 Though Paul is waiting for Silas and Timothy, he's not alone. And seeing the absolute spiritual mess all around him, with people blindly giving glory and praise to everything but the one true God, he's provoked to say something. But could it be any different? I mean, with these pagans worshipping their idols? No. They had despised the truth, just as the pagans in Rome, of whom Paul would write so clearly to our brothers and sisters there.