BBS Radio TV Station 2 Live
Brother Jim Shaw Ministries, September 30, 2026
Brother Jim Shaw Ministries The Unknown God of Athens: Paul's Mars Hill Sermon, Idolatry, and the Lineage of Adam Brother Jim Shaw preaches through Acts 17, following Paul into an Athens "wholly given to idolatry" and onto Mars Hill, where Paul confronts philosophers with the altar to an unknown God he identifies as the risen Christ. A City Wholly Given to Idolatry Brother Jim Shaw opens the broadcast asking whether an entire city, community, or nation could fall under a curse or spell. He turns to Acts 17:15, describing Paul arriving in Athens and waiting there for Silas and Timotheus, his spirit stirred within him when he perceives that the city is wholly given to idolatry. Brother Jim tells listeners this answers his opening question directly: yes, a whole place can fall under such darkness, just as it happened in Sodom and Gomorrah and now in Athens. He notes that entire modern countries sit overwhelmingly under a single foreign religion today, calling it the same pattern repeating in the present age. He insists there is only one way out of such darkness, through Jesus, who died on the cross and manifested himself as the Lamb to change people's hearts, setting up the contrast between empty religion and genuine rebirth that follows. Born Again and the Lineage of Adam Brother Jim Shaw explains that salvation cannot be inherited through parents, earned through seminary training, or achieved by good grades or good behavior, insisting it comes only from above. He describes tasting the Holy Spirit and being reborn as a conviction no one arranges for themselves, calling it the one thing that separates true Christian faith from every other religion, even other branches of Christianity. He recalls Jesus telling Nicodemus that a person must be born again to see the kingdom of God, and must be born of water, meaning simply human, born in the lineage of Adam with no interference. He says this requirement makes more sense now, tying it to what he believes is a sign of the last days, fallen angels breeding with women in the days of Noah and corrupting food and beasts, a corruption he claims is returning through modern genetic manipulation of humanity itself. Fallen Angels, GMOs, and Tares Among Wheat Brother Jim Shaw claims at least ten humans have already been born carrying three sets of DNA through genetic experimentation, urging listeners to research it themselves. He argues such beings may look, act, and even feel emotions like people, yet their soul structure has been altered and they do not descend from the lineage of Adam. He links this to Jesus's promise that holy angels will separate the tares from the wheat in the end times, and wonders whether Jesus's warning "I never knew you" to workers of miracles might relate to people outside the lineage of his creation, though he cautions he is not building doctrine on the idea. He adds that God has always known believers even in the womb, per the Book of Psalms. He then criticizes tampered food, seedless watermelons, altered corn, and seed patents held by Monsanto and Bayer, suggesting bad food and pharmaceutical fixes work together against the public. Paul Debates Philosophers in the Marketplace Returning to Acts 17, Brother Jim Shaw describes Paul going first into the synagogue to dispute with Jews and devout worshippers, recognizing the whole city sits under a demonic spiritual atmosphere, before also arguing daily in the marketplace. He reads how Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encounter Paul, dismissing him as a "babbler" and a "setter forth of strange gods" because he preaches Jesus and the resurrection, an idea entirely foreign to them. Brother Jim notes the Athenians and visiting strangers spent all their time doing nothing but telling or hearing something new, calling that appetite itself a form of idolatry and admitting he could easily fall into the same trap given how much information, including conspiracy theories that often prove true, circulates today. The philosophers bring Paul to the Areopagus, curious what his strange new doctrine means, setting the stage for his address on Mars Hill. Too Religious: The Altar to an Unknown God Brother Jim Shaw reads Paul's opening line on Mars Hill, telling the men of Athens they are "too superstitious," which he explains means "too religious" in the Greek, a gentle rebuke of rituals and traditions. Paul says he noticed, while passing through the city, an altar inscribed "To the Unknown God," proof the Athenians tried to cover every possible deity, even one they could not name. Brother Jim explains Paul seizes this opening to declare who that unknown God actually is, the God who made the world and everything in it, Lord of heaven and earth who does not dwell in temples built by hands nor need anything from human worship, since he gives life and breath to everyone. Paul explains God made every nation from one blood and set the boundaries of their habitations, boundaries Brother Jim says the modern world is now erasing in a return to the Tower of Babel. Offspring of God, Judgment, and a Divided Crowd Continuing the Mars Hill address, Brother Jim Shaw reads Paul telling the Athenians that in God they live, move, and have their being, quoting their own poets that people are God's offspring, and arguing the Godhead cannot be like gold, silver, or carved stone. Paul says God overlooked past ignorance but now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day of righteous judgment through a man he raised from the dead. Brother Jim points out Paul never once names Jesus directly in this address, calling him only the unknown God and the ordained man, keeping the name a mystery just as Jesus himself often did. Some listeners mock the idea of resurrection, others want to hear more, and a few believe and join Paul. Brother Jim closes declaring that the unknown God of Athens is the Lord Jesus Christ, offering a blessing before the announcer returns with the ministry's website, mailing address, and phone number.
