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Why Jerusalem in Athens?

Jerusalem was always seen as the holy city, the shining beacon on a hill… And the place were God dwelt with his people. (Psalm 9, 20:2, 50:2 and others.)

Ancient Athens laid claim to something entirely different. Named after the goddess of wisdom, Athena, it was the quintessential Hellenistic city: worship of the ancient Greek gods was deeply embedded into its culture, yet it was also the centre of philosophical pursuit, where thinkers came to test out their philosophies amongst the intelligentsia, and teachers came to win followers. To make it all work, there was a sort of postmodern pluralism: you could hold whatever religion you liked, as long as you respect the traditional pagan gods and give your worship to the emperor.

The very first Christians faced an immediate problem: how do we live as Christians, citizens of God’s kingdom, while we face the reality that we are also citizens of this world? How are we to live out our Christ focussed life while we are living in Athens, or Corinth, or Rome?

Christians throughout the millennia have had different answers to this question. But this question still remains: how are we to live as citizens of God’s Kingdom while we are living in New York? Oxford? Paris? Beijing?

This is theme of this blog. A loose, meandering collection of writings on church history, theology, Christian living and worship. I hope you find it theologically astute, and, God willing, edifying.