This article is adapted and revised from The Word of His Grace radio program, "Repentance" that originally aired in 2005.
![But now [God] commands that all people everywhere should repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. St. Paul Preaching in Athens by Raphael (1515).](https://www.wordofhisgrace.org/images/Raphael,_St_Paul_Preaching_in_Athens_(1515).jpg)
There is Paul, facing the great minds of his day—the pagan philosophers of Greece. He is standing in one of the very centers of pagan thought, Athens. He is speaking to people who have never heard of Jesus Christ and know nothing of the true God. Greater skeptics one could hardly imagine. Does Paul weaken his message in order to reach these people? Does he say that we really all worship the same god, just with different names? Does he debate with them over their points of philosophy? Does he hire temple prostitutes to dance and sing (with Christian words, of course) to bring in the crowds? No. Emphatically, no! Oh, he uses an anecdote and a stunning opening statement to get their attention. But he never gets down on their level. He held the banner of Jesus Christ high.