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There are a couple reasons for arguing that Paul’s Mar’s Hill speech is his greatest failure.

The first is readily apparent. While the text says he convinced a couple people as a result of his speech—we don’t hear subsequently that a church was set up there. There is a book of Rome, Corinth, Ephesus Galatia etc. But there is no book of Athens.

Something happened in Athens.

Now the reason St Pauls Mars Hill Speech is so famous is because it sounds so modern.

Why does the speech sound so modern? Because he is talking to philosophers (stoics & epicureans) who believe that man is the measure of all things. They don’t actually believe in the goddess Athena. They don’t believe in the old gods. That’s why they say man is the measure of all things. They are the moderns of the day. Its a bottom’s up approach. But because Paul wants to be all things to all people so that he can win a few over to God—Pauls starts from the philosopher’s premise: Man is the measure of all things. Paul’s speech sounds so modern because it sounds like a college professor’s speech. He sounds like he’s describing Christianity to a bunch of skeptical undergraduates in a way that does not fundamentally disagree with their frames of reference—that is—with their structure of knowledge and wisdom. The operant word above is the word “descriptive”. Paul’s speech is descriptive. He is describing the “unknown God”.By being descriptive rather than prescriptive—Paul robs God of power. The only power we see on display is Paul oratory. We don’t see the power of God.

The reason Paul could not be prescriptive with the philosophers was because in order to be prescriptive he would have had to change his premises and his ontological view—both of which were alien to the greek philosophers. His ontological view begins in God—(not man). God is the only independent uncreated being in the universe. He created the universe. Therefor the premise of a prescriptive speech on God is that “God is the measure of all things.” Its a top down views—rather than a bottoms up view like philosphy.

If Paul had been prescriptive with the Athenian philosphers he would have just looked like a fool.

How do we know all this?

Its instructive to notice where Paul goes from Athens. Paul goes to Corinth. That’s where he writes the Corinthians I II.

Here he writes about the way he preached to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:4

New International Version
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

New Living Translation
And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.

English Standard Version
and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
...............
Why did Paul oppose plausible words of wisdom/clever and persuasive speeches/persuasive speeches . to a demonstration of the Spirit’s power/ the power of the Holy Spirit/demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

Why indeed? Because plausible words of wisdom/clever and persuasive speeches/persuasive speeches is what he did in Athens and it got him nowhere. And the result was no church.

By Paul’s reckoning the reason he got no church was that his words gave no demonstration of the Spirit’s power/ the power of the Holy Spirit/no demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

But it did give him a new view on his ministry which he talks about at length in 1 Corinthians 1

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”[c]

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.