Dare to speak

Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Acts 17:16-34 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

I find it impossible to read today’s Scripture without my mind turning to the seventeenth century writer and civil servant John Milton. Best known these days for his poetry, notably Paradise Lost, Milton was in his time a powerful and controversial advocate of freedom of speech.

In 1644 he presented a treatise entitled Areopagitica to Parliament, in which he argued that just as Paul in Acts 17 was able to step into a Pagan setting and argue for the truth he had received from God, so people should be at liberty to argue their truth in the public arena, without censorship or other threat. Milton, inspired by Paul, was audacious in using his formidable intellect to try to open up space in which God’s truth could be spoken, debated and received. He believed that through reasoned open debate, rather than imposed wisdom, people could come together to discuss and agree on the meaning of God’s Word. This was radical thinking in the extreme, and at its time of publication Milton’s Areopagitica was largely ignored. Yet his work, anchored by today’s Scripture reading, prepared the way for modern arguments in favour of freedom of speech. 

It goes without saying that in many places around the world, speaking truth is as dangerous now as it was for Paul and for Milton. Yet even in our own country, with all the safeguards our democracy affords us, it still takes immense courage and great clarity of heart and mind to speak counter-culturally to organisations and groups of people we feel need to hear an alternative and greater truth. 

Many of us have had challenging experiences at work, in church, or among family or friends, for seeking to set ourselves and others free by starting conversations and speaking truth as we have received it. May we have the courage to follow in Paul’s footsteps, and dare to speak the name and purpose of the God we serve.

Let us pray: Father God, help us to speak the truth into those places which most need it with courage, conviction, and love. Amen.