What does Acts 17:24 mean?

Paul is in the Areopagus in Athens, sharing the story of Jesus with Greek philosophers. He starts by pointing out an altar to "an unknown god" and compares this god to the God of the Jews. He can't start with an assumption of God and dive headfirst into history, as he does in synagogues, because the Athenians have a very different view of what "god" means—even the Epicureans and Stoics disagree. As in Lystra, Paul starts with God the Creator (Acts 14:15–17). Paul asserts that God can be known—to a degree—by His creation (Romans 1:19–23), but idolatry and sin cloud our view.

From the Areopagus, Paul can see the temple of Hephaestus, the Theatre of Dionysus, the Parthenon—the temple of Athena—the Sanctuary of Zeus, and many other monuments and altars to the gods. "Areopagus" itself means the "hill of Ares." Despite all these monuments and temples, Paul's assertion is familiar to his audience of Greek philosophers. Euripides, in fragment 968, said, "What house built by craftsmen could enclose the form divine within enfolding walls?"

This agrees with Jewish Scripture. When Solomon dedicated his great temple, he said, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27). Jesus affirmed this when He told the woman at the well that a time was coming when people would worship God in spirit and truth, not in the temple (John 4:23–24).