I had a very interesting lesson on ancient Greek culture last weekend. I brought Naomi and Nathan to the National Museum to visit the gallery and exhibition on Greek civilisation --- the "Greek Masterpieces From the Louvre". The exhibit ends its tour in Singapore on 16 Mar 08.
The museum guide explained that Greek civilisation was "agonistic", that is, founded on the spirit of competition. Rivalry is one of the driving forces of existence, and hence the emphasis on sports. Even the gods worshiped by the Greeks competed among themselves! Greek religion was polytheistic and there were more than 200 deities in Attica itself. Half of the Athenian calendar was devoted to the gods.
What does the Bible tell us? In Acts 17, Paul was greatly distressed to see that the city of Athens was full of idols, subtlely referring to the polytheistic religious practices of the Greek civilisation. Paul even mentioned in Acts 17:23 that the Athenians had even built an altar worshiping literally "an unknown god"!
As the world marvelled at the political and artistic achievements of ancient Greek civilisation, let us not forget God's reminder that it is He "who made the world and everything in it" (Acts 17:24). Images made by man's design and skill are worth nothing in God's eyes, no matter how magnificient they look. Our God desires true worship from His people.
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