Paul in Ephesus
Paul went to Ephesus and found some disciples who has been baptized by John and hadn't heard of the holy spirit. Paul told them about Jesus and then re-baptized them. They preached for 2 years so that all of asia would hear the word of the Lord.
All of Asia? That must be some weird translation issue or something.
The Sons of Sceva
Paul was so successful that people were taking handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched his skin and used them for exorcisms, and it worked. There were 7 sons of a Jewish high priest who were exorcists. They tried to evoke the name of Jesus to exorcise an evil spirit and the evil spirit said they knew Paul and Jesus but not them, the spirit then overpowered them and they ran out into the street naked. The story was spread and the name of Jesus was extolled.
I know this whole book is about magic and spirits and stuff, but really? Do people of the modern day honestly read this and think it is real?
A Riot at Ephesus
The guys who make the idols were upset at the teachings of Christianity, and they didn't like Paul for spreading it. For they made a bunch of money off of it. They were ready to do something bad to Paul, but word got around and he was warned.
All of Asia? I say bull. Also, what's up with the book burning? (Verse 19 and 20). 50,000 silver pieces worth of books. I searched "how much was a piece of silver worth in Jesus time?" and it sounded like it was a day's worth of wages. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/In_bible_how_much_value_is_30_pieces_of_silver Of course, I'll put it out there that I didn't really search more than a few pages and didn't really look deeply into it, since I don't care much, but it seems like a lot. The idea of burning books, to me is terrible. Ideas should be "taken down" through debate and discussion and knocked about on their own merits. Who knows how many of those documents burned could have been great insights to the history and culture of the period.
ReplyDelete