Paul in Corinth
They tried preaching to the Jews there, but they were reviled so they instead went to preach to the gentiles. The lord told Paul not to be afraid, no one will attack you here. He stayed a year and a half teaching the word of God. The Jews tried to make a united attack on Paul, but Gallo convinced them not to, so they seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue and beat him up. Gallo paid no attention to any of this.
What is the message here? Rile up a crowd, divert them toward someone else, and then ignore the fallout?
Paul Returns to Antioch
Paul did some travelling and preached along the way.
Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus
Apollos was speaking in the synagogue but only knew of John. The disciples taught him about Jesus and then he started spreading the word.
I don't have much commentary, it's pretty much the same story over and over.
I would think selling this story to the Jews would be easier than to the gentiles. The Jews are already sold on the Old Testament, right? I know Christ is the main feature of Christianity, but at least the Jews already have the background.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. Although my understanding is that polytheism was prevalent around this time. Are the gentiles simply worshiping different Gods? If that is the case maybe it is not really that much of a difference.
DeleteGrundy, you bring up a great point. You would think that. I think with all the scripture warnings and harsh punishments promised on the Jews for following the "false Messiah" they were pretty hesitant.
DeleteYou bring up a great point Hausdorff. From my understanding, it seems more "conceivable" especially at that time, that the world might have been run by many lesser Gods. The idea of some crazy, all powerful, all knowing, all good etc God is simply that. Crazy. Now, of course we know how things work like fire, or how stars are made etc. We don't need crazy stories.