Paul Goes to Jerusalem
Pauls plans to go to Jerusalem and all of the other disciples tell him he shouldn't go. They told him not to go through the spirit. But Paul says he is not afraid of going to Jerusalem, he is willing to go and even die if that is what the lord wants.
So basically, Paul wants to go to Jerusalem because God wants him to go there, and the other disciples don't want him to go because God doesn't want him to go. So which is it? Does God want him to go or not? Why would he tell different people opposite things? Perhaps when people say things "through the spirit" it is simply that they feel something deeply and they think God must be telling them. This kind of thing seems to be common now, but I am surprised to see it in the bible itself.
Paul Visits James
James tells Paul that people are saying he is not following the rules of Moses since he is spending time talking to Gentiles. So Paul goes with some guys and does some purification ritual.
Paul Arrested in the Temple
The local people were upset about what Paul was teaching and that he had defiled their temple by letting in Greeks and they arrested him.
I guess the early Christians wanted a more inclusive religion and the Jews of the time wanted a more exclusive religion.
The first part with figuring out what God wants is kind of strange for a holy book. There are people that think two contradicting things that God "wants." To me, and of course like most of my posts this is just my opinion, but it almost points to something inner, rather than external like a God.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting take on the inclusiveness vs exclusivity. There are some verses in the New Testament which seem like the message is for only the Jews and other verses where it seems like its more inclusive. I think it really depends on what you want to take away from it.
"I think it really depends on what you want to take away from it."
DeleteThat is it exactly. Like many things in the bible, you can pretty much justify any point of view in some way or another.