cover of episode To an Unknown God
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早期基督教诞生于一个对基督教主张持怀疑态度的文化环境中，与当今社会类似，但基督教的论证如此有力，以至于大量的怀疑论者都相信了，并改变了整个罗马文化。使徒行传是了解改变罗马帝国的基督教论证的最佳来源。福音的劝说力包含三个方面：文化意义、知识层面和个人层面。保罗在雅典的传道活动展示了福音的文化影响力，他不仅在犹太会堂和市场与人辩论，也深入到雅典的文化中心——Agora（市场），与当时的知识精英互动。福音具有塑造文化的力量，如果福音没有在你的生活中产生文化塑造的力量，你就没有真正理解它。保罗在雅典的演讲向当时的知识精英（伊壁鸠鲁学派和斯多葛学派）展示了福音的知识力量，他巧妙地论证了上帝的存在和耶稣的复活。保罗在雅典的演讲的核心论点是“巨大的矛盾”和“肉体复活”。保罗指出，雅典人虽然否认神，但在生活中却承认神的存在，这是一种巨大的矛盾。保罗的论证并非试图理性地证明上帝的存在，而是指出雅典人已经在生活中承认了上帝的存在，只是不愿意承认而已。保罗论证的第二个核心是耶稣的肉体复活，这为基督教的诞生提供了无法反驳的证据。耶稣复活是无法被当时的文化和世界观所解释的，这成为基督教早期迅速传播的有力证据。福音的劝说力还体现在上帝对人的挚爱，这种爱改变了人们的生活。圣经中展现的是一位复杂的神，既充满爱又充满公义，这与现代人对上帝的简单理解不同。保罗对雅典充满偶像的景象感到痛苦，体现了上帝对人类复杂的爱：既愤怒于人类的罪恶，又怜悯人类的迷失。基督的十字架体现了上帝复杂的爱：既愤怒于罪恶，又对人类充满爱。福音的劝说力顺序是：个人层面（上帝的爱）→知识层面（矛盾和复活）→文化层面（生活见证）。早期基督徒的爱改变了当时的文化。

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Tim Keller discusses the challenges of living among competing worldviews and systems of thought, emphasizing the need for Christians to live faithfully and wisely in this cultural moment.

Shownotes Transcript

The culture in which Christianity was born was every bit as skeptical of the claims of Christianity as ours is. But the case for Christianity was made so strongly that skeptical people believed in numbers so great that it changed the entire Roman culture. 

There’s no better place to see the case that changed the whole Roman Empire than the book of Acts. Within it, there are a number of spots where Paul or Peter make the case, including this famous spot where Paul speaks to the intellectual elites on Mars Hill in the Areopagus. 

This text shows three aspects to the persuasive power of gospel: 1) the cultural, 2) the intellectual, and 3) the personal.

This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on October 19, 2003. Series: The Necessity of Belief. Scripture: Acts 17:16-34.

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