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Category: Acts for a 21st c. Church

Acts Apostolos - Acts of the Apostles - the chronicles of Christ's Apostles - a history of Christ's Church including early leaders like Stephen, Philip the Evangelist, Paul, Barnabas and many others
Acts of the Apostles + a History of Christ’s Church

Acts of the Apostles 1-28

 

Acts of the Apostles:
+ The first century Church SHARED Christ while suffering severe persecution.
+ Luke records a historic account of the Church which gives 21c Christians a context to SHARE the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Read more about the Early Church & add your COMMENT on Scripture.

ACT now.

+ SHARE the Gospel history witnessed in the CURRENT chronological SERIES from ACTS of the APOSTLES.

  • Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

    Approaching Athena the ruling goddess of Athens

    The Lord’s apostle to the gentiles — Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, a Roman citizen of CILICIA — has hurriedly fled Thessaloniki and Berea MACEDONIA sailing south along the Aegean coast of ACHIA to Athens.

    sailing from Macedonia through the Aegean Sea to Achia, home of ancient Athens and a larger city of Corinth

    Sailing from Macedonia to Athens

    Although fleeing the Jews we must think of Paulos as a ROMAN citizen on some sort of commercial Roman ship traveling from Macedonia to Achia. Yes, the destination of his ticket in Athens – a city of a 300 year old fading glory – but the more important city of Roman Achia is now Corinth.

    What is more important here along Paul’s nearly 300 mile journey here is the context of culture so evident as he sails to Athens and then walks through the entrance of a city steeped in its former Hellenist glory.

    Jews in Berea receive and believe the Gospel
    Previously we addressed the ‘Greek‘ influence of Alexander the Great and Macedonian culture.
    Statue of Alexander the Great atop a fountain in Thessaloniki, Greece. In Acts 17 Paul fled from there to Berea on his second missionary journey;

    This modern-day statue of Alexander the Great in Thessaloniki, Greece partially demonstrates this Macedonian’s lasting influence even since his death in 323 B.C.

    Paul would have no sooner left port in Macedonia than all would have viewed the great mountains of Greek mythology on their starboard side.

    Google Earth View of Mount Olympus, Olympus mountains toward Berea
    (We will approach these gods Zeus and others upon arrival in Athens.)
    Mount Olympus, highest peak in Greece
    Mount Olympus – Highest peak in Greece, home of Zeus and the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses

    As we noted earlier the apostles’ journey along this mountainous coast of about 300 miles takes them from Macedonia (with its Alexandrian history) to Achia, the Roman region of strategic importance which includes Corinth on an inland isthmus and the port of Athens, formerly devastated by war but brought back to prominence by Rome as a ‘free city.’

    Approaching Athens

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    As their commercial Roman sailing ship rounded mountains descending into the Aegean on their approach Athens, Paul would have seen ruins of the destroyed Acropolis appear on the hill to their starboard side prior to their ship docking in port.

    acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, “highest point, extremity”) and πόλις (polis, “city”). – source – Flickr (same as photo)

    Upon arrival, as we noted last time, Paul sent his Berean brothers back to let the church know that he had arrived safely — again a 300 mile return trip while the Apostle Paul takes in the sights of this ancient ruined Greek city of Hellenist influence and lessor free city of Rome gaining the attention of its Emporer (a Caesar and god of the people).

    Visitors to the Athens of A.D. 50 would have walked along streets lined with monuments and statues as they ascended the hill into the city and its agora (marketplace).

    Unknown gods and goddesses

    Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

    Acts of the Apostles 17:16
    Thomas Cahill - SAILIING THE WINE DARK SEA - Why the Greeks Matter

    NOTE: Although I have researched several sources as a background for Paul’s Acts 17 speech in Athens, you will find this one most useful and detailed. – Roger@TalkofJesus.com

    https://thomascahill.com/books

    YOU and I cannot fully understand Paul’s more contemporary knowledge of his first century A.D. context of clashes between Hellenist, Roman and Hebrew cultures; however after a brief overview of the text we will take a glance at Athens through the A.D. 50 eyes of all.

    Acts of the Apostles 17:

    Acropolis -

    17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles,

    and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.

    18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are speaking? 20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.” 

    Luke now inserts a parenthetical glance at our 1st century A.D. philosophers of Athens.

    21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.)

    Luke's account continues from ACTS 17:22 'So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus..

We will listen to the apostle to the gentiles addressing the men of Athens next time, but first some CULTURAL CONTEXT.

    The Jews (in the eyes of Athens)

    The acts of Saul of Tarsus persecuted Christians until on a road to Damascus the Lord anoints the Apostle to the gentiles

    Saulos of Tarsus frequented the synagogues of his Hebrew brothers first in many other cities. He is a Pharisee who had believed in the Resurrection even prior to meeting the risen Messiah Jesus (same as Joshua in Hebrew) live and in Person.

    This belief in the resurrection of JESUS, Ἰησοῦς in the common Greek language, yᵊhôšûaʿ or Joshua in Hebrew, held by some Pharisees and some Essenes but not the Jewish sect of the Sadducees attracted Pharisaic Jews and proselytes to Christ’s fulfillment of Hebrew Scripture.

    Jews were merchants who mostly seemed to fit into the Pax Romana like any other religious culture except for one strange belief: Jews only had One God.

    An even more strange belief of some Jews about what happened to the body after death seemed somewhat ghoulish. (Just imagine some neighbor walking around Athens after he died — laughable!) What a strange belief of some of these Jews.

    For the Jews, who had little or no belief in the immortality of the soul, only salvation in one’s body could have any meaning.

    Thomas Cahill, Why the Greeks Matter, p.260

    The ‘peace’ of Rome accomplished in Athens by conquest was tenuous. Athenians and Romans were somewhat suspicious of Jews who the Emperor Claudius had just expelled from Rome.

    Therefore, just as Saul of Tarsus had fled Macedonia secretly and swiftly, Jews in Achia and other cities of the Roman Empire most likely worshiped somewhat ‘under the radar’ in A.D. 50 so as to peaceably blend in with other Greeks.

    As to Jewish cultural traditions of the past, Hellenist and Roman alike would have admired the great Jewish Empire of Solomon which was even more ancient than the centuries-old fallen glory of Alexander of Macedon who also conquered all of the world including the ancient cities of Greece.

    To the Hellenist eyes of Athenian philosophers Jewish wisdom differed from their own ancient Greek wisdom. Paul understood both.

    .. a Hebrew mode of argument .. proceeds by assertion and contrast rather than step-by-step reasoning [of ‘Socratic method’]

    Thomas Cahill, excerpt ibid. p.165

    17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles

    Dialogue with men in the Agora

    .. and in the marketplace G58 every day with those who happened to be present.

    You might think that based on previous witness in other cities the apostle would have steered clear of the agora where everybody who’s anybody gathers in town.

    A cultural clash at the Agora in Roman Philippi
    But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had left, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, – Acts 16:19 LSB
    Acts of the Apostles Missions trips of Paul, Barnabas, Silas and several others

    Paulos, sent out by Christ to the world of the Greeks, is a Roman citizen with a public duty, a Greek-speaking orator with a heart for the One God revealed in Hebrew Scripture and by the Messiah and the Spirit of the Living God.

    This visitor to Athens brings a unique perspective to Roman authorities and citizens of this free Roman city in addition to an appeal to traditional and classic Greek values represented in-part by their many gods.

    The agora in Athens is crowded with Gentiles EVERY DAY.

    ἀγορά –

    1. any assembly, especially of the people
    2. the place of assembly
    3. market place, street

    The Greek or Hellenist or Roman agora is a multi-purpose public place.

    For: public debating, in-person democratic elections, trials, for buying and selling and all kinds of business

    Aristotle & the pantheon of Athenian gods of philosophy

    Classic Greece is long gone. Aristotle died in 322 B.C., his student Plato in 347 B.C. and Socrates had accepted his death sentence of hemlock for disbelief in the gods of Athens way back in 399 B.C.

    ~A.D. 50

    Acts 17:18

    And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.

    Who are these endless debaters of the Agora?

    Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?”

    Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

    Classic Schools of Philo-sophy [love of wisdom]

    Roman and Hellene aristocratic families would send their young men to Athens. It’s schools included: Cynicism, Stoicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism and others. Among these that Paul would have encountered:

    Stoics taught virtuous detachment from the physical things of the world (a sort of monastic approach). Epicureans taught to love of life and pleasure much to the liking of most powerful Roman and well-healed Greek men celebrating so many festivals of various gods with little thought of wisdom at all.

    In fact, over the centuries since the esteemed Greek philosophers Athens and other Hellenist cities had had so many varied festivals and pantheons of gods that no man could truly remember them all.

    THE LOVERS OF WISDOM continually TALKED about gods and religion as a contest between PHILOSOPHERS seeking advantage over their opponent without seeking the TRUTH of the LOGOS which the Apostle Paul was about to present.

    And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus

    Acts of the Apostle Paul in ATHENS — To be continued…

  • Jews in Berea receive and believe the Gospel

    Jews in Berea receive and believe the Gospel

    What do Christians mean when they call themselves Bereans?

    Berea Bible Church photo Bill Smith creative commons license via Flickr.com

    Berean Bible Believer

    Are YOU one?

    No doubt you have your own imagery.

    (Let’s set our pictures of the past aside for a moment and go straight to the source – THE BIBLE – for some context of Paul’s visit to Berea.)

    Acts of the Apostles 17:

    So IF you are a Berean sort of believer you will first want to examine the Scriptures of our Source. Here they are!

    10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

    Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17
    This, of course, was where we left Thessalonica with Paul, Silas and Timothy last time in v. 10a

    Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

    Acts of the Apostles 17:11 – English Standard Version

    12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

    13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

    14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.

    A Brief Stay in Berea

    Luke, as you can see, covers this apostolic visit to Berea in just four and a half verses. And from their arrival [v. 10b] until Paul’s hurried departure [14a] even less time and scripture.

    Yet hardly a Protestant Church lacks a “Berean” Bible Study or group of some sort (even those churches lacking a Berean store front to bring in believers of the Bible).

    Βέροια – Berea or beroia

    Pronunciation
    ber‘-oy-ah

    Modern Veria in Central Macedonian Greece

    Google Earth View of Mount Olympus, Olympus mountains toward Berea
    Mount Olympus and Berea near base of Olympus Mountains

    Although the drama of Paul in this place was most brief, the mythical influence of the ancient Greek gods of Mount Olympus impacted nearby Berea. Olympus is a familiar stage of the Hellenist culture of all Greece.

    The Clash of Titans and Cultures

    Statue of Alexander the Great atop a fountain in Thessaloniki, Greece. In Acts 17 Paul fled from there to Berea on his second missionary journey;

    ALEXANDER – the Great Macedonian

    The former classical glory of Alexander’s empire had faded into a Hellenist culture for nearly four centuries and was then absorbed into a modern Roman culture of the A.D. 1st century.

    Alexander the Great was a titan among kings

    As Rome’s Caesars sought to conquer the vast lands ruled by Alexander they discovered that the same ancient Babylonians, Medes and Persians to the East had all been influenced by the Hellenist culture of Alexander.

    A Pax Romana created a culture of peace with Rome’s captive peoples and incorporated their gods and traditions into local practice.

    The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about 12.4 m (41 ft) tall,[1] made by the Greek sculptor Phidias around 435 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, and erected in the Temple of Zeus there. Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion
    41 foot tall statue of the god of gods Zeus

    The cultural clashes between Jews, Greeks and other Hellenist-influenced peoples of the Roman Empire are inevitable, undeniable and central to Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel to Greeks.

    No better place than Berea near Mount Olympus to set the stage for the world into which these apostles have been sent to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    What is Luke’s point in Acts 17:11?

    FIRST, what it is NOT:

    The Scriptures here are NOT the New Testament (which will later include two letters of Paul to to the Thessalonians).

    And although like in OTHER Jewish synagogues Paul undoubtedly had proclaimed the Gospel to these Jews AND probably shared the letter from the Council of Jerusalem with believers, the SCRIPTURES referenced here were EXCLUSIVELY ‘Old Testament’ similar to earlier preaching of Peter, Paul, Stephen and others connecting it all to Jesus the risen Messiah of Israel.

    Nobility

    Why does Luke refer to these Jews as ‘more noble than those in Thessalonica?’

    (After all, Paul will later write two encouraging letters to those in Thessalonica and the Epistles do NOT include a single correspondence to Berea.)

Let's take a 'Berean' examination of the Scriptures illustrating Luke's meaning.

    “noble” occurs 18 times in 16 verses in the ESV, yet only 7 times in 7 verses in the KJV.

    Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right,
for my mouth will utter truth;
wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Proverbs 8:6-7 ESV

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?


Jeremiah 2:21 KJV (after the LORD asking Judah in v.11: 
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?

    Luke, using Greek also common to Macedonia’s Roman rulers uses the word εὐγενής, meaning, ‘more noble-minded.’

    Nobility refers associatively to a higher class; kings, princes, the well-born of certain families.

    (Remember that Roman, Hellenist or Greek and Eastern cultures included many slaves as well; although Christ taught that more slaves than rich would follow the righteousness attached to nobility and ‘leading Jews.’)

    Paul later addresses two Roman Governors as ‘most noble’ when addressing them.

    It is this same meaning attached to the Greek women of high standing [v.12] as well.

    Why are they more noble-minded?

    Rather than being dissuaded by cultural arguments of leading Jews who rejected Jesus the Messiah of Scripture these Berean Jews examined what Paul had taught from the Scriptures.

    δέχομαι – they received the word [logos]

    Luke also records an attitude perhaps equally important to new Christians receiving the Word, who was and IS and will be, the LORD God of the heavens and earth.

    “they received the word with all eagerness.”

    Your Savior from sin and death, the Messiah of Israel will be the judge of ALL men. JESUS saved you!

    SO DO YOU RECEIVE OUR LORD WITH ALL EAGERNESS?

    μετά [meta] πᾶς [pas] προθυμία [prothymia]

    ‘with great (or all) eagerness‘

    zeal, spirit, inclination, readiness of mind

    The Macedonians of these towns and cities who examined the true witness of the Hebrew Scriptures and obeyed the guidance of the Council of Jerusalem formed a strong, vibrant, and spirited church who witnessed the Good News of Jesus Christ to all the Hellenists, Romans and anyone else who believed.

    Paul’s briefer stay in Berea

    14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, 

    Christians generally note the moving on of the apostle Paul to Athens and what will become one of his most important speeches. However here we will continue our focus on the work of two remaining apostles sent out to Macedonia, Silas and Timothy.

    Timothy and Silas in Berea

    .. but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens,

    and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

    While the Berean brothers helped Paul to flee the Thessalonian Jewish posse, Silas and Timothy stayed on (as Paul and other apostles had done in the past) to organize this church who studied the Scriptures daily.

    Once arriving in distant Athens, Paul then commands them to return home and send Silas and Timothy to continue their journey later when they too will finally arrive from Macedonia NOT in Athens, but in the larger nearby city of Corinth.

    When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

    Acts of the Apostles 18:5 ESV

    NEXT: Paul in Athens, ACHIA

    To be continued…

    ACTS of the Apostles 17:16-

  • Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17

    Three Weeks in Thessalonica- Acts 17

    Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

    Acts of the Apostles 17:1 ESV
    Luke summarizes an 80-90 mile [~130 km] journey from Philippi by these apostles of Christ in a single verse.

    ~ A.D. 50 – Philippi to Thessalonica (by land)

    • Silas and Paulos, who are Roman citizens, as these apostles of the Messiah have just reminded Roman magistrates in Philippi;
    • with Timotheus, a Greek Jew and fellow follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Once again in the city of their second stop in Europe the context of culture comes into play.

    Whereas Philippi (which they have just left after unjust imprisonment and a freeing sign from God) was a ROMAN city on Macedonian soil, Thessalonica is more Greek (in a sense) and has a Jewish place of worship.

    ACTS 17 of the apostles Paul and Silas

    So as in Cypress on Paul's first missionary journey and in most of the large cities of both missions to Asia, Thessalonica has a synagogue where Jews may gather, exchange thoughts and worship God.

    2 And Paul went in, as was his custom..

    Again Paul, Silas and Timothy would have listened to the prescribed Scriptures of the day and then would have discussed their relevance to the Gospel of the Messiah Yeshua.

AND once again on the next Sabbath Saulos, Silas and Timotheus would have repeated this customary worship routine of the Sabbath at the synagogue in Thessalonica.

    No doubt many of the Thessalonians became convinced by these three apostles during these three weeks that Jesus IS risen from the grave and that many Jews have witnessed this Good News of His resurrection.

    (And then, they might confidently add, we have witnessed the many such signs including those last month in Philippi.)

    Signs of Release from the Bondage of Culture
    And the men and women we baptized were Romans, including our jailer!

    .. and on three Sabbath days he [Paul] reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead,

    “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

    ACTS 17:3b

    – Did Saulos of Tarsus PREACH IT IN HEBREW to the JEWS?

    Did Paulos PROCLAIM IT from the Greek Septuagint?

    • For that would be how Jewish Thessalonians knew their Scripture of the Old Testament better than you and I
    • Faithful Jews took the Old Covenant of God’s written word to heart.

    Were these Jews converted to their own Messiah by Paul’s reasoning with them perhaps daily for three weeks?

    This Christ whom I Preach

    .. he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

    Acts 17:2b-3 ESV

     4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 

    When the gentile Physician Luke records in his second account that, 'many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women' joined Paul and Silas, he refers not to Jews but to local Hellenist gentiles of Thessalonica - local Greeks.

    Saul of Tarsus, first a Jew, also a Roman, goes to the Jews first AND when they refuse to listen to reason from their own Scripture about the Messiah of Israel, Savior of sinners in all the world, these Apostles and disciples of Yeshua PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED in their own HOME Churches, the public squares and to any of the places a humble created people of any origin gather to seek our Lord and only Savior.

    5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

    Why would they attack 'the house of Jason' (who is first mentioned here)? 

Jason is a Jew who certainly also worshipped in the Thessalonian synagogue and who apparently hosted these three travelers as had Lydia hosted them in Philippi. Some commentators suggest that Jason may be related to Paul.

Like back in Philippi, or contemporarily like those crashing the doors of the US Capitol, this lynch mob (so to speak) wants to rule over the city and throw their opponents out of town.

    6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting,

    “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

    Another King, Jesus

    “KING Jesus in v. 7 is just an accusation

    Worldly god claimants would use the same title for JESUS as Pontius Pilate when the GOVERNOR asks his accused prisonor:

    Are you a king?

    Paul, Silas, Timothy and Christian disciples of the Lord Jesus addressed the Risen Messiah as Christ or Lord!

    In fact, “Caesar is lord” and “Jesus, king of the Jews“ (like Herod was) were ROMAN labels. Except here, as false accusations these are not in any way legitimate Jewish labels OR acknowledgement of a Roman emperor.

    Caesar is Lord evoked emotional reaction to SOME Jews, but others compromised their faith to acknowledge that any MAN other than the LORD God Almighty could be THEIR Lord.

    view of Roman Arch and Rotunda in Thessalonica

    Thessalonica

    Θεσσαλονίκη

    Thessalonica founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon, who named it after his wife Thessalonike, daughter of Philip II of Macedon and sister of Alexander the Great.

    An important metropolis by the Roman period

    source Wikipedia

    The same claim that offends the Jews, JESUS IS LORD, also offends those who worship MANY gods out of our own selfish motives to worship only our SELF by choosing which gods to which we will bow down. INCLUDING:

    ROMANS, who worship Caesar as a god and Greeks, who in addition to celebrating many gods worship their own philosophies of self-deduced knowledge.

    SOON we will travel to Corinth where Paul will later write to the church:

    For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

    ~ A.D. 55 – from the first letter of Paul to the Church at Corinth – Corinthians 1:22-24 ESV

    Time to move on from Thessalonica

    • “These men have turned the world upside down
    • Jason has received them
    • they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar
    • saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

    8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

    9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

    The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea..

    ACTS of the apostles Paul, Silas and Timothy — To Be Continued…