Question

What was Paul’s mission strategy in Athens?

to go first to the Gentiles
to avoid the Jews
to go first to the Jews
to simultaneously address the Jews and the Gentiles
to soak-up the culture before talking to anyone about Jesus

Answer 1

To go first to the Jews.

Paul’s practice (and stated principle) was to begin his witness in the Jewish synagogue (Acts 17:2–3), reasoning with Jews and God‑fearing Greeks, and then to reach out to Gentiles (cf. Romans 1:16 — “to the Jew first and also to the Greek”). In Athens he later addressed broader Greek audiences (the marketplace and the Areopagus), but his initial strategy was to go first to the Jews.