I always think about this passage when it comes to witnessing to people of other faiths.
Acts 17 NLT
Paul Preaches in Athens
<sup class="versenum">
16 </sup>While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. <sup class="versenum">
17 </sup>He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
<sup class="versenum">
18 </sup>He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”
<sup class="versenum">
19 </sup>Then they took him to the high council of the city.<sup class="footnote" value='[
d]'></sup> “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. <sup class="versenum">
20 </sup>“You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” <sup class="versenum">
21 </sup>(It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)
<sup class="versenum">
22 </sup>So Paul, standing before the council,<sup class="footnote" value='[
e]'></sup> addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, <sup class="versenum">
23 </sup>for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
<sup class="versenum">
24 </sup>“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, <sup class="versenum">
25 </sup>and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. <sup class="versenum">
26 </sup>From one man<sup class="footnote" value='[
f]'></sup> he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
<sup class="versenum">
27 </sup>“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. <sup class="versenum">
28 </sup>For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your<sup class="footnote" value='[
g]'></sup> own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ <sup class="versenum">
29 </sup>And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
<sup class="versenum">
30 </sup>
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. <sup class="versenum">31 </sup>For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
<sup class="versenum">
32 </sup>When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” <sup class="versenum">
33 </sup>That ended Paul’s discussion with them, <sup class="versenum">
34 </sup>but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,<sup class="footnote" value='[
h]'></sup> a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
