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.
ReplyDeleteI found the story told about Paul in Ephesus and the riot in Ephesus in chapter 19 to be really intriguing, especially because of the discussion we had in class on Tuesday. This chapter focuses on a temple in Ephesus, and when Paul arrives he asks the disciples he finds about their beliefs. And after being in Ephesus for a small amount of time, he quickly learns how important the temple is to the people of Ephesus. This city profited greatly from this temple, and Paul's ideas started to threaten this enterprise. Thus, in a general way this chapter focuses on the commercialization of religion. The people of Ephesus were very protective over the money that the temple brought them and did not want anything to change that. In class, we discussed how a religion could grow by having a specific meeting place, and also how money and resources was an important attribute to a growing religion as well. Overall I feel like Acts 19 does a good job of explaining some of those aspects.
ReplyDeleteI may start to sound like a broken record, but I still find Paul and his conversion to be the important message here. This time is different since Paul is telling his story himself and twice over; once to the crowds in Jerusalem after his arrest (Acts 22:1-21) and before Governor Festus, King Agrippa and Bernice (Acts 26:1-32). It is interesting to note that for the most part the stories are the same except when told to the "upper class". The section I found most interesting was "I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." (Acts 26:17-18 NIV)
ReplyDeleteSo how does this help spread the Nazarene sect? Consistency of message, for one. Paul may have told his story a bit more eloquently to the upper class, but it's the same story. He spreads the Good News, and hates when it's misinterpreted that he is a god. Credibility is another factor here; again, Saul was a driving force to persecute and capture the Christians, but when he converts and becomes Paul people took notice. Talking to King Agrippa could be considered a social connection, only for the fact that he finds no reason for Paul to be imprisoned or put to death. Then again, this may all be speculations on my part...
One factor of success in a religious movement is that you have to be open to all who are willing to join. This is shown perfectly in Acts 15 where the apostles are dealing with the controversy surrounding the custom of circumcision. Men from Judea come down to say that if you aren't circumcised according to the way of Moses, you won't be saved. Paul and Barnabas have a heated debate with them about the subject, and then they go to Jerusalem to sort things out there. In Jerusalem, Peter tells them that everybody will be saved by God's grace in the same way, circumcised or not.
ReplyDeleteThis was a powerful message to deliver, and it actually shocked some people in Jerusalem. Going against what has been tradition for many years will get you some pretty mean looks, but it will help in spreading a religion across the region and, eventually, the world.
Paul 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.
In Acts 17, Paul goes to the synagogues in Athens to spread the word of God. When he is speaking there, the men of the synagogue heard his preaching of "strange gods", and asked him to show him the doctrine of this religion he was speaking of. When Paul was inside, he noticed at the altar it read "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD". He told them
ReplyDeleteThat they were worshipping God ignorantly. For God does not dwell in temples made by hands, not is he of gold, silver or precious stone. Paul addresses the issue of material wealth in the church, telling them that God does not care about these precious metals and gems, that instead of accumulating this wealth, they should be focusing on their own salvation.
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.
ReplyDelete