It is very difficult to ascertain Paul’s intentions in going to Athens. Was it on the planned itinerary all along, or was he there only as an accident of timing as he waited for his associates? It has been common for scholars to think he was there only by happenstance and did not plan to establish a church in Athens. The tone is quite different from that which he uses in the other towns on this missionary journey, and the fact is that no local ekklēsia resulted from his time in Athens, although the