Please review this summary of our F 2013 and S 2015 class discussions on elements helpful to the survival and spread of a religious movement. Then read Chapters 13-28 of Acts. Choose a verse or an incident from this section that seems to you particularly important in explaining one of those factors the class agreed might be helpful in the success of a religious movement. Explain your choice.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Acts--Discussion II
Please review this summary of our F 2013 and S 2015 class discussions on elements helpful to the survival and spread of a religious movement. Then read Chapters 13-28 of Acts. Choose a verse or an incident from this section that seems to you particularly important in explaining one of those factors the class agreed might be helpful in the success of a religious movement. Explain your choice.
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I see a big conflict that was dealt with in Acts chapter 15. Going from a Jewish tradition to a Christian tradition, the apostles were approached with the idea of circumcision. Is this something they still had to do? If so or not, why? The apostles resolved this well. First, Paul and Barnabas discussed and debated with them. That didn’t work so well, so they called a council. The apostles and elders of the church gathered in Jerusalem to decide what to do. I think this helped Christianity grow because Paul didn’t take it upon himself to decide what to do. He asked his fellow Christians and they talked and discussed and decided as a group. If just one person was to make a big decision like that, I can sense a lot of unrest between Jews and Christians. The way they did it with a council and many people was a good way to solve conflict, thus helping the growth of the Church. After the decision, they even wrote a letter to other churches and Christians explaining their decision. This was important to facilitate unity within the church as well.
ReplyDeleteI found the story of Paul's conversion extremely interesting in Acts 21. This was important to the spread of Christianity because an enemy became an advocate. During his conversion, Paul was blinded and was asked by Jesus why he persecutes Him. Paul was also told to go to Damascus. There he was cured of his blindness by Ananias. Paul was 100% converted to Christianity and it was noted in the lecture that once a movement converts a former opponent, it can have a very positive effect. Normally, the convert becomes very successful at converting others. That is exactly what Paul does once he is converted. This is a very interesting phenomena and one reason why Christianity spread so quickly.
ReplyDeletePaul has always been a very interesting figure to me. He was very charismatic and didn't start out as the most likable guy. Acts 21 talks about him returning to Jerusalem and the temple. A great crowd came upon him an started to beat him. Their goal was to kill him, but this was stopped by some Roman soldiers. They chained Paul and took him to their barracks, but before they went inside Paul asked to speak to the crowd in his defense. If he had spoken any other language the crowd would have ignored him, but Paul spoke Aramaic and the crowd was silenced. He spoke of his trials and tribulations. How he was one of the main persecutors of Jesus' followers. He speaks about how Jesus spoke to him and caused him to go blind. He talks about how he was sent on a quest of sorts and how he got his sight back. While the crowd listened none of Paul's words meant much to them. When he was done they still wanted to kill him.
ReplyDeleteThe Roman soldiers took him in the barracks and were about to flog him when he said "Is this how you treat a Roman citizen?" This had to have been a complete shocker to the soldiers. They thought he was a Jew, the Jews thought he was Greek or at east really close to the Greeks, and it turns out he was born a Roman citizen. Talk about a twist. If I were a person of this time and I had just witnessed this I think I would have definitely listened and started following what he had to say. This was like Oceans 11 but with only one guy.
In Acts 23 Paul has ways of dealing with conflict. He goes against what the Jews are saying. He basically tells them you are following Gods rules wrong. I chose this because I found this Chapter very interesting. It is a lot of drama for one small chapter. I think it is very important to know that there are some Jews still trying to stop Jesus's words.
ReplyDeleteI think all of Acts there is a lot of movement. They are spreading the word about God and Jesus. The reason why the church is growing is because they are going to many cities and telling what they know.
I was always curious of Timothy, and the fact that he has a Greek background. That seemed to win a lot of people over back then.
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