Acts 17:30,31 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

And the times of this ignorance What! Does he object ignorance to the learned and knowing Athenians? Yes, and they acknowledged it by this very altar; God winked at Greek, υπεριδων, having overlooked, bearing with it, as if he did not take notice of it: that is, in his great long-suffering, he suffered mankind to go on in their course of ignorance and idolatry, without interrupting them in it, by sending express messages to them, by divinely-commissioned instructers, as he did to the Jews; because he meant to show them experimentally the insufficiency of their own reason in matters of religion; but now This day, this hour, saith Paul, puts an end to the divine forbearance, and brings either greater mercy or punishment. Now he commandeth all men everywhere to repent Of their ignorance, idolatry, and wickedness. There is a dignity and grandeur in this language of the apostle becoming an ambassador from the King of heaven. And this universal demand of repentance declared universal guilt in the strongest manner: and admirably confronted the pride of the haughtiest Stoic of them all. At the same time it bore down the idle plea of fatality. For how could any one repent of doing what he could not but have done. Because he hath appointed a day, &c. To persuade them more effectually to repent, God hath set before mankind the greatest of all motives, that of a future judgment. He hath appointed a day A great and awful day in which he will judge the world Even the whole world; in righteousness And will pass a final sentence of happiness or misery on each, according to his true character and behaviour. How fitly does the apostle speak thus in their supreme court of justice! By that man whom he hath ordained For that important purpose. Thus he speaks, suiting himself to the capacity of his hearers. Whereof he hath given assurance, &c., in that he hath raised him from the dead The resurrection of Jesus from the dead hath put the resurrection and judgment of all men beyond dispute: 1st, Because it hath confirmed the doctrine of Christ, one important branch of which was, that he would raise the dead and judge all mankind. 2d, Because God raised him from the dead, as on divers other accounts, so especially that he might judge mankind by him. We are by no means to imagine that this was all which the apostle intended to have said. But the indolence of some of his hearers, and the petulancy of others, cut him short. For when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked Made a jest of it, as a despicable and incredible tale, not worthy to be any longer heard; thereby interrupting him. These were probably the Epicureans, who took offence at that which is a principal object of faith, from the pride of reason. And having once stumbled at this, they disbelieved all the rest; and so went down to righteous condemnation, under the guilt of having rejected a gospel, the proof of which they might have learned in one single day, but would not give themselves the trouble of examining: and this is the condemnation to which many among us are exposed. And others More candid; said, We will hear thee again on this matter And having said this, they put an end to the apostle's discourse, and to the assembly, without allowing him an opportunity of showing how the resurrection of Jesus renders the resurrection and judgment of mankind probable; or of explaining the other fundamental doctrines of the gospel.