Do all people worship the same God?

[tabletalk]

From Acts 17:22-34. (the Mars Hill teaching of Paul)

22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23. for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:..."

Did the Athenians (and all people) worship God, but without having knowledge of Him? That is what seems to be proclaimed in these verses, by the Apostle Paul. I assume "knowing Him" to be knowledge of the Lord Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
I say this because I may be in error thinking that no one can worship God who does not know the Son. Paul seems to teach that everyone worships God.

 

[Deborah_]

This was one altar amongst thousands. The Athenians (the vast majority, at any rate) were worshipping pagan gods, not the true God. But the presence of this altar seemed to Paul to suggest that a few people were dissatisfied with these deities and were groping for the truth.

Bear in mind that this is an evangelistic sermon, not a theological essay. He's trying to engage with a real audience and get alongside them. 'You' is therefore a rather vague word, and doesn't necessarily refer to all of them.

 

[breathofdesire]

From Acts 17:22-34. (the Mars Hill teaching of Paul)

22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23. for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:..."

Did the Athenians (and all people) worship God, but without having knowledge of Him? That is what seems to be proclaimed in these verses, by the Apostle Paul. I assume "knowing Him" to be knowledge of the Lord Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
I say this because I may be in error thinking that no one can worship God who does not know the Son. Paul seems to teach that everyone worships God.

I think anyone can have a transformed life and experience the true God. That would be any time period, regardless whether the Bible existed or not.

Think about all the people in old testament day's that were saved, even when the new testament didn't exist.

We don't just become saved now because the Bible is complete, God can save anyone at anytime because he's God.

 

[Stranger]

From Acts 17:22-34. (the Mars Hill teaching of Paul)

22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23. for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:..."

Did the Athenians (and all people) worship God, but without having knowledge of Him? That is what seems to be proclaimed in these verses, by the Apostle Paul. I assume "knowing Him" to be knowledge of the Lord Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
I say this because I may be in error thinking that no one can worship God who does not know the Son. Paul seems to teach that everyone worships God.

Paul is not saying everyone worships God who worship something. Because God created a people of His own, Israel, in whom salvation was to be found, the Gentiles were left with only 'general revelation' of the creation. (Rom. 1:20) And in their ignorance they created idols of stone. And God overlooked it in that they were in ignorance. (Acts. 17:29-30) 'Overlooked it' or 'winked at', doesn't mean all were saved or that God received their worship through these idols. It means He didn't bring immediate judgement against it.

General revelation (the creation) can be received or rejected just like special revelation (Jesus and the Bible) can. The vast majority of Gentiles would reject this revelation. Remember they would already have been guilty of rejecting the truths they would know which were passed down from Adam and then to Noah and his sons. And this is the unbelieving world God called Abraham out of. (Josh. 24:2)

But, would some of these Gentiles have been saved? No doubt they would have been. But it would not be because of their worshipping God contrary to what God has revealed. They would have been true to what was given them either through the creation or what was passed down through Noah and his sons. And once Jesus Christ came and salvation was directly centered on Him, then God no longer would overlook this sin of idolatry among the Gentiles. They were now required to repent of this. (Acts 17:30)

The one who had a true faith in God prior to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, would immediately believe in Jesus Christ once He was made known to him. The one whose false worship was in idols, who rejected the general revelation, would also reject Jesus Christ once he learned of Him.

Stranger

 

[101G]

22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23. for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:..."

Did the Athenians (and all people) worship God, but without having knowledge of Him? That is what seems to be proclaimed in these verses, by the Apostle Paul. I assume "knowing Him" to be knowledge of the Lord Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.

addressing the OP. this is exactly what Job was doing, going through the motions, having religious ceremonies, (practicing) religions just like the Athens was doing. see, it good to know God or rather know of him, but there are two words that a true worshiper of God needs to know. #1 relationship, and #2. fellowship. it like worshiping in #1 Spirit, and #2, Truth. see job only HEARD of God but had not EXPERIENCE God. scripture, Job 42:5 "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee". one must have a relationship with God, and then one can experience the fellowship of God in Christ Jesus. and yes Job believed in Christ Jesus. scripture, Job 19:25-26 "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God". Job believed in the Resurrection also.

 

[Helen]

I still maintain that we serve a BIG God....so I am sure none of us can worship or really know who God is or His depth.
We yield if we are followers to what He shows us along the way...but my heart of hearts believes as C.S. Lewis did....and what he pictured and showed in his book The Last Battle. Even people who call God by another name, yet who's heart is really seeking the True God...I can't remember how C.S Lewis put it, but something like:- "Don't fear, You thought that you were serving **** but I have always known your heart was seeking Me....come in..."
We may all get busy and dot all the 'I''s and cross all the 'T''s, and get dogmatic and legalistic about who is 'in' and who is 'out'. But, I have no doubt at all, that we will all be greatly surprised on The Day of The Lord.

 

[bbyrd009]

Paul seems to teach that everyone worships God.

seems to me Paul teaches there that it is the Unknown God that should be worshipped, iow those who have defined God to suit themselves are in error; not that everyone worships God, necessarily?

 

[Truth]

From Acts 17:22-34. (the Mars Hill teaching of Paul)

22. "Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23. for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:..."

Did the Athenians (and all people) worship God, but without having knowledge of Him? That is what seems to be proclaimed in these verses, by the Apostle Paul. I assume "knowing Him" to be knowledge of the Lord Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
I say this because I may be in error thinking that no one can worship God who does not know the Son. Paul seems to teach that everyone worships God.

I think that Paul was taking the occasion to utilize the alter to The Unknown God, as an opportunity to introduce The one True God, as the one they Might have been Searching for! ??????

 

[amadeus]

This, I believe, is what Jesus means when he speaks of coming as a little child. We come to Him openly without preconceived notions. This is the unknown God rather than the one any person or group of people have developed.

A child is able to believe God more quickly than an adult who has already formed a lot of opinions about a lot of things and all of those opinions hinder a really honest approach to God. Then when we approach Him, God will begin to fill in the blank places.