Who is the unknown god in Acts 17:23?

In the vast throng of strange gods at Athens the discerning eye of the apostle observed an altar with an inscription which unconsciously acknowledged the ruined estate, not only of its inhabitants, but of all the heathen world. Not that they thereby intended a humbling admission; yet the words told the fact to him who knew the truth. It appears from adequate witnesses that there were several altars thus inscribed. Paul certainly saw one, and spoke accordingly. In their grossly polytheistic zeal they devoted shrines, not only to all home and foreign deities, but to unknown gods, that not one should miss due honour. This furnished Paul with his plea; and how immeasurably superior to the Apology of Socrates is the appeal of the "apostle of nations!"

"And Paul stood amidst the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, in all things I behold you more [than others] in awe of divinities (demons). For coming through and beholding your objects of worship, I found also an altar on which had been inscribed, TO AN (or, THE) UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye reverence without knowing, this I announce to you."

'And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Men of Athens, in all things I observe that ye are very [i.e., more than others] reverent to divinities [or demons]; for passing through and closely observing the objects of your worship, I found also an altar on which was the inscription, To an unknown God. What [or Whom], therefore, ye without knowing worship, this1 I announce to you. The God that made the world and all things therein, He, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human2 hands as needing something more, Himself giving to all life, and breath, and all things. And He made of one [blood3] every nation of men to dwell on all3 the face of the earth, having determined appointed4 seasons, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek God5, if haply they might feel after and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and are; as also some of your own poets have said, For His offspring also are we. Being therefore God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divinity is like gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. God therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now commends men6 that they should all everywhere repent, inasmuch as7 He has appointed a day in which He is about to judge the world [inhabited earth] in righteousness, by a Man Whom He marked out, having given assurance to all in that He raised Him from [the] dead' (vers. 22-31). {1 The neuter form has more ancient support than the much more general masculine. 2 'Of men' in Text. Rec. must yield in antiquity to 'human'. 3 'Blood' is not in ℵAB, eight cursives, and most ancient Versions, some reading 'every face'. 4 'Foreappointed' rests on D and a few more. 5 'God' has ample support of the best kind. 6 Text. Rec. has 'all men' with many, but not the best witnesses, as in the text followed. 7 καθότι ℵABDE, et al., διότι 'because', has inferior weight.}

Though we have only a sketch of the apostle's discourse, we can readily see its striking difference from that which he was wont to preach to the Jews. He comes down to the lowest point and form of truth, in order, as he had done before (Acts 14) with the Lycaonian barbarians, to reach the Athenian conscience, the Jews having through the law incomparably more worthy thoughts of God and of their own relationship to Him. Nevertheless the address opens with habitual courtesy whilst there was not a particle to flatter their pride. The apostle laid hold of the only object in that crowd of honours paid to truly strange demons, which confessed the humbling fact about themselves and God. 'An unknown God' told the true tale; all else around was but deception and the triumph of the enemy. 'What, therefore, ye worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.'

Never before had a Christian such an audience, and such an opportunity. He was to speak on that hill where the supreme court of Athens held its sittings. He was to speak to a company composed of philosophers of the heathen world. He had a subject on which he could speak, and a text which he could urge with great weight. His subject was the inscription he had seen on an altar, viz., "To an unknown God"; his text was a quotation from Aratus, a Cilician poet, but found also, though not quite in the same words, in a hymn to Jupiter by Cleanthes, [72] who, born at Assos in BC 300, died about BC 220.

"An Unknown God." This the Athenians admitted, and thereby confessed that, with all their philosophy and intellectual studies, there was One of whom they were ignorant - this Unknown God. [73] To make Him known could be no crime, nor an idle occupation. Paul then would make Him known. He is the God of creation, all around and above being His handiwork. In temples made with hands therefore He does not dwell, nor has He need of anything at the hands of His creatures, seeing that He giveth to them life, and breath, and all things. Who He is, and what He gives, stated, next follows what He has done. He has made of one [74] all nations upon the face of the earth, having also determined their appointed seasons and the bounds of their habitation. Then is stated what He desires, viz., that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live, and move, and have our being. Now this, which of his hearers would gainsay, for had not Aratus sung, as he now reminds the philosophers, "We are also His offspring"? An unknown God near them! True indeed are the words of Zophar the Naamathite, "Canst thou by searching find out God?" (Job 11:7). The philosophers had not discovered Him, the Athenians were ignorant about Him.

The subject thus opened out, Paul now preaches from his text. If we are the offspring of God, as the Athenians boasted, idol-worship must be wrong. The Deity could not be like an image of stone, or wood, or metal. If men are the offspring of God, God cannot be like a lifeless idol. Plain indeed was this deduction. No one could refute it. A death-blow it dealt to idolatry. In this way the Apostle worked that day. The premises granted, the conclusion was irresistible. But how skilful and powerful, because divinely led, did Paul show himself to be. The altar "To an Unknown God" furnished him with his subject, and he used it effectively. The Creator of all things, the Lord of earth and heaven, dwells not in temples of human workmanship, nor needs either help or sustenance from the creature. Then as regards objects of worship, the words of Aratus, confirmed by Cleanthes, and endorsed by Paul's audience, showed the utter senselessness of bowing to stocks and stones as the likeness of God.

Paul's opening words are not however as weak as the King James version translates them. Rather, he says, "I perceive that in all things ye are given up to demon worship" (v.22--J.N.D.). This is the very essence of idolatry. They knew they had many gods, and Paul knew that behind all of these so-called "divinities" was demon influence. He made use then of an inscription on one of their altars, "To the Unknown God." How pathetic is the gross ignorance of intellectual men! Admittedly not knowing God, they invent fictitious gods of every kind! They did give the unknown God the honor of an altar, but they did the same for idols too. The One they ignorantly worship Paul boldly declares to them. Some would say that He is not only unknown, but unknowable; but sober, thinking people would surely have their interest awakened.

The God unknown to the Athenians is the Creator of all things, the Lord of heaven and earth. Men's temples are nothing to Him: He is certainly not confined in them. Nor is He worshiped by means of the works of men's hands, as though He depended on man for His sustenance. On the contrary, He is the great Giver, not only of material things such as engage people's most serious attention, but of life and breath, the fundamental entities of our very existence.

Paul opened his address on Mars' hill by telling them that they were too "superstitious" or "given up to demon worship." Amongst their many shrines they even had an altar dedicated to "The unknown god," lest there should be some demon, unknown to them, that needed to be propitiated. He seized upon this and made it the theme of his discourse, for it was perfectly true that the living God was utterly unknown to them. Paul announced to them the God that they knew not; and if we examine the brief report of his discourse we can see how he set God before them. As regards the things of God these cultured Athenians were simply pagans; so here we are instructed how the Gospel should be presented to the heathen.

Paul began by presenting Him as the God of creation. This lies at the foundation of everything. If we do not know Him thus, we do not know Him at all. That is why the evolutionary theory works so disastrously. Its chief attraction to so many is that it enables one to dispense with God altogether, or at least to push Him so far into a remote background as to make Him not worth thinking about. Paul brought Him right into the forefront of the picture he presented, He not only made the world but all things in it. He cannot be contained in men's buildings, nor worshipped as though He needed anything from men's hands. He is Himself the Giver of Life and all things. All men are His creatures, made of one blood, and their times and boundaries determined by Him.

The people of the city, idle and at heart sceptical, were given up to idolatry; and, the circle of the gods being exhausted, they had dedicated an altar to the unknown God. It is said that in former times a fatal malady had reigned in the city; and that the inhabitants, having prayed in vain to all the gods to remove the plague, had consulted an oracle, who directed them to dedicate an altar to the unknown God. It is unnecessary, however, to seek for any special source of this worship. At the bottom of all idolatry there is the idea of God, corrupted, and taken possession of by Satan, so that men may worship demons; but the idea cannot be eradicated from the heart of man. Infidels seek to do so, but it always remains at the bottom of the heart, in spite of all their efforts. It is born with the birth of man, and creation bears witness too clear and too strong to allow the heart to believe that everything was made by nothing. And then conscience speaks too loud to allow it to be unhearkened to. Man does not want God and tries to forget Him; he reasons, and seeks diversions; but the thought always returns, and possibility makes itself felt. He endeavours to get rid of the thought by every means, but still it is always there; and the thought of God always makes us feel guilty.

In our English Bibles we read that Paul began his address by telling the Athenians that they were too “superstitious.” To our ears this might sound tactless, and likely to raise up prejudice at the very start. What Paul did say was that he perceived they were very reverent to demons, to strange gods. This would describe their belief without offence. Then he told them that he had seen an altar inscribed “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” In the multitude of altars erected to gods without number, they feared in their superstition that they might have missed one out. So they raised an altar thus inscribed to appease his wrath at being forgotten.

Whatever the origin of this inscription on the altar at Athens, it afforded the apostle Paul an admirable thesis for his discourse to the idolatrous Athenians. It was this very God he had come to reveal to them. Acts 17:23.

The address Paul gave in Athens has three sections: 1. The Introduction (verses 22-23) in which he refers to the altar with the strange inscription "to the unknown God." Then he uttered the words, "Him I declare unto you." 2. Who the unknown God is (verses 24-29). He is a personal God who made the world and all that is in it. He answered the Epicurean and Stoic schools of philosophy. Materialism and Pantheism were thus swept aside. 3. He closes with the message from God (verses 30-31).

God, the unknown God, now reveals Himself; and the apostle, with great happiness of thought laying hold of the inscription on the altar, announces the true God whom they did not know. This is not the gospel; but he identifies the God he had already preached in the gospel of Jesus and of the resurrection with the truth they themselves admitted, and, defending it, speaks to the conscience. The unknown God would judge the world by this Jesus, in that He had raised Him from the dead. This truth he applies to their conscience and to idolatry, under the yoke of which they were subjected. By the power of the Spirit in Paul they stood accused, convicted of having falsified the idea of God and denied His glory, the glory of the only Creator, for they had only recognised Him by the confession that He was unknown.