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The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World
Our world is multicultural, multireligious, multiphilosophical. It ranges from fundamental monotheism to do-it-yourself spirituality to strident atheism. How can Christians engage in communicating across worldviews in this pluralistic and often relativistic society? When Paul visited Athens, he found an equally multicultural and multireligious setting. From Jews to Gentiles, elite to poor, slaves to slave owners, from olive-skinned Gentiles to dark-skinned Ethiopians―the Greco-Roman world was a dynamic mix. Religious practices were also wide and varied, with the imperial cult of emperor worship being the most prominent. Many also frequented the temples for the traditional Greek pantheon, and participated in the secret rituals of the mystery religions. Seeking to embolden the church's witness in today's society, philosopher Paul Copan and New Testament scholar Kenneth Litwak show how Paul's speech to the Athenians (found in Acts 17) provides a practical model for Christians today. They uncover the cultural and religious background of this key episode in the apostle?s career and they encourage believers to winsomely challenge the idols of our time to point contemporary Athenians to Christ.
201 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2014
8 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Paul Copan
87 books166 followersPaul Copan is a Christian theologian, analytic philosopher, apologist, and author. He is currently a professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University and holds the endowed Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics.
From 1980-1984, he attended Columbia International University and earned a B.A. degree in biblical studies. Copan attended Trinity International University, where he received his M.A. in philosophy of religion, as well as his M.Div. at Trinity International. Copan received the Prof. C.B. Bjuge Award for a thesis that “evidences creative scholarship in the field of Biblical and Systematic Theology.”
In May 2000, Copan received his Ph.D. in philosophy of religion from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His dissertation topic was "The Moral Dimensions of Michael Martin’s Atheology: A Critical Assessment."
From 1980-1984, he attended Columbia International University and earned a B.A. degree in biblical studies. Copan attended Trinity International University, where he received his M.A. in philosophy of religion, as well as his M.Div. at Trinity International. Copan received the Prof. C.B. Bjuge Award for a thesis that “evidences creative scholarship in the field of Biblical and Systematic Theology.”
In May 2000, Copan received his Ph.D. in philosophy of religion from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His dissertation topic was "The Moral Dimensions of Michael Martin’s Atheology: A Critical Assessment."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 30, 2014
Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak, The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas: Paul’s Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014). Paperback / Kindle
Among American evangelicals, it is a truism to say that America is fast becoming a post-Christian nation. The nation’s increasing diversity combined with the rapid rise of religious “nones” have resulted in a very different religious landscape than the one depicted in Will Herberg’s mid-20th-century classic, Protestant—Catholic—Jew, where those three religious constituted Americans’ religious choices. This new landscape requires evangelical Christians to adopt new methods in their evangelistic mission to the current generation.
Why? Because many of our methods assume that the people we are talking to agree with us on basic assumptions about the authority of the Bible, the nature of God, the necessity of atonement, and the reasonableness of faith. For much of American history, evangelism thus consisted of calling nominal Christians to practice a more authentic faith. In our increasingly non-Christian and post-Christian nation, however, it is unsafe to make any of those assumptions.
In their new book, The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas, Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak examine Paul’s Mars Hill sermon (Acts 17:16–34) to see what insights the Bible itself supplies to evangelical Christians who wish to proclaim the eternal gospel in temporally relevant manner. Among Paul’s evangelistic sermon in Acts, the Mars Hill sermon best approximates our own cultural situation. Athens was a pre-Christian, pluralistic culture, whose religious and philosophical assumptions and practices differed dramatically from Paul’s. And yet, Paul found a way to speak meaningfully to the Athenians, affirming what he could in their culture, while providing a critique of those beliefs and practices that kept them from seeing their need for faith in Jesus Christ.
This dual-movement of Jesus-centered affirmation and critique will have a different flavor in 21st-century America, of course. But the logic of the approach will be the same.
Distinguish between persons and beliefs.
Describe the unknown God.
Point to signals of transcendence.
See evangelism and apologetics as interrelated process.
Challenge contemporary idolatries/ideologies.
Above all, point to Jesus as the climax of history and the fulfillment of our highest ideals.
As we follow Paul’s Mars Hill evangelistic methodology, we will find that some of our listeners will sneer, just as some Athenians sneered at Paul. But some will believe. It is for them that we must “become all things to all people so that by all possible means [we] might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
P.S. If you found this review helpful, please vote yes on my Amazon.com review page.
Among American evangelicals, it is a truism to say that America is fast becoming a post-Christian nation. The nation’s increasing diversity combined with the rapid rise of religious “nones” have resulted in a very different religious landscape than the one depicted in Will Herberg’s mid-20th-century classic, Protestant—Catholic—Jew, where those three religious constituted Americans’ religious choices. This new landscape requires evangelical Christians to adopt new methods in their evangelistic mission to the current generation.
Why? Because many of our methods assume that the people we are talking to agree with us on basic assumptions about the authority of the Bible, the nature of God, the necessity of atonement, and the reasonableness of faith. For much of American history, evangelism thus consisted of calling nominal Christians to practice a more authentic faith. In our increasingly non-Christian and post-Christian nation, however, it is unsafe to make any of those assumptions.
In their new book, The Gospel in the Marketplace of Ideas, Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak examine Paul’s Mars Hill sermon (Acts 17:16–34) to see what insights the Bible itself supplies to evangelical Christians who wish to proclaim the eternal gospel in temporally relevant manner. Among Paul’s evangelistic sermon in Acts, the Mars Hill sermon best approximates our own cultural situation. Athens was a pre-Christian, pluralistic culture, whose religious and philosophical assumptions and practices differed dramatically from Paul’s. And yet, Paul found a way to speak meaningfully to the Athenians, affirming what he could in their culture, while providing a critique of those beliefs and practices that kept them from seeing their need for faith in Jesus Christ.
This dual-movement of Jesus-centered affirmation and critique will have a different flavor in 21st-century America, of course. But the logic of the approach will be the same.
Distinguish between persons and beliefs.
Describe the unknown God.
Point to signals of transcendence.
See evangelism and apologetics as interrelated process.
Challenge contemporary idolatries/ideologies.
Above all, point to Jesus as the climax of history and the fulfillment of our highest ideals.
As we follow Paul’s Mars Hill evangelistic methodology, we will find that some of our listeners will sneer, just as some Athenians sneered at Paul. But some will believe. It is for them that we must “become all things to all people so that by all possible means [we] might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
P.S. If you found this review helpful, please vote yes on my Amazon.com review page.
December 12, 2014
Relevance and faithfulness. Any teacher of any religious tradition is faced with this tension as they move from one cultural context to the next. One has to connect both with the thought world and life experiences of one's hearers in terms they readily grasp, and one needs to faithfully communicate the substance of one's religious beliefs without compromising their essence.
The authors of this book believe the Apostle Paul's Mars Hill discourse provides a very helpful model for how one may do this in the case of Christianity. Athens represented the intellectual center of the Roman empire and was a crossroads of the various beliefs commonly held in Paul's day from the worship of a pantheon of deities to the more refined philosophies of Epicureanism and Stoicism. The authors observe how this is not unlike our own context which they see steeped in both post-modernist assumptions about truth and materialistic naturalism. (I am surprised that they did not give more attention to Eastern influences in our society and the pantheistic monism that characterizes many discussions of "spirituality.")
One of the first questions the authors answer is whether Paul succeeded in this task. Some commentators have argued that Athens represented a failed strategy of "contextualized preaching" from which Paul retreated when he went on to Corinth and decided to preach nothing but "Jesus Christ and him crucified." They show how Paul's message, while using the language and letters of the Greeks, actually reflected ideas rooted both in the Hebrew scriptures and the preaching of Christ elsewhere. And, like elsewhere, some believed while others did not. There were many other cities, like Philippi that Paul left with just handfuls of believers.
Through a detailed study of the content and rhetoric of Paul's message, the authors show that Paul knew his audience, knew their leading thinkers, and framed the gospel in terms they could grasp, yet without shrinking away from controversial contentions, most notably, the idea of the resurrection. They conclude that we may also pay attention to the instances of "unknown gods" in our culture, the signals of awareness of the transcendent in our hearers, the process people undergo in their journey to faith, and the important work we may need to do in challenging the idolatries of our day. Ultimately we must also point to Jesus as the climax of history and the one who fulfills in his life, death, and resurrection our highest ideals.
This is a helpful contribution to the discussion of Paul's Mars Hill message and whether it may serve as a model for contemporary Christian witness. The authors not only defend this contention but show in very practical terms how this might work out in a twenty-first century context.
The authors of this book believe the Apostle Paul's Mars Hill discourse provides a very helpful model for how one may do this in the case of Christianity. Athens represented the intellectual center of the Roman empire and was a crossroads of the various beliefs commonly held in Paul's day from the worship of a pantheon of deities to the more refined philosophies of Epicureanism and Stoicism. The authors observe how this is not unlike our own context which they see steeped in both post-modernist assumptions about truth and materialistic naturalism. (I am surprised that they did not give more attention to Eastern influences in our society and the pantheistic monism that characterizes many discussions of "spirituality.")
One of the first questions the authors answer is whether Paul succeeded in this task. Some commentators have argued that Athens represented a failed strategy of "contextualized preaching" from which Paul retreated when he went on to Corinth and decided to preach nothing but "Jesus Christ and him crucified." They show how Paul's message, while using the language and letters of the Greeks, actually reflected ideas rooted both in the Hebrew scriptures and the preaching of Christ elsewhere. And, like elsewhere, some believed while others did not. There were many other cities, like Philippi that Paul left with just handfuls of believers.
Through a detailed study of the content and rhetoric of Paul's message, the authors show that Paul knew his audience, knew their leading thinkers, and framed the gospel in terms they could grasp, yet without shrinking away from controversial contentions, most notably, the idea of the resurrection. They conclude that we may also pay attention to the instances of "unknown gods" in our culture, the signals of awareness of the transcendent in our hearers, the process people undergo in their journey to faith, and the important work we may need to do in challenging the idolatries of our day. Ultimately we must also point to Jesus as the climax of history and the one who fulfills in his life, death, and resurrection our highest ideals.
This is a helpful contribution to the discussion of Paul's Mars Hill message and whether it may serve as a model for contemporary Christian witness. The authors not only defend this contention but show in very practical terms how this might work out in a twenty-first century context.
September 18, 2015
Could've been half the length. Entirely too repetitive.
Honestly, this book didn't even need to be written. It presents little, if anything, that hasn't been said elsewhere. The structure makes it hard to read, not in an academic sense, but in a I-could've-sworn-you've-already-said-this-six-times.
Would not recommend.
Honestly, this book didn't even need to be written. It presents little, if anything, that hasn't been said elsewhere. The structure makes it hard to read, not in an academic sense, but in a I-could've-sworn-you've-already-said-this-six-times.
Would not recommend.
March 17, 2019
Like so many of the books I've been reading lately, this was a required text for a graduate school class.
Who knew one could write nearly 200 pages of substantive text just on Paul's Mars Hill Speech? But Copan & Litwak did it brilliantly. They break the speech down and, most interestingly and informative to me, placed it within its proper context -- historically, philosophically, and culturally. From there, they move on to applying this contextual information to the modern task of Christian apologetics.
If you're interested in apologetics and the philosophy of Christianity, this is a great resource regarding how those fields relate to the overall mission of the church and individual Christians.
Who knew one could write nearly 200 pages of substantive text just on Paul's Mars Hill Speech? But Copan & Litwak did it brilliantly. They break the speech down and, most interestingly and informative to me, placed it within its proper context -- historically, philosophically, and culturally. From there, they move on to applying this contextual information to the modern task of Christian apologetics.
If you're interested in apologetics and the philosophy of Christianity, this is a great resource regarding how those fields relate to the overall mission of the church and individual Christians.
September 11, 2017
The book markets itself as a way to cross cultural contexts and speak to those who live thier lives by a code differently than our own. Similarly to Acts 17 as Paul spoke to those who followed a different code than he did. The books is an easy read but I am not sure what it is trying to do. Is it application? Is it a commentary? Speak on social contract? social context? it seems to be doing to a little of each but leaves a gaping hole where it could have gone deeper. The term "our Athens" is used to speak of who we might talk to but never says who that is. The book is lacking in so many areas yet still comes across very well.
January 23, 2021
This was a very thorough analysis of Paul’s speech to the people of Athens specifically his talk at Areopagus or Mars Hill. I liked the discussion on how it is important to understand not only the Bible but the history and culture of then and now in order to evangelize to the unbelievers around us. I also enjoyed how it was emphasized to talk to others with love and gentleness. We should emulate Jesus because that is who we should always be working toward being more like. Easy to understand vocabulary and ideas. The length was fine and I enjoyed that there were discussion questions in the back of the book and resources to further study.
September 14, 2017
The authors assess Paul's speech to the Areopagus in Acts 17 as a model for evangelism to Post Moderns. They encourage Christians to be versed in cultural trends and thoughts so that we can more wisely communicate the gospel. The authors provided helpful background to philosophies current during first century Greece.
The book was a bit repetitious but professors understand the value of repetition in learning.
The book was a bit repetitious but professors understand the value of repetition in learning.
June 14, 2020
Interesting information on Acts 17 and apologetics.
May 1, 2016
Evidently there is a proposition put forth by some biblical scholars that Paul's speech before the Areopagus during his visit to Athens was not at all successful, given the low "success rate," if such a term applies, in proselytizing an elite intellectual class. What Paul Copan and Kenneth Litwak do in this book is dispel the inerrancy of such a proposition, and instead position the argument in such a way that it becomes a rhetorical template for expounding upon and sharing the truth about Jesus Christ at a time when, "many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase" (Daniel 12:4 NASB).
This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with clear and concise prose, and no need to pause for lookup's into Systematic Theology in order to make sense.
Read this book!
This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, with clear and concise prose, and no need to pause for lookup's into Systematic Theology in order to make sense.
Read this book!
July 13, 2016
Here is a fine exploration of the apostle Paul's activities and speech in Athens, as described in Acts 17. The authors explain why Paul's speech is a model for how Christians can engage the world today. This book is aimed towards a general audience. Therefore, one can find more detail in commentaries and books on apologetics. But for one-stop shopping for a general reader, this is a good description of Acts 17:16-34 and how it applies to today's world. The discussion questions in the back of the book make it one that could be used in small groups or Sunday school classes.
August 20, 2014
This book gives an excellent analysis of Paul's Speech to the Athenians.
How did Paul present the Gospel without quoting from scripture? What did Paul find in common with his listeners to provide a bridge to presenting the Christian Worldview?
All of these questions are answered as you proceed through the book. Excellent sources are provided at the end along with questions to consider. The book helps provide readers with a method of reaching out to Athenians in our own world.
How did Paul present the Gospel without quoting from scripture? What did Paul find in common with his listeners to provide a bridge to presenting the Christian Worldview?
All of these questions are answered as you proceed through the book. Excellent sources are provided at the end along with questions to consider. The book helps provide readers with a method of reaching out to Athenians in our own world.
February 8, 2015
This book is a must read. Copan does a great job laying the foundation by explaining the issue of polytheism. He breaks down Paul's
Method in approaching a diverse audience in Athens with theologies that cross the spectrum. By reading this book, you will have a better understanding and be more equipped to share the Gospel with friends, family, etc. with clarity despite their viewpoint.
Method in approaching a diverse audience in Athens with theologies that cross the spectrum. By reading this book, you will have a better understanding and be more equipped to share the Gospel with friends, family, etc. with clarity despite their viewpoint.
June 22, 2016
This was a good read. Some ideas and thoughts were repetitive across several chapters. Good thoughts about how to present and defend Christian ideas to people with a different worldview. I'm giving serious consideration to making this a required read in "Christian Evidences" course.
December 15, 2014
My review at Reformation21 - http://www.reformation21.org/shelf-li...
July 11, 2015
I liked the portions of the book that was a contrast between the ancient Mars Hill that Paul was writing to and our modern day 21st century society.
June 23, 2015
For pastors and teachers who want help with their missional dexterity.
September 2, 2016
Well written, good bibliography and a helpful exposition and analysis of Pauls speech in Acts 17 to the Areopagus.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews