As I've been teaching Bible classes regularly the last couple years, I've found it helpful to tie together different sections of the Bible to show how the writings complement each other. As I teach the letters of Paul, I think it's good to go back to Acts as you read his letters and see if there may be any helpful information that Acts provides. So, in Luke's account of Paul's ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19), you learn that Ephesus has a strong community dedicated to the cult and magic. When you read Ephesians, you notice that Paul, more than any other letter of his, uses language of our victory in Christ in the "heavenlies" and strong language of "spiritual warfare" (Eph 6:12-20- maybe in another post I can talk more about this). No coincidence.
When I went back to Acts recently, I noticed a few parallels between its account of Paul's ministry in Corinth (Acts 18) and Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians, some are minor, some helpful. I thought I'd list them out for my reader.
1. Acts 18:3 says that Paul worked in Corinth as a tentmaker, which fits with his account that he worked rather than have the Corinthians "pay his way" (1 Cor 4:12; 9:6, 18- see also 1 Thess 2:9- this seems to have been Paul's modus operandi).
2. Acts 18:5-6 note that Paul's ministry to the Jews in the synagogues was largely unsuccessful, so much so that he declared "from now on I will go to the Gentiles." Sure enough, it seems reasonably obvious that Paul's Corinthian audience is mostly Gentile.
3. Luke tells us that "Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized" (18:8). Paul mentions baptizing Crispus in 1 Cor 1:14.
4. While Paul was in Corinth, "the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: 'Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attach and harm you, because I have many people in this city" (Acts 18:9-10). It isn't a stretch to assume, then, that Paul was afraid. In Paul's own words, "I came to you in weakness with great and trembling" (1 Cor 2:3).
5. Luke also records the beating of Sosthenes, another synagogue leader, at the hands of an angry mob (18:17). He was, presumably, a believer, and eventual "cowriter" (using that term loosely) of Paul's letter to the Corinthians (1:1- I wonder if he left Corinth because of the beating?).
6. Finally, after they all leave Corinth, Priscilla and Aquilla, Paul's coworkers, meet Apollos in Ephesus. Luke tells us "He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures...and he spoke with great fervor" (Acts 18:24-25), who was then taught more thoroughly by Priscilla and Aquilla. After this, Apollos ministered in Achaia and Corinth (Achaia is the overall region where Corinth was located) and "vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate" (18:28).
Interestingly, this seems to have caused some unintended problems within the church at Corinth. We learn that some chose to follow Apollos, while some chose to follow others (1 Cor 1:12). It seems that some of the Corinthians had rejected Paul on the basis of his lack of "wisdom" and "eloquence" (1 Cor 1:18-2:16; see also 2 Cor 10:10). Could it be that after experiencing Apollos' rhetorical abilities and his knowledge that some had placed Apollos higher on the "spiritual" scale than Paul? It would seem that their love for wisdom and persuasive rhetoric would certainly make this possible, if not probable (1 Cor 1:22; 2:1-5). Of course, Paul doesn't blame Apollos; he was, after all, doing his job of watering the seed that Paul had laid down (3:6). And it's clear that Apollos was no longer in Corinth when this letter was written (16:12), so the divisions probably happened after his departure.
None of these 6 points, mind you, are necessarily crucial to understanding Paul's letter. In fact, it seems to me that numbers 3 and 5 are purely incidental, number 1 confirms what we already know in other letters, number 2 gives us a good understanding why Paul's audience in this letter seems so Gentile (and also confirms what we know from other letters- he was the apostle to the Gentiles, after all), and numbers 4 (on Paul's fear) and 6 (on Apollos' abilities) give us some interesting background that proves to be more helpful- especially the last point.
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2 comments:
Nice post. It's always so cool when you can pull larger contexts and backgrounds right from Scripture. I wish there were a corresponding "Acts" narrative for all the epistles. I guess Luke was just a slacker.
I also enjoy links like those you describe in that they always give me a sense of "biggness" to the Biblical narrative, you know? You have a 30,000 ft. Lukan view of aspects of Paul's ministry right beside the 1 ft. snapshots we find in his epistles.
I think this can also a teaching point in itself: In the same way that Paul's ministry is part of a larger story, so also is ours. Take this as a corrective to the modern penchant for disconnected autonomy.
Really? Because I meant to show how Paul & Luke conspired together to invent a coherent story, yet leaving just enough differences to throw people off their trail, which then duped Constantine into buying their story and ridding the world of goddesses and the beloved Gnostic Gospels.
Seriously, you make a great point. One of the things I love is how it shows that Paul really was writing to real people in real situations. Those names we skim by (Sosthenes is a great example) were real people who had ministries and were probably looked up to by so many (like our pastors today). They were important parts of Paul's ministry in different cities. Yet, we barely give them a second thought.
For me, that brings a lot of perspective. I probably have nothing on Sosthenes and Crispus, and they're just a "footnote" in the story of the NT. Not to downplay my ministry (or yours, or anyone's), but sometimes it's good to have a reminder that I'm just a small part of something greater. Humbling.
Depending on the day, I either need to be humbled or encouraged by this. Isn't it strange how the same point can either shoot down my pride or lift up my head?
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