St. Paul was an excellent evangelizer. He arrives in Athens and would have been identified by the locals as an immigrant, foreigner, outsider, tourist, and Jew. When he arrived in Athens, he took time to walk through the city and get to know the local culture. Greek culture had a complex religious system with gods for every imaginable human activity, need or hope and every aspect of nature. There were gods for war, peace, good luck, fertility, good harvest, lust, wind, wisdom, sea, rain, and even parties. As Paul walked through the city, he saw all the temples dedicated to all those aspects of human existence and the natural world. He also observed all the religious activities and devotions surrounding those temples. Paul noted there was also a “just in case” temple – that is just in case they missed one god, the “unknown god”.
Paul uses his observations and the people’s natural religiosity to evangelize. He announces Christ as that “unknown god”. He invites the people into a lifegiving relationship with the creator of all who is not in images made by humans. We can see how everything Paul did was focused on evangelization. As a result, we have that beautiful phrase from Paul’s catechesis “in him we live and move and have our being”.
Our modern culture is becoming more like the ancient Greek culture with a return to natural religiosity or a rigid, legal approach to religion. Many people are atheists. The first and most important god is us, our own selves. Then, second comes science and medicine. For those who believe in more, we have reduced our spiritual life to a relationship with a nebulous, unknowable god like Star Wars’ “the force be with you” or Avatar’s “Eywa”.
I grew up in Central New York State surrounded by natural beauty – pine forests, rivers, and lakes. A beauty beyond human capacity to create or even maintain. God’s existence and constant care was all around us.
Paul’s life was focused on announcing the beauty of being part of the resurrection through Christ. Paul observed and announced. Paul was bursting with joy for living, moving, existing within the peace, love, and pardon of God – the resurrection. Everyone around you needs to the reminded daily of that joy. That is our mission as Christians. How focused is your life on announcing the origin of the joy of your existence? How often do you announce that joy to your spouse, brothers, sisters, family, neighbors, or friends?
In him we live and move and have our being.
Image: CANVA CJ Dunn 04 May 2026 AI generated.