Biblioteca Vida Nova - BIBA - Critica de Livros.
"The Gospel in The Marketplace of ideas", "Paul's Mars Hill Experience for Our Pluralistic World" by Paul Copan and Kenneth D. Litwak. IVP Academic D.Grove, Illinois 2014.
In this great book, imagine Paul preaching in first century Athens, the center for culture and philosophy of the liberal achievements of Greek people! Democracy was in its climax and all the great thoughts and ideas of Greek philosophers spreading all over the city and the cultural milieu. Athens, and the Mars Hill Square was a glimpse of the most vivid cultural arena in first century Europe. Something like the old good times of Quartier Latin in Paris, France, or the Greenwich Village in New York city, USA, or anywhere in the world where philosophical culture it's concentrated and vibrant. Paul spoke about the Power of the Gospel in the marketplace of ideas in Athens, where, among others, Athens was the center of Greek philosophy and the well known philosophers as Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, Zeno, Epictetus, Seneca. When Paul visited Athens, as told in the book of Acts, he also found an equally multicultural and multireligious setting. From Jews to Gentiles, elite to poor people, slaves and slaveowners, from oliveskinned gentiles from dark-skinned Ethiopians. The Greco-Roman world was a great and dynamic mix of everything possible, like the world today. A wide variety of religions were practiced, with the cult of emperor worship being the most prominent. But today we have the idolatry of men and images. The idolatry of money and power, the idolatry of evil idols, and so fourth. Many also frequented the temples for the traditional Greek pantheon and participated in the secret rituals of the mystery religious. Mars Hill is the other name for the Athens Areopagus, where Paul met Athens intellectuals. He preached the truth of the Gospel of Jesus by addressing his thoughts over the "statue" of the Unknown God. Actually there was no statue, but only the prevailing truth of the Gospel. Despite the truth and the power of God's word, Paul was not ignorant of the dominant ideas in his days, and we shouldn't be either. "The Gospel in The Marketplace of Ideas" is a great book, not only for its historical and philosophical insights, but also when teaching us the approach of Paul's Evangelism in a complex world, that serves as a model for today's Christian churches evangelical outreach. Great book for a current issue, thoughtful, insightful and profoundly connected to our today's world.
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