What happens when a city has all the genius, all the devotion, and all the precision in the world—and points it at the wrong thing?

In this first of two Athens episodes, Anna and John walk through the Ancient Agora, where Paul reasoned daily with strangers in Acts 17:17, using the Greek word dialegomai—dialogue, not lecture—to meet people exactly where they were. They explore the Acropolis and the Parthenon, marveling at the ancient Greeks' astonishing architectural precision (including entasis, the intentional inward curve of columns designed to appear perfectly straight to the human eye)—all poured into worship of Athena, a goddess who wasn't there. They visit Pnyx Hill, birthplace of Athenian democracy, and reflect on the paradox of a civilization that gave the world profound civic ideals while also con ...