Queen's Road Cell

 Some of your own poets (17:28). “In him we live and move and have our being” is from the Cretan poet Epimenides. “We are his offspring” is found in works both by Aratus and Cleanthes. All these poets were popular with Stoics, who understood the God in their poems to be the Logos—divine Reason, the world-soul.      1. How does Luke describe Athens and its people (see 17:16,21)? '  the city was full of idols' '"... Now  all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new'   2. What did the cultured men think of Paul, and why (see 17:18,32)? What does this babbler wish to say?” “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”.  "babbler" = seed-picker. No depth. Promoting one belief over another. "Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, 'We will hear you again about this'.”   The resurrection was a historically verifiable claim...

5. Keep question 1 in mind as you answer these questions.  a. Who accepted the gospel in 8:26-40?   An Ethiopian eunuch. If the man was a physical eunuch ihe could not have been a proselyte. He would have been a 'god-fearer' However, the term could also be used to refer simply to a court official.   The church did not simply ‘stumble upon’ the idea of evangelizing the Gentiles; it did so in accordance with God’s deliberate purpose (Marshall) A desert road 'at noon' (8:26, alternate reading) would be not well-travelled. Philip required specific divine direction for an improbable effort.   And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” - there was specific direction again.   God obviously does not reveal himself to all men equally. b. What status did this kind of person have with the Jews (see Deuteronomy 23:1)? Considered unfit to join the assembly of the Lord, to be a full part of God's people. c. How was this person’s conversion signific...

David asked the question: "Is evangelism an individual mandate for Christians?" arising from this blog article.The concern is that some form of guilt ensues if an individual Christian fails to share the gospel. One response is that our hearts should be motivated by enthusiasm and joy in God's beauty and truth. We should not be picking and choosing what we want to do as a disciple. The apostles could "not help but speak of what (they had) seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). How can we hold back on sharing what will save others? All of us should be able to witness to the reality of Christ in our lives. How else should we act in view of the fact that those we interact with will face an eternity of hell if they do not hear the gospel? In relation to the idea of 'mandate' as something compulsory, Selwyn mentioned that we live under grace, not the law. So following "the spirit of the law" is loving our neighbours as ourselves and being perfect as our ...