Retaking Mars Hill

Presuppositionalists argue that Paul’s address at Mars Hill offers biblical grounds for presuppositional apologetics and that evidentialists misinterpret the same address in support of their own position. A critical evaluation of this claim requires the examination of six issues in Acts 17:16–34 which have implications for apologetic method: (1) Paul’s pre-Mars Hill ministry in Athens; (2) The captatio benevolentiae of Paul’s exordium; (3) The Unknown God; (4) The parallels to Greek philosophical thought in the body of Paul’s address; (5) Paul’s citation of Greek poets; and (6) Paul’s appeal to the resurrection as proof. A correct interpretation of these issues will prove that the presuppositional criticism of evidentialism is unsubstantiated and that Paul’s Mars Hill address better fits a broad evidentialist apologetic than a presuppositional apologetic.