Tag Archives: Acts 17:29

Γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ, χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως ἀνθρώπου, τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον. (Acts 17:29)

Being therefore offspring of God, we ought not to think the divine is like gold or silver or stone, a carving of art and human imagination.

Word Order as Theology: Repositioning the Divine

In Acts 17:29, Paul delivers a striking rejection of idolatry through precise and deliberate Greek syntax. The fronted participial phrase γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες (“Being therefore offspring”) introduces the basis of Paul’s argument, placing the identity of humans in relationship to God as the foundational premise.… Learn Koine Greek