"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul
heard of it,
they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying,
'Men, why are you doing these things?
We are also men of the same nature as you,
and preach the gospel to you
that you should turn from these vain things
to a
living God,
WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND
THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM'"
(Acts 14:14-15)
How different Paul's sermon
to these pagan Gentiles in Lystra (Acts 14:14-17)
is from his sermon
to the Jewish people in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16-41)
Yet in both cases, his message is rooted deeply in the story of Torah.
In Pisidian Antioch, he begins with the Patriarchal Narratives (13:17).
In Lystra, he takes them back to the
very beginning--
the
Creation Narrative.
But make no mistake, the Christian faith does not begin with
the Gospel of John.
And just as Barnabas and Paul tore their robes
in response to the
crazy theological conclusions
drawn
by a group of people who were
ignorant of the Old Testament,
I suspect Barnabas and Paul would still be tearing their robes if they
heard many a sermon peached in churches today.
In the name
of healthy theology,
I pray
that Christians today start taking the Bible of Jesus and the
Bible of the early church as seriously they did!
"God has not rejected His people whom
He foreknew.
Or do you not know
what the Scripture says..."
(Rom 11:2).
heard of it,
they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying,
'Men, why are you doing these things?
We are also men of the same nature as you,
and preach the gospel to you
that you should turn from these vain things
to a
living God,
WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND
THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM'"
(Acts 14:14-15)
How different Paul's sermon
to these pagan Gentiles in Lystra (Acts 14:14-17)
is from his sermon
to the Jewish people in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16-41)
Yet in both cases, his message is rooted deeply in the story of Torah.
In Pisidian Antioch, he begins with the Patriarchal Narratives (13:17).
In Lystra, he takes them back to the
very beginning--
the
Creation Narrative.
But make no mistake, the Christian faith does not begin with
the Gospel of John.
And just as Barnabas and Paul tore their robes
in response to the
crazy theological conclusions
drawn
by a group of people who were
ignorant of the Old Testament,
I suspect Barnabas and Paul would still be tearing their robes if they
heard many a sermon peached in churches today.
In the name
of healthy theology,
I pray
that Christians today start taking the Bible of Jesus and the
Bible of the early church as seriously they did!
"God has not rejected His people whom
He foreknew.
Or do you not know
what the Scripture says..."
(Rom 11:2).
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