Is there really such a thing as an atheist? In Acts 17:19-28, the Apostle Paul stands before the thinkers of Athens and points them to the God they do not know. Dr. Toby Holt shows from Scripture that deep down, everyone knows God is real.

Athens was full of idols, even an altar "To the Unknown God." Paul used it as his starting point, preaching one true God who made everything, needs nothing from us, made every nation "from one blood," and in whom "we live and move and have our being." Drawing on Romans 1, Holt explains people do not lack the knowledge of God; they suppress it.

Questions this study answers:

1. How are agnostics different from atheists? An atheist claims there is no God; an agnostic says a God may exist but cannot be known. Paul answers both by proclaiming the God who has made Himself known.

2. What was Paul doing in Athens? Surrounded by idols, he reasoned with the city's thinkers and preached the one Creator, turning their altar "to the unknown God" into a starting point for the gospel.

3. Does anyone truly not know God exists? According to Romans 1, no. People know God through what He has made but suppress that truth. Paul's job was to make the God they secretly know clear in Christ.

"The One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you." — Acts 17:23 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.