One more time...
For the babes,the sheep, to protect them from the deception of the above poster, clearing the fog on "dwelleth not in temples made with hands;", which drones deceivingly morph into "man made temple," and spin,"he doesn't need a natural temple," and cry, "See!!!"
Was the cross "natural?"
The context:
Acts 17 KJV ff.
Of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what preceded, and what follows(Miles Coverdale paraphrase).
The audience in Athens?
In the synagogue at Athens, Paul "reasoned" that this Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, proving it from the scriptures. However, in the market place, he used other arguments to persuade the Grecian "opponents" (some other appear later @ Mars Hill).
"Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection." Acts 17:18 KJV
Paul's task on Mars Hill was to preach Jesus Christ, but his listeners did not even know there was a one true God.
"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. ]Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." Acts 17:23 KJV
Biblically, "ignorant" does not mean "stupid"-it merely means "lack of knowledge." In this context, they were ignorant of the true knowledge of God.
There were approximately 3,000 public altars in Athens. And hence:
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" Acts 17:24 KJV(see Acts 7:48 KJV)
"Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" Acts 17:25 KJV
Paganism is characterized by a physical activity, or something done with men's hands.
That was Paul's point, and the context in which "dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" was given.
The Epicureans, "philosophers", highly "cultivated", artistic people, materialists.....but they did not know God(neither did the Stoicks).Paul was introducing them to the one true God, the One who created them and everything else. Thus, just as the Lord Jesus Christ spoke quite differently to the young woman with a bucket of water in John 4, than He did to "Professor Nic" just one chapter earlier in John 3, Paul needed, and understood, that he had to "come down the ladder", "begin with the basics", in the ladder of truth-baby steps, if you will. He thus set forth, verses 23-31, God's unity, His glory as creator( per Gen. 1:1 KJV,Hebrews 11:6 KJV...), and thus His inherent right to judge His creatures, His manifestation/revelation of who He was in Christ, " he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained", the resurrection of His Christ, "in that he hath raised him from the dead", and the delegation of future judgment to that same man, the Lord Jesus Christ. In effect, He did preach "Jesus", and the resurrection of the dead(verse 18) to them, as being God, who they knew not. He may have developed his theme, as initially outlined in Chapter 13, including preaching mankind's doom due to sin, and the solution to this dilemma, the Jesus of whom they had heard(verse 18), but first they had to know "the basics":The day of Repentance("change your mind"-verses 27-30)), the day of Judgment(God Exists-verses 27-30), the day of ignorance(verse 30). And then leaves, after they divided themselves into 3 groups:
-mockers, scoffers v. 32
-"put it off 'til later" types=procrastinators-"We will hear thee again of this matter" v. 32
-believers-verse 34
The principle confirmed:
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6 KJV
First step-persuade the person that God exists-baby step, "plant the seed.". If he/she rejects that, you are "rearranging the deck chairs on the SS Titanic." It would be akin to trying to persuade someone that the grass is green, when they do not believe grass exists.For the first time in their lives the Athenians were introduced to a God who is a living person; One with Whom man could communicate, One Who was accessible. And they needed to "change their mind" about this issue.