Bible in One Year Day 339 (Acts 18, 1 Corinthians 16, Proverbs 28:19-21)

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Day 339: Priscilla and Aquila 

Agape Bible Study Acts 18 

Chapter 18: The End of the Second Missionary Journey and the Beginning of the Third

Acts 18:1-17 ~ Paul in Corinth

A major city of antiquity since the fifth millennium BC, Corinth was rebuilt as a Roman city by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Situated on the isthmus between the Greek mainland to the north and the Peloponnese to the south, Corinth controlled traffic and trade between the two regions. It was the commercial and political center of Greece in the first century AD and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia. The city had a well-earned reputation for its wealth and for all kinds of immoral behavior and great wickedness. A famous Temple of Aphrodite was located on a hill behind the city. There "worshippers" brought gifts to the goddess and engaged in all sorts of immoral acts with both male and female prostitutes. Establishing a Christian community in the midst of such immorality will be a challenge for St. Paul. It is either the fall of 51 or the spring of 52 when Paul begins his missionary effort in Corinth.

Acts 18:2 ~ There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.
Aquila and Priscilla are Jewish-Christians from Pontus, a province in Asia Minor stretching along the south shore of the Black Sea from Bithynia to Armenia. Jews from Pontus were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost in 30 AD and witnessed the Holy Spirit filled Apostles and disciples of Jesus preaching the Gospel of salvation in all the different languages of the pilgrims in the crowd (Acts 2:9). St. Peter will address his letter to the Christians of Pontus in 1 Peter 1:1. Church tradition attributes the conversion of Pontus to St. Peter and St. Andrew.

Question: What brought Aquila and his wife to Corinth?
Answer: They were originally living in Rome but had been expelled from Rome along with other Jews by the Roman emperor Claudius.

This historical reference is confirmed. The Emperor Claudius ruled from 41-54 AD. The Roman historian Suetonius wrote that the Jews were expelled because of the disturbances caused "at the instigation of Chrestos" (Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 25:4).⁽⁵⁾ This is probably a reference to the disputes between Jews and Christians concerning the messiahship of Jesus. The Romans in this early period thought of Jews and Christians as two sects of the same religion. Most historians believe the expulsion order took place in c. 49/50 AD. The home of Aquila and Priscilla will become a meeting place for the Christians of Corinth (1 Cor 16:19).

Question: What is the profession that Aquila and Paul share?
Answer: They both learned the trade of tent-making.

It was a tradition that every Jewish boy learned a trade so he always had a skill by which to support himself. Even though Paul was trained as a scribe, he still learned the trade of tent-making. The Greek word can also be applied to one who knew how to produce leather goods in general. Tents were made by cutting and sewing the woven cloth of goats' hair into tents. Paul evidently used this skill to support himself on his travels, and Paul mentions "working with his hands" in some of his letters (1 Cor 4:12 9:6; 1 Thes 2:9; 2 Thes 3:6-8). Aquila and Pricilla became Paul's dearest friends.

Acts 18:4-5 Every Sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.  5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus.
It was Paul's established custom to go to the synagogue every Sabbath to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The arrival of Silas and Timothy freed Paul to be able to completely devote himself to preaching. They probably took over the duty of instructing the recent converts.

Acts 18:6 ~ When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles." 
The text is unclear what the Jews did to so offend Paul. Another translation is they opposed him and spoke harshly (Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles, page 323). Perhaps the harshness of their speech was to blaspheme the name of Jesus; such behavior would elicit an outraged response from Paul. That he "shook out his garments" is a gesture of rejection toward those who have rejected not only him but his Lord. His act is similar to Jesus' instructions in Luke 10:11 and Paul's actions in Acts 13:51.

Question: Paul's judgment on the Jews as he says: "Your blood be on your heads" sounds like an echo of what other curse judgment by the Jews? See Mt 27:25.
Answer: It is similar to the self-curse the Jewish crowds placed on themselves as they condemned Jesus to death in choosing Barabbas over Jesus at Jesus' trial with Pilate.

Paul's declaration makes the Jews responsible for their rejection of the Messiah rather than him. What he says is also similar to other formula curses in Scripture (see 2 Sam 1:16; 1 Kng 2:33; 3:1; and Acts 5:28). 

Acts 18:7-8 ~ So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titius [Titius] Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next to a synagogue.  8 Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized.
Titus Justus is a Gentile who became Paul's sponsor and allowed Paul to use his house for preaching and worship instead of the synagogue. Once again, as in the case of Lydia, the home of a Gentile convert became the place of Christian worship. Paul will mention Crispus in 1 Corinthians 1:14where he says he did not personally baptize anyone in Corinth except Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas.

Acts 18:9-11 ~ One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city."  11 He settled there for a year and half and taught the word of God among them.
Paul must have been tired, worried and fearful, and so the Lord comforts his apostle and assures him of his success in witnessing to the Gentiles of Corinth. That the Lord tells Paul He has "many people in this city" reminds us of Acts 15:14 when St. James of Jerusalem spoke of how Peter described how "God first concerned himself with acquiring from among the Gentiles a people for his name." Paul must stay until all those destined for salvation have had the opportunity to accept the Gospel of salvation. 

Question: For how long will Paul remain in Corinth?
Answer: Paul with remain in Corinth for a year and a half.

Acts 18:12-17 ~ The Jews Accuse Paul Before the Proconsul of Achaia

Question: What was Gallio's reaction to the charges brought against Paul?
Answer: He did not care about theological disputes between religious sects. He told them to handle it themselves.

It is interesting that the angry Jews beat Sosthenes instead of Paul. Perhaps this was because they were fearful of beating a Roman citizen or they couldn't get their hands on Paul who was whisked away by the "brothers." Sosthenes either replaced Crispus as the synagogue leader when Crispus became a Christian or they shared the office. Sosthenes went with Paul to Ephesus and is named as the co-sender with Paul of the first letter to the Corinthians (1:1), which Paul wrote from Ephesus.

Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeus was a man with good connections. He was the son of the Roman rhetorician and writer Seneca the Elder and the brother of Seneca the Younger, the Stoic philosopher, dramatist, and statesman who became the tutor and advisor to the Roman Emperor Nero. Nero later, ungratefully, resented Seneca's advice and forced him to commit suicide in 65 AD. It was through his connections that Gallio was appointed to the prestigious position of the Roman proconsul of Achaia in 51-52 AD. The dates of his office are confirmed in an inscription that was found at Delphi in Greece. This information together with the passage concerning Claudius' expulsion of the Jews and Christians from Rome in c. 50 AD gives a good fix on dating the years Paul was in Corinth.

Acts 18:18-23 ~ The End of the Mission

Notice that Priscilla is given precedence over her husband in being named first. Both Luke and Paul are very fond of this couple and see them as the model Christian couple.

Ephesus was the third most important city in the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria, Egypt. It was a port city of western Asia Minor located at the mouth of the Cayster River between Smyrna and Miletus. Ephesus and Smyrna are cities whose Christian communities are sent letters in the Book of Revelation chapter 2. Paul will return to Ephesus on his third missionary journey. In the New Testament Ephesus and Ephesians are mentioned more than twenty times.

Acts 18:18b ~ At Cenchreae he had his hair cut because he had taken a vow.
Cenchreae is a harbor seven miles east of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf. Here Paul shaves his head, perhaps because he has completed his vow to make this second missionary journey and is returning to his home church at Antioch. Later, when the faith spread to Cenchreae, it was the home of Paul's friend Phoebe who must have had a church-home there. Paul calls her a "minister" of the church at Cenchreae (Rom 16:1).

Question: In Numbers 6:1-21 the requirements are given for taking a Nazirite vow. Why is it unlikely that Paul considers himself to be taking a Nazirite vow according to the Mosaic Law?
Answer: To fulfill a Nazirite vow the hair must be allowed to grow until the vow is completed and then the vow maker's hair had to be cut by a priest and burned on God's holy altar in Jerusalem. Paul cut his hair in Cenchreae because he had completed his vow but did not find it necessary to observe the old Law by going to the Jerusalem Temple. 

Acts 18:19-21 ~ When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, while he entered the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews.  20 Although they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, 21 but as he said farewell he promised, "I shall come back to you again, God willing." Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Paul was favorably received at the synagogue at Ephesus and promised to return. Aquila and Priscilla stayed in Ephesus, presumably to work with the converts and to establish a church-home (Acts 18:24, 26; 1 Cor 16:19). Paul will make many converts in Ephesus and later will remain with the church there for two and a half years. Ephesus is the first church named in the seven letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation. It eventually became the head of the diocese of St. John Zebedee and the home of the Virgin Mary.

Acts 18:22 ~ Upon landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.  
Paul and his missionary team landed at Caesarea, the headquarters of the Roman governor of Judea on the Mediterranean coast and from there went "up" to Jerusalem to meet with the church of St. James the Just, Bishop of Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem was situated on mountain ridges 2400-2500 feet above sea level, it was always called "going up" to Jerusalem and "down" to anywhere else. Then he traveled "down" to his home parish in Antioch, Syria. This is the completion of Paul's second missionary journey.

Question: Where did Paul go after reporting to his faith community in Antioch?
Answer: He began his third missionary journey by revisiting the faith communities he had founded in the Roman provinces of Galatia and Phrygia to strengthen the faith of the churches there.

ST. PAUL'S THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY Approximate dates: 53 " 58 AD Companions: Timothy, Luke, and other disciples Mission field: Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Judea-Samaria-Galilee Approximate miles traveled 2,700 Sent by church of Antioch, Syria
Galatia and Phrygia	Acts 18:23
Ephesus	Acts 19:1-20, 23-40
Macedonia	Acts 19:21; 20:1
Greece (Achaia)	Acts 20:2-3
Macedonia, Philippi, and Troas	Acts 20:3-12
Assos, Mitylene; near Chios, Samos, Trogyllium, Miletus	Acts 20:13-38
Cos, Rhodes, Patara	Acts 21:1-2
Tyre and Ptolemais	Acts 21:3-7
Caesarea	Acts 21:8-16
Jerusalem	Acts 21:17-23:22
Caesarea (imprisoned 2 years)	Acts 23:23-26:32

Acts 18:24-28 ~ Apollos

Apollos was a Scripture scholar from the Hellenistic cultural and intellectual center of Alexandria, Egypt who believed in Jesus the Messiah and possessed impressive skills in Greek rhetoric. Jews and Gentile God-fears from Egypt were present at Pentecost in 30 AD. Apollos may have been one of them or he may have become a convert early in Jesus' ministry when St. John the Baptist was still baptizing. "The Way" was the earliest title for believers in Christ and was probably taken from Jesus' statement that I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn 14:6). See references to "the Way" as a designation for the Church in Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22. 

Question: Apollos gave a powerful witness of Christ but what was it that concerned Priscilla and Aquila? What did they do?
Answer: They realized that his knowledge of Scripture was vast but his knowledge of Christ was limited because he had not been fully instructed and only knew of Jesus in the context of St. John's baptism of repentance. Therefore, they took him aside and properly catechized him. 

Question: What does this incident it tell us about the character of these three people in which a tentmaker and his wife corrected an Alexandrian Scripture scholar?
Answer: The incident shows the commitment and courage of Aquila and Priscilla to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it shows the humility of Apollos.

Agape Bible Study 1 Corinthians 16 

Chapter 16: Conclusion

 

1 Corinthians 16:1-4 ~ The Jerusalem Collection
1 Now in regard to the collection for the holy ones, you also should do as I ordered the churches of Galatia. 2 On the first day of the week each of you should set aside and save whatever he can afford, so that collections will not be going on when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I shall send those whom you have approved with letters of recommendation to take your gracious gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems fitting that I should go also, they will go with me.

The "holy ones" are the sanctified "saints" in training in the Corinthian community. The "first day of the week" is the New Covenant Sabbath; it is the "Day of the Lord," meaning the day of the Lord Jesus' resurrection. The Jewish Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, inaugurated on the seventh day of the Creation event (Gen 2:2-3). The New Covenant Lord's Day is the same day as the first day of the first Creation event and marks the commemoration of a new Creation in Christ Jesus.

This collection, gathered during the Sunday worship service, is for the Mother Church in Jerusalem. It is a very important symbolic gift for St. Paul because it represents the fruit of his labors among the Gentiles. If the date is 56 or 57, St. Peter has already established the headquarters of the Church in Rome. According to Bishop Eusebius' 4^th century history of the Church, Peter was seven years in Antioch, Syria and then twenty-five years headquartered in Rome before his martyrdom in about 67 AD. The Christian communities in Rome are not poor like the church in Jerusalem where many widows and orphans rely on the church to feed and care for them (Acts 6:1). Paul's last trip to Jerusalem was to take the contribution from the Gentile Christians of Greece and Asia Minor as a gift of love to the Mother Church (Acts 24:14; Rom 15:25-32).

1 Corinthians 16:5-12 ~ Paul's Travel Plans and News of Other Ministers

Verse 8 tells Paul wrote his letter from Ephesus on the coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). It seems he is spending Easter in Ephesus. He plans to stay there until the Feast of Pentecost in the late spring before traveling to northern Greece after which he plans to visit Corinth to gather contributions for the Mother Church before traveling to Jerusalem. The "brothers" Paul refers to are members of his missionary team. He is sending St. Timothy to them to correct the abuses he has mentioned in his letter. 

1 Corinthians 16:13-20 ~ Exhortation to the Community 
13 Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 14 Your every act should be done with love. 15 I urge you, brothers, you know that the household of Stephanas is the firstfruits of Achaia and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the holy ones, 16 be subordinate to such people and to everyone who works and toils with them. 17 I rejoice in the arrival of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, because they made up for your absence, 18 for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. So give recognition to such people. 19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca together with the church at their house send you many greetings in the Lord. 20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 

Stephanas and his family (household includes children and slaves) were Paul's first converts in the Roman Province of Achaia (Greece). He is probably the one who brought the letter to Paul from Chloe's household in Corinth, and he, Fortunatus and Achaicus who came with him will probably return with Paul's letter.

Aquila and Pricilla are a married couple and Paul's good friends. Notice how Paul refers to Pricilla with an affectionate nickname. Aquila is originally from Pontus (Acts 18:2), but he and his wife lived in Rome until they left when Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews and Christians because of their disputes in 49 AD (Acts 18:2). Paul first met them in Corinth where they shared lodgings and worked together in the tent-making trade (Acts 18:2-3). They traveled with Paul to Ephesus where they helped in the evangelization effort, establishing a church home. It was probably there that they "risked their necks" to save Paul (Rom 16:4). After Claudius' assassination in 54 AD, the couple returned to Rome and Paul mentions them first in his greetings to the Roman Christians in Romans 16:3. 

1 Corinthians 16:21-24 ~ Paul's Personal Greeting
I, Paul, write you this greeting in my own hand. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Marana tha. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love to all of you in Christ Jesus

Paul was dictating the letter to his personal scribe until this final section that Paul writes in his own hand. Paul pronounces a curse (literally, "anathema") against any who deny they owe their love and allegiance to Christ. The expression, also found in 12:3, is a formula for excommunication from the faith community. The Aramaic expression Marana tha, means "O Lord come!" and is a declaration of belief in the Resurrection and Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It was probably a declaration/plea used in early Christian liturgical worship services. If the letters are divided slightly differently, then the expression means "Our Lord has come" and becomes a declaration of faith. This interpretation is supported by what is a Greek equivalent of the acclamation in Revelation 22:20, "Amen, Maran atha," literally "Amen, our Lord has come, Jesus!" The word is only found in two places in the Bible: Revelation 22:20 and 1 Corinthians 16:22. Can you with confidence declare with all your heart and soul, "Amen Maranatha!"

Bible in One Year Day 338 (Acts 17, 1 Corinthians 15, Proverbs 28: 16-18)

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Agape Bible Study Acts 17 

Chapter 17: St. Paul's Second Missionary Journey Continues

Again they pass through the small towns and hurry to the biggest, since the word was to flow to nearby cities as from a source.
St. John Chrysostom, Catena on the Acts of the Apostles, 17.1

Acts 17:1-9 ~ The Missionary Effort in Thessalonica in Macedonia

The road Paul and his companions took to Thessalonica was the Via Egnatia, the Roman road that connected the Italian peninsula with Byzantium. As St. John Chrysostom noted, they did not bother to stop in the smaller towns but made their way to the large cities. In c. 50-51 AD Thessalonike was a Roman "free city" and one of the wealthiest cities of Macedonia (Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 4:36). It was located at the head of the Thermaic Gulf, about 75 miles west of Philippi. The city was founded in 315 BC and was named after a sister of Alexander the Great. Today it is the modern city of Saloniki, the second largest city of Greece.

As was his custom (established in the first missionary journey with Barnabas), Paul and his team present their Gospel message to the Jews first before going to the Gentiles. They visit the Jewish Synagogue on the Sabbath. When teaching in a synagogue, Paul wisely began by talking about Old Testament writings and explaining how Jesus the Messiah has fulfilled them. That he spoke of Jesus as the "suffering servant" suggests the Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 52-53.

Jealousy was the same reason the chief priests and Pharisees incited the crowd to condemn Jesus. The Jewish leaders' motive for causing the riot in Thessalonica was rooted in personal jealousy and not doctrinal purity. The synagogue leaders couldn't refute the theology of Paul and Silas, and they were jealous of the way they swayed the Jewish congregation. See the same reaction to St. Peter in Acts 5:17, to St. Stephen in Acts 7:9, and to St. Paul and his companions in Acts 13:45.

Acts 17:10-15 ~ The Missionary Effort in Beroea

Realizing that their lives are endangered, the converts in Thessalonica smuggled Paul and Silas out of the city at night and sent them on the Via Egnatia, the main east-west Roman road, to Beroea.
Question: This was not the first time Paul had to flee a city at night. When has Luke recorded similar dangers for Paul that required a night journey? See Acts 9:23-25; 9:30; 13:50-51, 14:20.
Answer: He escaped from Damascus in Acts 9:23-25, Jerusalem in Acts 9:30, from Antioch of Pisidia in Acts 13:50-51, and from Lystra in Acts 14:20.

Beroea was a Macedonian city located about sixty miles south of Thessalonica and twenty-four miles inland from the Aegean Sea. 

The Greek word eugenes literally means "well born" (Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles, page 307). The same word is found in Luke 19:12 and 1 Corinthians 1:26 to designated the social status of nobility. Luke is making the contrast between the rabble of Thessalonica as opposed to the more refined and gracious Jews of Beroea who were open to receiving the Gospel message. 

Acts 17:16-21 ~ Paul in Athens

The city of Athens stands on a site that has been continuously occupied since the fourth millennium B.C. Athens was not a politically significant city at this time, but it still retained its glory as the center of Hellenistic culture and philosophy. Paul's proclamation of the Gospel in Athens becomes the setting of the conflict between Christian theology and Greek philosophy. Paul's experience in Athens is the first time we are shown the encounter between the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Hellenist paganism, and it is the only time in the New Testament that Paul preaches to the Gentiles in combating paganism by the use of secular wisdom. 

Acts 17:22-33 ~ Paul's Speech at the Areopagus

Paul begins his address by complimenting the Athenians on being a religious people, presenting as evidence the many shrines he sees. He uses a particular shrine to the "Unknown God" to make his argument that this God is indeed known. Paul presents the Gospel to the pagan philosophers as "true philosophy" and tries to lead them beyond their intellectual curiosity. He supports their criticism of superstition but points out that the Gospel of Jesus Christ contains answers to profound questions about human existence.

Paul's failed intellectual battle at Athens is never repeated and becomes a symbol for Luke in what Paul will later call the wisdom of God's truth as opposed to the false wisdom of men. Paul will write to the church at Corinth: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor 1:18), and For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom... (1 Cor 1:25a). In these passages, Paul is perhaps remembering his failure to convince the Greeks to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in the debate in Athens. 

Agape Bible Study 1 Corinthians 15 

Chapter 15: The Doctrine of the Resurrection

The flesh is the hinge of salvation.
Tertullian 
(2^nd century Roman Christian lawyer and priest remembered as the father of Catholic Apologetics)

Avoid profane, idle talk, for such people will become more and more godless, and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have deviated from the truth by saying that the resurrection has already taken place and are upsetting the faith of some.
2 Timothy 2:16-17

As a consequence of original sin, humanity must suffer bodily death, from which man would have been immune if Adam hadn't sinned. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered physical death for us in submission to the will of God the Father. By His self-sacrificial death, He has conquered death and has restored to humanity the reunion of the immortal soul with an immortal and imperishable body at the end of time for both the righteous and the wicked who He will judge upon His return. The bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as Tertullian rightly wrote, is the hinge upon which humanity's salvation turns. To deny Jesus' bodily Resurrection and His promise to return to raise all the dead is to deny Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 ~ Paul's Mission to Share the Gospel

Paul begins his exhortation on the doctrine of the resurrection by reminding the Corinthian Christian community of the "good news" of the Resurrection that he preached to them through which they are "being saved" so long as they remain faithful.

The Greek Christians of Corinth were having difficulty accepting the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead because it was a concept with which the Greeks were completely unfamiliar.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ~ The Blessed Hope of Eternity

Some among the Christian community at Corinth have evidently been denying the promise of a bodily resurrection at the time of Christ's Second Coming. Paul answers these false claims with his argument in favor of a bodily resurrection at the end of the Age of Man and the inconsistencies and false logic of an argument against it. He forcefully defends the resurrection of Christ as an essential truth of Christian faith, and he states that by rising from the dead Christ completes God's work of redemption.

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 ~ Christ the Firstfruits of the Resurrection

St. Paul concludes the argument he began in verses 12-19 in verse 20 with a triumphant assertion of the reality of Christ's bodily resurrection and the positive implications and consequences. He calls Christ the "firstfruits" of the resurrection. Under the Law, the first fruits harvested were the portion of the harvest offered in thanksgiving to the Lord and implied the consecration of the entire harvest that will follow (Lev 23:10-21; Dt 26:1-11). Christ's resurrection is not an end in itself. Its completion lies in the continuation of the whole harvest that is ourselves. At Christ's return, all humanity will arise bodily as the completion of the great human harvest in God's call to the Last Judgment that will end for the just in eternity with Christ in His heavenly kingdom (Mt 13:39b-43; 1 Thes 4:16; Rev 20:11-15).

1 Corinthians 15:29-34 ~ Abuses of the Sacrament of Baptism and Practical Advice
29 Otherwise, what will people accomplish by having themselves baptized for the dead? If

Apparently, some of the Corinthians are abusing the Sacrament of Baptism by offering themselves in a second baptism for dead relatives. Paul is not condoning the practice; he is condemning it. It is the misinterpretation of Paul's remarks that Mormons use in baptizing the dead. 

1 Corinthians 15:35-44 ~ The Manner of Resurrection

In 15:35-58, Paul answers two questions concerning the resurrection:

1. How will the resurrection take place? Verses 35-49
2. What will be the condition of the resurrected body? Verses 50-58

Paul answers the questions in reverse order. First, he addresses the condition of the resurrected body and uses the example of the necessity of a seed "dying" and being buried in the earth for it to one day grow fruit. What is buried in the earth is far different from what it will become. This miracle of nature is a work of God in the same way God's work of grace in the human body will transform it into something different and better in the resurrection. In the same way an acorn is transformed into an oak but retains the identity nature gave it, our resurrected bodies will still be our own, and we will retain our personalities. We are ourselves, but we become the best of ourselves as God intended.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 ~ Bearing the Image of Christ

Paul now quotes Genesis 2:7 from the Septuagint Greek translation. All the descendants of the "first Adam" have inherited his human nature in a body formed from the dust of the earth and destined to perish and return to dust (Gen 2:7). Jesus is the "new Adam." He took on human nature in a body that could be destroyed, but in His resurrection from the grave His divinity triumphed over His human nature. When He returns in glory, He will share His bodily resurrection with us in its perfection and immortality. 

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 ~ The Resurrection Event and A Hymn of Triumph Over Death

Now Paul turns to the first question: How will the resurrection take place. He gives a description of the resurrection event at Christ's return: Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Paul uses the term "fall asleep" for death. It is only sleep because it is not a permanent death.

Question: Paul's description is similar to his description in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16. Comparing the two accounts, how does Paul describe the resurrection event?

Answer: 

1. A shout from the Lord and a trumpet call will announce Christ's sudden return from Heaven.
2. The dead will arise first, and then those alive at Christ's coming will arise. 
3. The living and the dead will all be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord, and they will receive an incorruptible body.

Paul writes that death has been swallowed up in victory at the price of the death of the one who was sinless and who was able to condemn death to death (verse 54). In verses 54b-58, Paul offers a hymn of thanksgiving for our victory over death, quoting from Hosea 13:14 in verses 54b-55, "Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" He concludes his hymn in verses 56-57 by thanking God for the tremendous gift to mankind merited by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which comes from His victory over sin, death, and the devil. 

In these verses, Paul summarizes his teaching on the connection between Mosaic Law, sin and death. Sin is the "sting" of death because death entered the world through the sin of Adam to do harm to all his descendants (see Rom 5:12). As humanity increased, sin grew. The Law of the Sinai Covenant (Law of Moses) defined sin, but it was incapable of providing the grace to enable man to avoid sin. In verse 58, St. Paul exhorts Christians to continue the fight by being "firm, steadfast, and devoted to the work of the Lord," and by knowing that our good deeds offered in a labor of love for the Lord are not in vain.

Bible in One Year Day 337 (Acts 16, 1 Corinthians 13-14, Proverbs 28:13-15)

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Agape Bible Study Acts 16 

Acts 16:1-5 ~ Paul enlists Timothy

As was his practice in the first missionary journey, Paul and his team focus on the larger cities to preach their message. The obvious plan is that the churches established in the cities will spread the Gospel they have been taught to the outlying communities. In Lystra Paul recruits a young man who is the son of a Jewish-Christian woman named Eunice (2 Tim 1:5) and a pagan Greek father (Acts 16:3). His name is Timothy and he will become one of Paul's most faithful companions, accompanying Paul on his second and third missionary journeys (Acts 16:3; 19:22). Paul will mention Timothy as a co-sender in six of his letters in 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Philemon and Colossians, and in the list of fellow Christians who send their greetings to the Christians in Rome, Timothy is listed first in Romans 16:21. Paul will also send Timothy as his emissary on several important missions (see Acts 19:22; 1 Cor 4:17; 1 Thes 3:2). In a letter to the Christians at Philippi, Paul will write concerning Timothy: For I have no one comparable to him for genuine interest in whatever concerns you ... But you know his worth, how as a child with a father he served along with me in the cause of the gospel (Phil 2:20, 22). St. Paul will also send two letters full of fatherly advice to Timothy (1 & 2 Timothy) when he is set in authority as the pastor over the church at Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3; 2 Tim 2:17). Timothy evidently became the son Paul never had, and Paul will write to him in affection terms, referring to Timothy as his dear teknon, "child" (1 Tim 1:2, 18; 2 Tim 1:2, 2:2). 

Acts 16:6-10 ~ The Journey continues through Asia Minor

Question: Paul is leading the mission, but who is in control of the mission?
Answer: God the Holy Spirit is in control of the mission.

The Holy Spirit is continuing to direct their path (also see Acts 4:31; 8:29, 39; 10:44; 13:2, 4). "Asia" in verse 6 is a reference to the Roman Province of Asia which, since 166 BC, included the geographic territories designated as Phrygia, a large region of interior western Asia Minor. 

Macedonia is a region in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula. It was the kingdom Alexander the Great inherited from his father King Philip and from which he launched his conquest of Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and into India. Macedonia became a Roman Province in 148 BC. Do not miss the important role the Roman Empire played in God plan for man's salvation. The peace imposed by the power and might of Rome and their excellent system of roads linking the Empire became the vehicle for spreading the Gospel of salvation across the face of the known world. In 146 BC Roman engineers began to construct an arterial military and commercial road, the Via Egnatia, from the Adriatic coast through Pella, Thessalonica, Amphipolis, Philippi, and Neapolis in Macedonia to Byzantium in Asia Minor. It was the road system used by St. Paul and his missionary team. Paul's vision reminds the reader of Peter's vision that led to the conversion of the Gentile Roman Cornelius in Acts 10.

Question: What is the significance of Paul's vision?
Answer: The Holy Spirit has given Paul permission to evangelize westward into Europe.

Acts 16:11-15 ~ For the first time the Missionaries enter Europe

The year is c. 50 AD and Paul is making his first European converts to Christianity in Macedonia (Acts 16:9-17:14). Lydia was Paul's first convert in the city of Philippi. She was probably a widow who had taken over her husband's business selling luxurious purple-dyed cloth. She was a rarity in the 1^st century; she was a business woman in a male dominated world. 

Acts 16:16-18 ~ Trouble in Philippi

It was probably a week later, on the Sabbath, that the missionaries were accosted by a slave girl possessed by a demon. The literal Greek text says that she had a pythian spirit. The python was the mythical serpent slain by Apollo from which the prophetesses at the shrine at Delphi received their spirit of prophecy. This girl was believed by the people to have a similar gift of prophecy. Pagans were extremely superstitious and relied on those who claimed to have such gifts.
Question: If what she testified about them was true, why did Paul cast out her spirit? See Lk 4:33-35, 41.
Answer: Jesus had similar experiences in the Gospels where demons identified Him as the Son of God. He silenced them because even though what they said was true, He did not want the testimony of unclean spirits. Paul silenced the girl for the same reason.

The owners of the girl were outraged that Paul had cut off a source of their income and denounced Paul and Silas to the city's Roman magistrates, the city's legal authorities.
Question: What accusation did they make against Paul and Silas?
Answer: The accused them of encouraging "unlawful" practices.

Christianity was not one of the recognized religions by the Roman Empire; it was considered an illegal religion. Official recognition would not happen until 313 AD in the issuing of the Edict of Milan. The magistrates had Paul and Silas beaten and imprisoned.

Acts 16:25-34 ~ Paul Converts his Jailer

Luke does not present the earthquake as a miracle of God. That part of the northern Greece has frequent earthquakes. Nevertheless, the earthquake resulted in a miracle of faith.
Question: When the jailor thought his prisoners had escaped, why did he attempt suicide? See Acts 12:6-8, 18-19.
Answer: It was the Roman custom for a jailor to forfeit his life if his prisoners escaped.

The Roman soldiers that were assigned to guard Jesus' body were not executed but instead were told to report that Jesus' disciples had taken His body. This is evidence of a conspiracy to undermine the miracle of the Resurrection (see Mt 28:11-15). The jailor and his household are Paul and Silas' second group of converts in Philippi. Notice once again, as in the case of Lydia and Cornelius, that the entire household is baptized which must have included children.

Acts 16:35-40 ~ The Magistrates Release Paul and Silas

The magistrates sent the lictors with the order to release Paul and Silas. A lictor was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant with the special task of attending and guarding magistrates of the Roman Empire who had the right and power to command. Paul withheld the information that he, Timothy, and Silas (and probably Luke) were Roman citizens when they were first brought before the magistrates but now, to the shock and horror of the lictors, he reveals that they have illegally beaten and imprisoned Roman citizens. There were dire consequences for Roman magistrates who infringed on the rights of a Roman citizen. The Roman senator Cicero wrote concerning a Roman citizen's right to due process: To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him an abomination, to slay him almost an act of parricide (Cicero, Against Verres, 2.5.66; also see Livy, History of Rome, 10.9.3-6). Paul will play the Roman citizen "card" again with a Roman Tribune in Acts 22:29. After their release, they return to Lydia's house and then left Philippi. Paul's small beginning in Philippi will result in a Christian faith community to whom Paul will write the New Testament Letter to the Philippians. 

The Council of Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15 is the turning point in Luke's narrative. Prior to the council the focus of the narrative has been on the works of St. Peter but has also included the mention of the Apostle St. John, the works of the deacons Stephen and Philip, the conversion of St. Paul, and his missionary work with the church at Antioch. After the account of the council and its momentous decision concerning the conversion of Gentiles, the focus of the narrative is entire on St. Paul and his mission in fulfilling the final phase of Jesus' command to spread the Gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth among the Gentile nations.

Agape Bible Study 1 Corinthians 13-14 

Chapter 13: The Way of Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13:3 ~ The Necessity of Love

Some Christians in the church at Corinth seem to have given certain spiritual gifts undue importance which was causing some tensions in the community. Paul began with a list of spiritual gifts in Chapter 12. Highest on Paul's scale of spiritual gifts is apostleship and lowest on the scale, he will write in Chapter 14, is speaking in tongues. The focus of the discourse in Chapter 13 is to contrast the spiritual gifts with the enduring value that gives them their purpose and effectiveness "love. All the spiritual gifts are ineffective if they are not generated by the love of God flowing through us to others.

St. Paul did not approve of the community's use of spiritual gifts because their attitude did not contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ that is the Church. Instead, St. Paul urged the Christian community at Corinth to put a greater value on the spiritual gifts that contribute to the growth and mission of the Church. In 12:31b, he writes that he will give them more direction concerning works of charity "love in action "that is the greater gift for building up the Body of Christ.

In Chapter 13:1-13, St. Paul preaches a wonderful hymn to charity/love that is one of the most beautiful passages in St. Paul's epistles. He begins by singing the praises of love as seen from three points of view:

1. The superiority of the gift of love and its absolute necessity (verses 1-3).
2. The features of the gift of love in action in its practical application (verses 4-7).
3. The promise that love endures forever (verses 8-13).

Paul teaches that charity that is the application of love in deeds of kindness to others is such an excellent gift that without it all the other spiritual gifts are empty of meaning (verses 1-3). He mentions that those other gifts will appear to be the most exceptional "like the gift of speaking in a heavenly or prophetic language (speaking in "tongues"), the gift of knowledge in interpreting such utterances, the gift of prophecy, and their relationship of these various gifts to each other. However, he says that all these seemingly marvelous works mean nothing if not founded in love. Without love the gift of tongues is only so much noise. Love has to be the motivation for both words and deeds. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a ~ The More Perfect Way of Love

Paul defines "love" by what it does and by what it does not do. The Greek text contains fifteen verbs that are usually translated as adjectives in English. This is probably one of the most beloved and frequently quoted passages written by St. Paul. Paul writes that love is the origin of all virtues in verses 4-7. He starts with two positive traits of love, then he lists eight failures before returning with five positive traits. 

What love is	What love isn't
patient	jealous
kind	pompous/boastful
rejoices in truth	inflated
bears all	rude
believes	self-interested
hopes	quick-tempered
endures	hold on to injuries real or imagined
never fails/never ends	rejoice over wrongdoing

Question: Who is it in salvation history who demonstrated all the positive traits of love?
Answer: Jesus Christ whose self-sacrifice on the altar of the cross was an act of love.

1 Corinthians 13:8b-13 ~ Love Lasts Forever

All of our wisdom and knowledge of God in this life is fragmentary and fleeting. The perfect vision awaits us in the Second Advent of Christ when the prefect will banish the partial. Paul introduces two examples of the partial and the perfect:

·     The first example is the comparison between a child and an adult (verse 11).

·     The second example is a mirror that casts an imperfect image. In the 1^st century AD, mirrors were made of polished bronze or silver and produced a foggy or somewhat distorted image (verse 12). 

Paul used the example of a child to contrast immature and mature Christians in 3:2. Now he uses the image of a child to contrast the present life with the future life of glory. As children learn and mature they care less for childish things and more for adult things in the way a Christian learns to embrace the spiritual charisms over material things. He speaks of the need for Christian maturity in the Christian's growth from a little child in Christ with only a little understanding to a mature servant of the Lord. Yet, Paul writes, in this earthly reality we can only have a partial vision of what is to come. He says that knowledge that leads to maturity cannot be separated from faith and acquires it full meaning in the Christian who lives by the virtues of faith, hope and love. But, Paul says, the greatest of these virtues is love because it has the supreme role in Christian life. This supreme role of love comes from Jesus' command that we must love each other as He has loved us in order to abide in His love as He told His disciples in His homily at the Last Supper in John 15:9-19.

1 Corinthians 14:1-5 ~ Prophecy is a Greater Gift than Speaking in Tongues

In 14:1, Paul returns to what he introduced in 12:31a in striving for the greatest spiritual gifts. Paul's theme of eliminating factions that cause disunity and striving to build up and unify the community is the focus of this chapter. He advises the Corinthians to strive for the spiritual gifts of interpreting Scripture and discerning the will of God for His Church. However, the greatest of the spiritual gifts is love; our love for Christ and our love for one another. 

In verses 2-5, Paul offers a series of contrasts that focus on the Corinthians' interest in speaking in tongues to the point of ignoring other gifts and their failure to appreciate the necessity of prophecy.

Question: What two kinds of communication does he identify that produce what two kinds of effects?
Answer: The two kinds of communication: 

1. The private speech of speaking in tongues directly to God in inarticulate words or sounds that cannot be discerned by others. 
2. The prophetic interpretation of tongues that communicates the intended meaning to others. The two kinds of effects are: 
3. Speaking in tongues when there is no interpretation results in only building up the individual.
4. A prophetic interpretation of speaking in tongues builds up the Church.

1 Corinthians 14:5-12 ~ The Benefits of Interpretation and Revelation

Question: To clarify his point, what examples does Paul use from daily life?
Answer: He gives the examples of the tones and distinct or indistinct sounds of musical instruments (flute, harp, bugle/trumpet) and speaking in a foreign language. The sounds of musical instruments and words of foreign languages are meaningless if they cannot be understood.

8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?
A night watchman blew a distinctive trumpet or bugle signal to announce danger to the community, and soldiers blew trumpets to calling the army to prepare for battle.

1 Corinthians 14:13-19 ~ Interpretation is Necessary

In verses 13-14, Paul describes speaking in tongues as an activity of the human spirit that is a kind of contemplative prayer in which the mind is not active and is at rest in conversation with God. He contrasts that inactivity with prophetic utterances in which God engages the mind of the individual and imparts words to share with the community. 

I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the mind. I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will also sing praise with the mind.
Paul recommends praying, giving thanks and giving praise to God in both the spirit and the mind.

how shall one who holds the place of the uninstructed say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
It was the custom in the Jewish synagogue to answer an "Amen" of public agreement to a communal prayer. Answering "amen" is a tradition carried over into the Christian assembly of worship and continues to this day. "Amen" is from the Hebrew word eman and has the meaning "so be it," so it is," or "it is true." However, "amen" is an acrostic formed from the first letters of the Hebrew phrase "God is a trustworthy King" = "El Melech Ne'eman" (Talmud, Shabbat 119b). It appears for the first time in the Book of Numbers 5:22, and it is used as a response by a congregation to a prayer (Ps 89:53) or as a declaration (twelve times in Dt 27:15-28). Christ is called "the Amen" in Revelation 3:14 because He is God the trustworthy the King of kings and the realization of all the promises of God to humanity (see 2 Cor 1:20; CCC 1061-65).

Paul defends speaking in tongues as a genuine spiritual gift, but he again emphasizes that God's word of prophecy that comes to the mind of the interpreter to share with the congregation is far more valuable a spiritual gift because it benefits the Church.

1 Corinthians 14:20-25 ~ The Function of the Spiritual Gift of Speaking in Tongues

Paul accuses the Corinthian Christians of being immature. They should be like innocent children with respect to their knowledge of evil, but mature in their understanding of the benefits of spiritual gifts and what actions builds up and unifies the Church.

Paul quotes from Isaiah 28:11-12, editing the quote slightly to apply to the Corinthian situation. Paul worries about the danger of uninterrupted tongues for the members of the community who cannot obtain any benefit from the utterances. However, the greater danger is to the recent convert who might be turned away. In the passage from which Paul quotes, Isaiah had consistently warned the covenant people that unless they repented, they would perish at the hands of the Assyrians. The prophet warned if they persisted in not listening to God that He would communicate through "people speaking strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners" by bringing judgment upon them for their failures to listen to the voice of God through His prophet to keep their covenant promises. The "strange tongues" of the foreign Assyrian invaders was the sign of the fulfillment of God's judgment.

1 Corinthians 14:26-33a ~ Rules of Order in the Assembly

Question: What practical instruction does Paul give for keeping order in the assembly of worship?
Answer:

1. Worship in the assembly should progress in an orderly fashion.
2. Not more than two or three should speak in tongues and not at once but in turns.
3. There should be someone present who can interpret the words of the speaker/speakers.
4. If there is no one to interpret, there should be no public expression of tongues.
5. Only two or three prophets should speak one at a time, and the others should discern the application of the prophetic message for the assembly.

1 Corinthians 14:33b-40 ~ The Role of Women in the Assembly

Paul is continuing to address problems within the liturgical assembly. In 11:4-5, Paul defended a woman's right to pray in the assembly, but in this passage, he deals with the problem of women taking an active role in the liturgy of worship. As the Church at Corinth began to attract more Gentile women, they may have expected to take on the same kinds of ministerial roles that women commanded in pagan worship served by priests as well as priestesses. In most cases of goddess worship, the ministers were predominately priestesses led by a high priestess. A role for women in the ministerial priesthood is not what Jesus established. Jesus did not establish a male priesthood because of cultural constraints. Jesus had women disciples who traveled with Him. For a Jewish Rabbi to have women disciples traveling with him was an unheard of practice in Jesus' time, but He demanded such a high standard of morality among His men disciples that women were protected in His service. 

God is not constrained by customs of the times; He establishes customs and practices for all generations. Nor is Paul imposing his ideas on the Church. In other letters, he upholds the equality of women with men in service to Christ where he writes there is neither Jew nor Greek nor man nor woman to distinguish one Christian from another (Gal 3:28). All are equal members of the "priesthood of believers" (see CCC 784, 941, 1119, 1141, 1143, 1268, 1273, 1546-47, 1591). The ministerial priesthood, however, is a different matter for a very sound theological reason.

34 women should keep silent in the churches, for they are not allowed to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. But if they want to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home. 
Paul may be referring to Jewish ritual law or halakha. The Sinai Covenant limited the priesthood to men who were the descendants of Aaron (Ex 28:1; 40:11-15), and women were forbidden from participation in the rituals of worship in the Temple even if they could claim Aaronic descent. They were also separated from men, limited to the Court of the Women, and they could only approach the altar in the inner court if they came to offer a sacrifice. However, in the synagogues, women occupied the same space, but they sat on one side of the assembly room and men on the other. 

In the New Covenant order, while women sit with men, Paul wants the community to understand that not everything has changed concerning the separate role of men and women in the liturgy of worship. He writes in verse 36: he should recognize that what I am writing to you is a commandment of the Lord. The ministerial priesthood still belongs to men according to what Christ established as the governing authority of the Church through the men who stand before the assembly of the faithful as His personal representatives to the people. 

According to Paul, women should not take part in the charismatic activity of speaking in tongues in the assembly (verses 14 and 34; 1 Tim 2:11-12), nor can they exercise authority over the congregation in the role of the ministerial priesthood. Their conduct should reflect the role as their husbands' supportive partners in life (Gen 2:18; 1 Tim 2:13) and as members of the congregation. With their husbands, they support the ministry of the priest who represents Christ the Bridegroom and High Priest of the sacred assembly who calls His spotless Bride to a sacred union with Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Women are equal members with men in the priesthood of believers as the Bride of Christ that is the community of the faithful. However, it is the ordained priest of the ministerial priesthood who stands in Persona Christi (in the Person of Christ) before the people. Paul's warning concerning women preaching is also probably formed by the knowledge of the role of women in pagan worship where female goddess and the priestesses were prevalent. Such a role for Christian women would upset the necessary symbolic imagery of Christ the Bridegroom and the Church as His Bride. It is the fulfillment of the imagery St. John witnesses in Christ's return to collect His Bride the Church inRevelation Chapter 19.

In conformity with his views in 1 Corinthians, Paul will write St. Timothy, A woman must receive instruction silently and under complete control. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Further, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed. But she will be saved through motherhood, provided women persevere in faith and love and holiness, with self-control (1 Tim 2:11-15). His point is that woman's primary role is to act as God's partner in perpetuating generations of believers until Christ returns. It is in saying "yes" to that partnership with God that she advances the cause of her salvation. 

Also, keep in mind that in Paul's time the vast majority of women did not receive an education and could not read or write. The Catholic Church was the first institution to actively promote the education of women. Paul had a high regard for women. He mentions them in his letters and had women on his missionary teams. Most of the faith communities were in the homes of women like Chloe whose "household" send Paul the letter outlining problems at Corinth. In Paul's letter to the Romans, he names his friend Priscilla, who he affectionately calls Prisca, before her husband, and in his conclusion to the letter he names ten women, including Phoebe to whom Paul entrusted with the delivery of his letter.