{"id":21967,"date":"2016-08-21T11:06:02","date_gmt":"2016-08-21T16:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mbcpathway.local\/?p=21967"},"modified":"2016-08-22T07:24:25","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T12:24:25","slug":"luke-nails-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2016\/08\/21\/luke-nails-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke nails it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 19 starts with Paul leaving Apollos in charge of the church in Corinth while he continues his missionary journey. It ends with Paul\u2019s encounter with an angry mob.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, as a recent article in Biblical<\/i> Archaeological Review<\/i> tells us, it\u2019s a very reliable depiction of life in the Roman world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon his arrival in Ephesus, Paul meets some believers whose instruction was incomplete. He teaches them about the Holy Spirit and baptizes them in the name of the Lord Jesus. But then things get interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s message offends both the Jewish and Gentile establishments in what was either the second or third largest city in the Roman Empire. The response of some people in the synagogue was the usual: obstinacy, disbelief, and disparagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for the Gentiles, the problem was literally closer to home: their pocketbooks. What Acts calls \u201ca serious disturbance\u201d broke out when a silversmith named Demetrius told his fellow silversmiths that Paul\u2019s monotheism was bad for business.<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand why, it helps to understand what made Ephesus famous: a shrine to Artemis, also known as \u201cDiana,\u201d the goddess associated with, among other things, childbirth, children, virginity and the hunt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually calling the temple to Artemis in Ephesus a \u201cshrine\u201d is a gross understatement. The temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. At 425 feet long by 200 feet wide, it was four times the size of the Parthenon. The structure was held by 127 columns that were 60 feet tall and 7 feet in diameter.<\/span><\/p>\n

That meant anything\u2014including Paul and his gospel of the risen Jesus\u2014calling into question the cult of Artemis not only threatened their livelihood, it also threatened Ephesus\u2019s stature within the Empire.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the good people of Ephesus rioted, yelling \u201cGreat is Artemis of the Ephesians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the article shows, the account of Paul\u2019s adventures in Ephesus is filled with details that demonstrate intimate knowledge about Ephesus and its way of life. For instance, the reference to silversmiths. In 1984, a monument was discovered that corroborated Luke\u2019s account of their prominence in Ephesus. <\/span><\/p>\n

Theirs was a status quo worth rioting to preserve. Note that both the inscription and Acts 19 uses the same Greek word, neokoros, \u201cguardian,\u201d in describing Ephesus\u2019s relationship to the temple cult.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the seemingly-obscure reference to \u201cthe great Artemis and of her image that fell from the sky.\u201d As Biblical Archaeological Review <\/i>tells readers, \u201cThe origin of Ephesian Artemis is traditionally associated with a meteorite that was worshiped in early Ephesus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the article concludes, \u201cLuke knew what he was talking about in recording the riot in the theater. His claim at the outset of the two-part work (Luke and Acts) to have \u2018investigated everything accurately and reported them orderly\u2019 is substantiated in Acts 19.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the brilliant comic actor Kenneth Mars said in Mel Brooks\u2019 Young Frankenstein, \u201cA riot is an ugly thing.\u201d But a riot that substantiates the historicity of the Acts of the Apostles? Well, that\u2019s a beautiful thing.\u2002<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Actor Kenneth Mars said in Mel Brooks\u2019 Young Frankenstein, ‘A riot is an ugly thing.’ But a riot that substantiates the historicity of the Acts of the Apostles? Well, that\u2019s a beautiful thing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9192209,"featured_media":22053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[35,5,8,24],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLuke nails it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eric Metaxas: "In Mel Brooks\u2019 Young Frankenstein it says, 'A riot's an ugly thing.' 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