Man living at the time of the New Testament
Dionysius the Areopagite was one of the people who believed Paul's message when he preached in Athens.
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Dionysius, also known as Dionysius the Areopagite, is mentioned in Act.17.34 as one of the individuals who believed in Paul's message when he preached in Athens. The Areopagus was a council of elders and a place of philosophical discussion in ancient Athens, and Dionysius was a member of this council.
The context of this passage is Paul's visit to Athens, where he engaged in discussions with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers (Act.17.16-18). Some of these philosophers brought Paul to the Areopagus, where he delivered a speech, proclaiming the truth about the "Unknown God" and the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Act.17.19-31).
While some mocked Paul's message, particularly the idea of the resurrection, others wanted to hear more (Act.17.32). Among those who believed were Dionysius and a woman named Damaris, along with some others (Act.17.34).
The mention of Dionysius by name and his designation as an Areopagite suggests that he was a prominent figure in Athenian society. His conversion to Christianity demonstrates the power of the gospel to reach individuals from various backgrounds and intellectual traditions.
According to church tradition, Dionysius later became the first bishop of Athens. However, this information is not found in the Bible, and the historical reliability of these traditions is uncertain.
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The Areopagite, one of Paul’s converts at Athens (Acts 17:34).
(devoted to Dionysus, i.e., Bacchus) the Areop’agite, (Acts 17:34) an eminent Athenian, converted to Christianity by the preaching of St. Paul. (A.D. 52.) He is said to have been first bishop of Athens. The writings which were once attributed to him are now confessed to be the production of some neo-Platonists of the sixth century.
DIONY'SIUS (votary of Dionysus; i.e. Bacchus), a member of the court of the Areopagus; converted under the preaching of Paul at Athens. Acts 17:34. Tradition says he became the bishop of Athens, where he suffered martyrdom, a.d. 95. The writings which bear his name are of much later date.
DIONY'SIUS (votary of Dionysus; i.e. Bacchus), a member of the court of the Areopagus; converted under the preaching of Paul at Athens. Acts 17:34. Tradition says he became the bishop of Athens, where he suffered martyrdom, a.d. 95. The writings which bear his name are of much later date.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G1354
But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.