The Unknown God Paul is trying so hard to be clever, up there on what the Romans called Mars Hill. This was a location dedicated to Ares or Mars, the god of war. Paul has a learn รจ d audience to try and get through to. The guys in the Areopagus meeting were some of the most respected philosophers in Athens. They were defenders of the status quo, which in this case meant polytheism. But they were also curious about this stranger who was talking about ideas that were new to them. Athenians, according to verse 21, were always interested in discussing the latest ideas. Paul thought he had a great angle to argue from. He had seen an altar, among the city’s many altars and shrines to Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, one dedicated to an Unknown God. Hey, he said, I know who that God is. That God isn’t unknown at all. Let me tell you about the Creator of the Universe, who is not like any of your usual gods, who can’t live in an image made by human hands and doesn’t need tem...