A Cruel Insinuation

by R. Darke, Victoria, B.C. | Category: General | Sept 1975

BABBLER, that is what they called him. It was a word with a sardonic twist to it. It was meant to be sarcastic, caustic, because they were somewhat anxious about this person in their midst. His message was new and unusual without question; he was a personality; his words carried weight and conviction; and obviously he was not without education. But they had to find a way to humiliate him, so they called him "a babbler", and they brought him by force before their judges.

The man was Paul, the people were Greeks, and the place was Athens. Paul had been shocked at finding the city full of idols of gold, silver, and stone. Then he came across an altar with the inscription, "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD". For a nation which had contributed so much light to the world in arts, sciences, and philosophies, these things indicated deep spiritual darkness. And their only hope, Paul knew, was the gospel of God concerning His Son.

It was after he had reasoned on this subject with the Athenian Jews, and encountered the philosophic Epicureans and Stoics, that some enquired, "What would this babbler say?" (Acts 17:18). The Greeks knew the cruelty of this insinuation for their word for "babbler" is "spermologos", a collector of seeds. But it was used derogatively of people who hung about the streets and marketplace picking up scraps like crows. Such persons were classified as parasites, or hangers on; or those who picked up scraps of information and relayed them to groups and crowds in order to put on a show. They were likened to pedlars of second-hand thoughts, plagiarists.

This, then, was the opinion that some of the Athenians held of Paul after he had told them of Jesus and the resurrection (17:18,19). Surely they had underestimated this man of God; and obviously they were unaware of his background. Jewish born and named Saul of Tarsus, he was exceedingly well-educated, steeped in the law, knowledgeable as to their own poets, a leader of his own nation. But above all this, he had had an experience with Christ which many might envy; an experience he never tired of relating. Paul had been unable to accept that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. His death on the cross was surely the end of Him, until His disciples began testifying publicly of having seen and heard Him after His resurrection. Then following Pentecost a small band of disciples had grown into a multitude, and were still multiplying. It was then that Saul of Tarsus became a vicious persecutor and a murderer of Christians. It was as he journeyed on one of these wild escapades of venomous hatred that he met the risen Christ; it was on the road to Damascus, and Saul was brought to his knees. "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" a Voice from heaven asked him. "Who art thou, Lord?" he responded. "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest", answered the Lord Jesus from heaven (Acts 9:3-7). At that moment Saul was enlightened by the incontrovertible truth that the Jesus of Calvary must be alive for He was speaking to him from heaven. Saul needed no more persuading. He arose from the ground a new man, born again, and the Lord's vindictive opponent became His faithful follower. He became the standard bearer of the faith; he proclaimed the complete gospel, which he described as "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom. 1:16); he encouraged those who were born again to become disciples of the Lord Jesus, to be baptized, and added to a church of God. He had the vision of churches of God forming a house for God, and he tired not in proclaiming this heavenly vision. He was faithful to the end of his life as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, a faithful contender in the spiritual race, and a guardian of the truth. This was no babbler, but a true servant of the God of heaven.

So before the elite of Athens, in the place where Socrates once stood, Paul gave his masterly presentation of divine truth. He chastised the Athenians for their superstition and ignorance; he emphasized the existence of God and His creatorial work; the dependence of men upon Him, and His Personal nearness to men; he warned of a day of judgement decreed by God for those who disobeyed His commandment to repent, and the Judge would be His Son - Christ crucified and risen from the dead. This Spirit-guided message caused some to mock, others to postpone their decision, but a few to believe and become followers of the Man of Calvary (Acts 17:22-34).

We can all learn a profitable lesson from this experience of Paul when he ignored the jeers and disdainful remarks, and found great consolation in the outcome of his message. It is recorded for eternity that "certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them" (v.34). What does it matter what men say about us as long as we are faithful in presenting the truth of God? He has promised "... My word... shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please." (Isa. 55:11).

R. Darke, Victoria, B.C. | Sept 1975
General