Day 07 - From the Land of the Apostles to the Land of Philosophers: Hello Athens

Today was a travel day, but not just any travel day. We said goodbye to Turkey and crossed over into Greece, and in doing so, we stepped from one chapter of Paul’s journey to the next. We moved from the landscapes of Asia Minor, where Paul planted seeds in cities like Ephesus , to Athen, the very heart of the ancient world’s philosophical and cultural imagination.

Athens. 

Just saying the name stirs something ancient. This is the city of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The city that taught the world how to think deeply, debate passionately, and build temples that scrape the sky. By the time Paul arrived here in Acts 17, the city had long been past its political prime, but it still held an intellectual gravitas. Luke even notes that “all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21).

You can almost hear the echoes of that ancient Areopagus debate as you walk these streets.

Before we begin tracing Paul’s steps tomorrow, we had a chance today to visit the Panathenaic Stadium. This is an incredible structure built entirely from white marble. While the version we walked through was rebuilt for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, it rests on much older foundations. The original stadium dates to the 4th century BC, expanded in the 2nd century AD by the Roman emperor Hadrian’s friend, Herodes Atticus. This was more than a sports arena, it was a symbol of human striving, excellence, and the value of disciplined training.

We’re not just tracing Paul’s geography, we’re entering into his calling. And like him, we too are on a pilgrimage. Not just to see the past, but to be shaped by it.

“A pilgrim is not someone who walks where others have walked. A pilgrim is someone who seeks what others have sought.”

– Phil Cousineau

Tonight, we rest in a city once devoted to the gods of stone and thought. But the living God is still speaking here. Let’s listen closely.

Even the Stones Cry Out,

Jerrell