Who really had the words of life and wisdom at Mars Hill in Athens?
At Mars Hill in Athens, Paul—not the philosophers—truly had the words of life and wisdom. Although they dismissed him as a mere babbler, the reality was reversed: Paul proclaimed the life-giving gospel, while their philosophizing amounted to nothing but babble. The words of life and wisdom belonged to Paul.
Les explains that when Paul confronted the philosophers up at Mars Hill in Athens, they called him nothing but a babbler, but in reality it was the other way around. Paul was the one who really had the words of life and wisdom, and the philosophers had nothing but babble. Les applies the same pattern to Paul being defamed for promoting the gospel and being made as the filth of the world. Yet Paul says he does not write these things to shame them; he is not saying that unless they suffer as he suffered, they are not really believers. Les disagrees with that approach, noting that believers do not have to suffer indignities just to prove they are Christians.