesus Christ is Spirit, Christ is Logos, Christ is Truth, Christ is the Way, Christ is Light, Christ is Life, Christ is Hope, and Christ is Love, etc. And that Jesus Christ brought forth salvation through His resurrection.

This message was not so convincing to the Epicureans and Stoic teachers, but was powerful to the ordinary people. They said, "We want to hear you again on the subject" (NIV v. 32).

When Paul left the meeting place, "Some people followed him and believed, among whom was Dionysius, a member of the council; there was also a woman named Damaris, and some other people" (v. 34). Here, the council member represented a high social status and the woman symbolized a discriminated social class. Both of them became members of Christian fellowship and were equal in Jesus Christ.

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Now we know the God whom we worship together as brothers and sisters, as citizens of a Messianic Kingdom. We know the God who overcomes all the barriers of gender, class and race and makes this community become one in Christ. We know the God who commands us to live together in harmony on the principle of "love your neighbor as you love yourself" (Mark 12:31). We know the God who encourages us, through the Holy Spirit, to take our own cross and follow him. We know the God who sent his son, Jesus Christ, and through him we have received salvation, and an everlasting life. That God we know. (1993)