JBF Acts Bible Study                                                                                Lecture 21

The God Who Made the World 

Acts 17:16-34 

Key verse 17:24 

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”

What distressed Paul about Athens? (16) What then did he do? (17) Why do you think he went out to the marketplace as well? What is the significance of the expression "day by day" in verse 17?

Who began to dispute with Paul? (18a) What are the main characteristics of the two groups (Epicurean and Stoic)? What was Paul preaching? (18b) How did they respond? (19-21)

Read verses 22-25. What did Paul teach them about: 1) themselves; and 2) God? How is God different from the Athenian gods (or idols, in general)? Why is it important to teach that God is the Creator? 

How did God work in human history? (26) Why? (27) What happens when men "seek him" and "reach out for him"? (27) What does it mean that "he is not far from each one of us"? (27b-28)

How should we not think about God? Why? (29) What does God now command all people everywhere? (30) What day is coming? (31) Who is the man appointed to judge the world? How did God reveal this?

How did the people respond? (32-34) Why is it important to teach about the day of judgment and resurrection? What do you learn from Paul's ministry in Athens?