For the Greeks, and especially the Epicureans, resurrections simply didn't happen. Interestingly, Aeschylus said that at the inauguration of the court of the Areopagus, Apollo stated, "Once he [man] is slain; there is no resurrection" (Eumenides 648). No wonder some Areopagus members, especially Epicureans who saw death as merely a dispersal of atoms, respond to Paul with mockery. And modern empiricists respond to such incredible claims in the same way. Greg Bahnsen's point is well taken (1980:9, 17-22): we will be following Paul's example and spend our energies wisely if we try to help moderns wrestle with the presuppositions that prevent them from even entertaining the possibility of a resurrection, rather than trying to prove its historicity within a modern scientific framework.

The Stoics seem to respond to Paul with jaded curiosity: We want to hear you again on this subject. Though at other times during his missionary witness Paul was able to capitalize on people's genuine curiosity (13:42, 44; 17:2, 11), Luke does not tell us whether Paul ever had opportunity to take the Areopagites up on their request. At the very least, their response delays Paul's licensing and effectively curtails his activity. Paul will encounter such exercises in procrastination again (24:25; 26:28). Procrastination leaves people in their unrepentant state, facing only certain judgment. They must embrace the Savior now if they are to be rescued from wrath later, when he comes as Judge. Postmoderns who delay commitment must watch out lest they procrastinate all the way to the judgment seat of Christ.

But some (tines; NIV's few may be too negative) of Paul's hearers do decide to become followers of ("associate intimately with"; 5:13; 9:26; 10:28) Paul and express saving faith (16:31, 34; 17:12). Luke names Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus council, and Damaris, probably part of the crowd and a foreign-born courtesan, since no Greek women of polite society would have had an opportunity to hear Paul in public (Metzger 1971:459-60, following Ramsay; Polhill 1992:378-79 thinks this is a general summary statement about fruit from witness in synagogue, marketplace and Areopagus, and therefore does not necessarily say anything about Damaris' social status). Luke desires the same believing response from his readers—Theophilus, his fellow seekers and us.