Tag: myth

  • 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.

    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 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-

  • A Python of Prophesy Stalking Paul in Philippi

    A Python of Prophesy Stalking Paul in Philippi

    Who is this soothsaying python of Philippi?

    Luke mentions this woman in Acts 16 who follows Paul, Silas and Timothy around as they frequent a place of prayer down by the river.

    She may not have had such a nickname but her presence foretells the inevitable upcoming skirmishes between good and evil in Europe.

    Acts of the apostles 16:16

    As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out,

    “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

    She’s right!


    Who is this girl?

    Why is a slave girl following these apostles sent out by the Holy Spirit of the Most High God?

    Luke continues by telling the reader:

    18 And this she kept doing for many days. 

    This Philippian slave girl continually followed them back and forth between the wall of Philippi and their place of prayer down by the Krenides River near town.


    Mythical and 1st c. Greece

    Many first century cultural subtleties escape our 21st century eyes. This is especially true of 1st century Greece.

    Paul understands the people of Macedonia much more than we will.

    Luke reveals more about Paul’s challenge ahead in this first European missionary battle about to take place in Philippi between good and evil.


    Philippi is an important Roman city unlike the small mountainous towns we just left. This incident is central to events about to take place.

    This girl is a slave. In the Roman empire her role is ordinary where more than one in ten people (perhaps more than 10% in Philippi) are slaves owned by and performing their labors for someone in town.

    Roman men, their families and slaves settled here in Macedonia live their everyday lives steeped in the myths and idolatries of a Hellenist lifestyle foreign to our 21st century cultural-inclusiveness and geometrically opposed to the Lord God and Christ Jesus.

    Mysteries of a higher and spiritual plane impact men and women in unknown and partially evident ways.

    Certain messengers of darkness, seers of the divine such as this young girl, become actors of revelation in the unseen battles between good and evil. These diviners of the oracles of darkness typically shun exposure to the Very Light of The Most High God.

    pneuma python – the spirit of divination

    Luke’s account of Acts begins with the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, of course — and therein lies the battle in the heavenly places between that which is HOLY [hagios] and that which is unholy.

    πύθων – pythōn

    From Putho (the name of the region where Delphi, the seat of the famous oracle, was located) – source: BlueLetterBible.org

    Parnassos, son of the nymph Kleodora – source Wikipedia.org

    Mount Parnassus [Python] near Corinth Greece
    oracle of the snake charmer

    Python – myth & mystery of the oracle

    DIVINATION .. a spirit by which she predicted the future

    .. by supernatural means. ..a fortune teller,

    μαντεύομαι –manteuomai from a derivative of G3105 (meaning a prophet, as supposed to rave through inspiration); to divine, i.e. utter spells (under pretense of foretelling:—by soothsaying.

    The young slave girl in Philippi is a soothsayer for her owner.

    “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

    Acts of the apostles 16:17b Legacy Standard Bible

    Since as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve we have partaken of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what conclusion must we draw from the source of her magical insight?

    Paul understood her evil and super-natural source of knowledge. He may have been familiar with Greek mythology of the Oracle of Delphi (as are some of us).

    The Apostle certainly knew Scriptural instances of such knowledge, even one by his Hebrew namesake.

    The Witch at Endor

    1 Samuel 28:

    Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had put the mediums and the necromancers out of the land…

    And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.”


    Previously, on Cypress

    And Paul was more recently familiar with encountering such spiritual battles as the Apostle engaged a Jewish magician on Cypress.

    Elymas the magician, AKA Bar-Jesus

    But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said,

    “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.”

    Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand..

    Acts of the Apostles 13:9-11a
    READ more about this earlier incident above.

    THESE Biblical encounters challenge the 21st century view of all mystery being explainable by science and logic. Even Christians struggle to image the higher reality of powers and principalities of the heavenly places.


    More of Greek Myths & false gods

    We will return to 1st c. Philippi shortly, but first some more background into the culture of these Roman cities in Greece.

    Oracle of Delphi

    source: ehistory.OSU.edu

    Source: Britannica.com

    a python at a river's edge

    The world famous Oracle of Delphi played an influential role in ancient history. For fourteen centuries it helped determine the course of empires. The prophesying was abolished in the 4th century as it conflicted with Christian beliefs that were at that time being embraced by Rome.

    Preston Chesser, Professor Dept of History, The Ohio State University

    A booming industry grew up around the Oracle. Temples were built and rebuilt, priests were trained, rituals evolved and sacrifices were performed. Priests interpreted the incoherent utterances of the Pythia. Presents were brought to both placate the deity and in the hope of influencing a positive prophesy. The Delphic temple itself became one of the largest “banks” in the world. Delphi became a center for banking and commerce.


    oracle, (Latin oraculum from orare, “to pray,” or “to speak”) – source Britannica.com

    DO NOT MISS THIS! Paul, Silas, Timothy and others have gone down to the river to pray. 
    So has the young slave girl who speaks revelation of the identity of these apostles of God. 

    The most famous ancient oracle was that of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus above the Corinthian Gulf. Traditionally, the oracle first belonged to Mother Earth (Gaea) but later was either given to or stolen by Apollo.

    Oracles delivered through incubation were believed to come from chthonian (underworld) powers..


    A cultural ACT against idolatry.

    18 And this she kept doing for many days.

    Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, 

    “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”
    And it came out that very hour.

    Acts of the Apostle Paul [16:18b ESV]

    SO WHAT HAPPENS when a soul is freed from an evil spirit who has given mysterious knowledge by the powers hidden in the recesses of life’s light?

    The slave girl no longer posses the power that has possessed her and therefore can no longer give oracles of value to her owner.

    You don't believe in such power beyond your 21st century scientifically enlightened knowledge, do you? 
    
    I have encountered such evil attached to a place or person. 
    Perhaps you have as well, yet were deceived by angels (messengers) of darkness in the unseen places or even the pulpit of false teaching.
    
    Jesus and the Apostles warned the Church against such evil. Paul acted against it by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

    19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 


    ACTS of the apostles Paul and Silas — To Be Continued — in the town square of Philippi…

  • INTRO to our Story of The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter

    INTRO to our Story of The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter

    INTRODUCTION: Once upon a time...

    I love a story that begins, Once upon a time, don’t you?

    Your parents may have used different names for stories like this:

    • Fairy Tales, Fables, Adventures, Fantasies, Science fiction. (I think Disney has a ‘LAND‘ for every one of them.)
    • Romances… (You know, “.. AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.”)
    • SuperHERO stories, cartoons, comics, games, and movies.

    As a parent if I were to tell you our secret about any Once upon a timeSTORY, then I must confess that even though we call them CHILDREN’S STORIES, almost EVERY parent loves these stories too.

    Once upon a timeSTORIES are FICTION.

    That is to say, they are NOT TRUE. And even some grown-ups forget that.

    BUT.. these stories may tell an important truth to us.

    ANY STORY may include an illustration of times in life beyond the bounds of time and place – a picture of some person at some time in some place that we cannot see, hear or touch.

    These stories may have men or women, boys or girls..

    sometimes even animals we might like to be like.. or must be careful not to be..

    or worse yet, those people, creatures and things we must stay away from altogether.

    HEROES or VILLAINS (good or bad) may have been like someone we know (or don’t want to know). They may be just like real people who lived ‘once upon a time’ who we have never met.

    THIS ‘once upon a time’ story, although it is FICTION, also includes some NON-FICTION characters at times – men and women who teach us good things for these times from their REAL lives a time long ago.. or even a time after any of us can imagine.


    Parables, Allegories, Myths and more

    As part of my introduction to The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter my intent is not to instruct you in literature, but rather to provoke additional thought about Scripture and my serial story which follows. - Roger Harned

    a Parable

    You have read or heard many parables, especially those told by JESUS, written down for our instruction in the Gospels of the Bible.

    • DID JESUS REALLY SEE THESE THINGS HAPPEN?
      • NO, I think. (I cannot be certain.)
    • DO THE PARABLES OF JESUS illustrate TRUTH?
      • YES, Jesus paints pictures in His Words of absolute inviolable truths.
    I will open my mouth in a parable;
    I will tell riddles of old,
    Which we have heard and known,
    And our fathers have told us.
    We will not conceal them from their children,
    But we will tell the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
    And His power and His wondrous works that He has done. 

    CLICK HERE FOR ALL of Psalm 78 A contemplative, moral instructive song of Asaph.
    Listen, my people, to my instruction;
    Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

    an Allegory

    • a story, play, picture, etc. in which each character or event is a symbol representing an idea or a quality, such as truth, evil, death, etc.
      • source: the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

    Some Bible Stories are allegories.

    The Holy Bible also contains fictional truths told as allegories in addition to many oral (or verbal) histories — each told, then later recorded in writing, as accounts of TRUE history, i.e. non-fiction.

    I believe that Moses' creation narrative may be an allegory -- a most accurate illustration of the truths of God and creation, good and evil; 
    a screenshot outside of time (to update his picture) of THAT WHICH NO MAN can see of life (eternal or otherwise) and death.

    Theologians have debated such truths of the Bible for millennia; but we must not dismiss God’s Truth by any misconception of man which debates the literal and symbolic of any of God’s Scripture. – RH

    Your COMMENT is welcome about God, Creation, Moses, JESUS or the Bible.

    Roger@TalkofJESUS.com
    The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter

    The story I introduce here today is neither parable or allegory, but quotes Biblical truth.

    However, if you would like to sample a classic allegory from English literature, check out the best-loved Christian allegory of all time:

    The Pilgrim's Progress of John Bunyan

    CLICK HERE to READ this classic English allegory,

    “The Pilgrim’s Progress”


    Myths and Fables

    • myth
    • a story from ancient times, especially one that was told to explain natural events or to describe the early history of a people; this type of story; SYNONYM legend
      • ancient Greek myths
      • a creation myth (= that explains how the world began)
      • the heroes of myth and legend
        • source: the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
    Permit me just one comment on this widely accepted definition of myth:  
    
    Ancient Greek, Roman and eastern religion myths include gods (idols), legendary heroes (often gods or early icons of the faith), and a creation myth which includes one or more of the above. 
    
    Many will attempt to dismiss ALL explanations of creation as false BECAUSE THESE ARE 'CREATION MYTHS;' however one explanation of creation must be TRUE (for the heavens and earth exist). 

    The stories of the LORD GOD and creation describe life beyond the bounds of time and place;

    therefore creatures that we are, man can neither prove nor refute the eternal and immeasurable beyond this brief mortal life.

    Roger@TalkofJESUS.com
    • fables
    • a fictitious narrative or statement: such as
      • a legendary story of supernatural happenings
      • a narration intended to enforce a useful truth
        • especially : one in which animals speak and act like human beings
      • FALSEHOOD, LIE
      • source: Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary,

    Fantasies

    Many will know of or have read a famous Christian fantasy:

    visit Narnia.com

    C.S. Lewis also tells a favorite of mine appropriate for teens and especially adults, a story about two devils: Screwtape and his bumbling apprentice, Wormwood.

    C.S. Lewis delves into moral questions about good v. evil, temptation, repentance and grace. - source:

    A TIMELESS CLASSIC ON ‘HELL’S LATEST NOVELTIES AND HEAVEN’S UNANSWERABLE ANSWER’. 


    our Story of Three Characters

    It's up to you to solve the mystery of each to learn who they are.
    The Gardener the Shepherd and the Hunter - Introduction to a story by Roger Harned

    The Gardener, the Shepherd and the Hunter

    NEXT: ACT 1: The Gardener


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