After the men from Thessalonica had traveled to Berea to stir up trouble, Paul boarded a ship to the city of Athens. Silas and Timothy stayed behind to teach the Bereans but were to travel to Athens after a short time.

Athens was one of the most magnificent cities in the world at that time. It was the capital city of Greece and was the center of Grecian art, philosophy, and government. The city was famous for it's debates and love for new thoughts and ideas. It was also known for it's idolatry and even today Athens has monuments to many gods throughout it's streets.

As Paul looked around at the rampant idolatry, his spirit was stirred and, instead of waiting for Silas and Timothy, Paul began to teach and dispute the false doctrines of the city with the Jewish people in the synagogue and anyone who would listen in the streets and markets!

In his daily preaching, Paul came across two specific sects of philosophers. The Epicureans (so called because of their founder Epicurus) believed that if there were gods, that they did not have anything to do with man. The Epicureans believed that they could find true happiness in life by sensual pleasure and so lived their lives to avoid any sort of pain and gladly followed all fleshly pursuits. The Stoicks believed that the gods existed but would not interfere with men's lives. They believed that man was governed by fate and that if any man was wise and good, he was equal to the highest of the gods. Neither of these groups of philosophers believed in life after death or a resurrection.

As Paul taught them, he began to teach that Jesus had risen from the dead. The philosophers had never heard of Jesus and certainly about his resurrection. Despite their scoffing, the anointing and spirit with which Paul spoke drew them to listen to his "babblings."

The Areopagus was the top level court in Greece and was roughtly equivalent to our Supreme Court. It was a hill where, according to Greek mythology, the god Mars was tried by a council of other gods for the murder of the son of Neptune. Twelve judges sat in an uncovered place with two boards on the ground. Each judge had a flint pebble and at the end of hearing both sides of an argument, they would toss their pebble onto either of the boards: one signifying that they believed the accused was innocent and the other signifying that they believed that the accused was guilty.

The Athenians loved to hear new philosophies and publicly debate "deep" ideas, so it was only natural that they desired to hear this strange "philosophy" of which Paul spoke. In Athens, it was unlawful to teach of strange gods which were not found in Greek mythology so the charges of preaching a false god were given as an excuse to get Paul to speak before the judges and philosophers.

Paul was a wise and powerful speaker! Realizing the charges against him, Paul remembered an altar that he had passed during his meandering throughout the city that was titled: "to the unknown god." He began his defense by stating that he realized that the Athenians were highly religious because of their many devotions, but that he served their "unknown god" and knew his name! Paul's approach forced the philosophers to listen to his teachings, for if he claimed to know about this god, about whom they knew nothing, they would have to take his word for it!

The Epicureans and Stoics did not believe that any god made the world but Paul declared to them that their "unknown god" had indeed made the universe and did not dwell in temples made by men nor did He need man to help him exist. This was a powerful refutation of their philosophies because by presenting Jesus as the unknown god that ruled the universe and did not live in any physical temple, it automatically exalted Him as being greater than any of the Grecian gods of which all had temples. Paul went on to tell them that the one, true God, their "unknown god," also cared about the lives of men:

Paul began to teach about the great God of the universe how that men must "feel after him," or, in other words, to seek after Him if they are to know Him. Paul went on to say that if men will seek God they will find that He is "not far from every one of us!" The philosophies of man were created to explain the existence and purpose of life, but Paul answered all of their philosophical questions by stating that God is the reason that life exists and He is the reason that we live, move, and breath. Let us never forget that our purpose on earth is to have a relationship with and worship the one, true, living God of glory: Jesus Christ!

To bolster his argument, Paul used their own philosophy against them. Paul quoted from The Phaenomena written by a philosopher named Aratus. In quoting this poem from memory, Paul revealed to the men his high educational level and knowledge and thus commanded their respect. Paul had been the smartest of the Jewish Pharisees and was not intimidated by the Grecian philosophers in the least! The poem stated that men "were the offspring of god." Paul was saying "you quote that but you really do not believe it because you worship for gods, your offspring, that is, things that you have created!"

The one, true, living God of the universe had for many years extended his mercy to the Jewish people while allowing the idolatrous to live their lives without Him. But now God is reaching out to everyone in the world! Ignorance is no longer an excuse with God for his hand of mercy is calling everyone to repent! On Judgment Day, God will judge everyone according to the work of Christ and so that we know that these things are so, Jesus was resurrected from the dead!

Some laughed and mocked Paul when he claimed that Jesus had risen from the dead. Even though it is not stated, obviously his defense in claiming to be preaching about the "unknown god" had worked and set Paul free. Some of the philosophers were moved by the anointing which Paul spoke and believed his message and came to him. One of the most notable conversions was a man named Dionysisus which was one of the twelve judges of all of Greece which had tried the case! Damaris was probably his wife and was also a woman of great influence in Athens. Church tradition teaches that this couple became very instrumental in the growth of the church in Athens.

After leaving Athens, Paul traveled alone further west to the city of Corinth. The city of Corinth was probably the most sinful city in Asia. It was the port city that linked Greece with Rome and was a cross section of many cultures and nationalities. Gambling, legalized prostitution, and many worldly amusements were present in Corinth and many people traveled to the city to take part of it's sinful offerings.

In Corinth Paul befriended a Jewish couple that had recently moved from Rome by the names of Aquila and Priscilla. Paul had obviously at one time learned the "tentmakers" trade and began to live and work with the couple who were of the same occupation. During this time, Paul won Aquila and Priscilla to Jesus Christ and established them in the truth of the Gospel. Aquila and Priscilla helped establish churches in Asia, but eventually moved back to Rome and were some of the Christians that started the church there. We know this from a letter that Paul later wrote to the church in Rome called the Book of Romans:

Priscilla and Aquila had established a church in Rome in their own house! Epaenetus was also a man whom Paul won in this time and started a revival in his hometown of Achaia. Epaenetus also returned to Rome and helped found the churches there. Paul would later write three letters to the church that was being established in Corinth. Of these three letters, we have the first and third: called the Book of I Corinthians and the Book of II Corinthians, respectively. In I Corinthians 1:14-16, we find the names of three other converts which Paul personally won to the Lord during this time: Crispus, Gaius, and Stephanus. Of Gaius and Stephanus not much is known, but we will learn more about Crispus in a moment.

Paul as was customary preached in the Jewish synagogues every sabbath and persuaded many people who came there. At this time Silas and Timothy finally caught up with Paul having no doubt traveled to Athens and then learned that he had gone to Corinth. Silas and Timothy had no problem finding Paul in the big city, but just went to the synagogue on the sabbath! When his companions joined Paul, he decided to really confront the Jewish leaders about the message of Jesus Christ. Most of the Jewish leaders did not receive his message and we find that Paul became exasperated with reaching them. This is a turning point in Paul's ministry. He had faithfully traveled first to the Jewish people in each city and tried to win them first before reaching for the Gentiles, but from now on, Paul is focused on reaching the Gentile world! The prophecy of Ananias in Damascus of Paul being a "light unto the Gentiles" was coming true!

Paul stopped working at tentmaking and began to spend all of this time reaching out to the lost souls of Corinth. He moved to the house of a man named Justus whose house was adjacent to the synagogue. It was here that Paul won Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue to Jesus Christ and baptized him and his entire family! This was a noteable conversion because to be "chief ruler" meant that Crispus was in charge of all of the teachings of the synagogue and interpretation of the Jewish laws! History teaches us that Crispus soon lost his position because of his conversion and the Jewish leaders became so infuriated with Paul that they began to try to kill him.

Paul must have been somewhat discouraged about the Jewish leaders' opposition because God spoke to him in a vision one night commanding him to not be afraid and speak boldly without any reservations. God promised Paul that He would protect him from harm and that there were "much people in this city" that were hungry for God! Paul, Timothy, and Silas continued in Corinth for a year and a half teaching the Word of God and founding the church there. Paul admitted in the first letter to the church in Corinth that during this time, he had been at times scared:

But a church was established because Paul overcame his fears and preached boldly the Word of God! We must never focus on those who have no desire to receive the message and allow them to get us discouraged or make us afraid. Despite any opposition, God always has "many people" who desire to know Him in a greater way! Sometimes the only prelude to revival in an area is for a man of God or saint of God to stick out the hardships and continue preaching and teaching the Word of God!

It was during this year and a half stay in Corinth that Paul wrote his second and third books of the Bible. They were letters to the church that he had just established in Thessalonica. In our New Testaments they are called the Book of I Thessalonians and the Book of II Thessalonians. In I Thessalonians, we find that Paul sent Timothy back to Athens and then to the churches of Thessalonica and had returned to Corinth with a good report of the churches flourishing (I Thessalonians 3:2, 6). They did have some questions about the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the saints and Paul endeavored to answer these questions in these letters.

After a year and a half, the Jewish people in Corinth finally made a formal accusation and arrest of Paul and brought him before the Grecian judge Gallio. The Jewish people had no power to sentence anyone to die and so they fabricated charges to try to trick the Greek government to kill Paul! Their accusation was that Paul was preaching a gospel that caused people to violate the Jewish law and the Grecian laws. This, of course, was not necessarily true.

Paul was about to begin his defense when the ruler Gallio threw the case out of court! He could tell that the Jewish leaders' accusations were driven by hatred and religious piety and he refused to meddle in the affairs of Jewish law.

After Crispus had been converted to Christianity, the rule of the synagogue had been given to a man named Sosthenes. When the case against Paul backfired, the Jewish leaders who were Grecian were so enraged that they took Sosthenes and beat him furiously before Gallio! This was probably to try to stir up the Greek ruler into thinking that they were about to cause a great rebellion because of their hatred toward Paul. Even though they beat their own synagogue leader severely, Gallio refused to get involved or show any interest! Hatred and envy will certainly drive men to perform horrible actions!

After staying in Corinth for a while longer, Paul and his companions traveled by boat back east to the Asian mainland. Priscilla and Aquila accompanied the missionaries to Ephesus.

The term "he had a vow" refers to the Mosaic law teaching of the "Nazarite vow." Under the Law, a man could choose to separate himself unto the Lord by taking this vow. He could take the vow for a short period such as a month or could commit to it for a lifetime. During the time of his vow, the man would not cut his hair but would allow it to grow long as a sign to all that he had taken this vow. The man could not eat grapes or raisins, nor drink grape juice or wine. He could not touch any dead body or attend the funeral of a loved one even if it was his own mother or father. At the end of the time of his consecration, the man would shave off his long hair and offer it upon an altar as a burnt offering to the Lord. (see Numbers 6:1-21) If a person was a life-long Nazarite, then God would give the person a great anointing or power. Famous life-long Nazarites include Samuel, Samson, John the Baptist, and an entire family during the time of the prophet Jeremiah called the Rechabites.

There is uncertainty whether or not it was Paul or Aquila who had the Nazarite vow. Many preachers have taught that it was Paul who had taken the Nazarite vow, but the verse tends to indicate that it was Aquila who had shorn his head. For instance, notice that it is Aquila's name that is last mentioned immediately before Luke says "he had a vow." It is also very unlikely that Paul, who had just written the letter to the Galations so adamantly rebuking returning to live under the Mosaic Law would submit himself to this law. A more likely scenario was that Aquila, who had been a devout Jew before meeting Paul, had taken the vow of the Nazarite before converting to Christianity and had reached the end of his allotted time.

All Christians in a spiritual sense become partakers of the Nazarite vow when we are baptized in Jesus' name and receive his precious Holy Spirit. We are separated unto God and a peculiar people (see I Peter 2:9 and Titus 2:14). When we willingly separate ourselves for our lifetime from the sinful habits and ways of the world, God responds by giving us Spiritual gifts, a great anointing, and Apostolic power!

Paul probably only stayed one week in Ephesus at this time and used the sabbath to preach to the Jewish believers. Aquila and Priscilla stayed in Ephesus and began to establish the church there.

The converts in Ephesus along with Aquila and Priscilla begged Paul to stay longer, but he was determined to make it back to Jerusalem for the Passover. Before he left, though, Paul promised to return to Ephesus and this he would do in his third missionary journey. Paul then boarded a boat and began the return trip of his journey.

Paul arrived at Caesarea, a seaport west of Jerusalem. Paul then went and visited the church in Jerusalem during the Passover and recounted to the Apostles the events of his latest missions trip. After the Passover was finished, Paul returned to the church in Antioch after having been gone almost three years!

Paul's second missionary journey was important for many reasons. Churches were established in important town such as Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus. Paul also befriended Timothy and Luke during this time as well as winning Aquilla and Priscilla to the Lord. All would become major contributors to the work of God. The works established in Athens and Cornith began to spread the Gospel throughout the entire world. Paul was also able to return and strengthen the churches that had been established during his first missionary journey. More importantly, Paul was focusing on reaching the Gentile people and thus fulfilling his prophetic call to reach the "Gentiles and kings."