Acts 17:24 - Exposition

The God for God, A.V. (surely a change for the worse); he being Lord for seeing that he is Lord, A.V. Made with hands ( χειροποιήτοις ) ; see the same phrase in Mark 14:5 , Mark 14:8 ; Acts 7:48 ; Hebrews 9:11 . St. Paul applies it, too, to the circumcision made with the knife, as distinguished from that wrought by the Holy Spirit ( Ephesians 3:11 ). It is frequent in the LXX . It is a striking instance of St. Paul's unflinching boldness and fidelity to the truth, that he should expose the hollowness of heathen worship, standing within a stone's throw of the Parthenon and the temple of Theseus and the countless other temples of gods and goddesses, which were the pride and glory of the Athenian people. Note how he begins his catechetical instruction to the Athenians with the first article of the Creed: "I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."