Grace & Knowledge Blog

Our Bible study on early Christian history has finished the book of Acts and moved on to a study of the first Jewish revolt.  Our main text here is Josephus' Jewish War, which includes lots of eyewitness details.

For example, we learn from Josephus that one Roman battering ram was called Nico ("Victory").  

The Romans had other battering rams named Rico, Tony, and Vinnie.  (No, this part I'm making up.)

Tags: acts

A number of popular TV series have ended their seasons recently, often leaving viewers in suspense for the summer. 

• NCIS has left medical examiner Ducky collapsed on the beach. 
• On NCIS-LA, Callen's shooting of an international criminal called the  Chameleon was picked up live by TV cameras.
• On CSI, Russell's granddaughter has been kidnapped.
• On Psych, Shawn's father has just been shot.
• On Person of Interest, Mr. Finch is being held at gunpoint.  Will Mr. Reese find him in time? 

And so on, ad inifinitum. 

Meanwhile, our Bible study group has reached the end of the book of Acts, which leaves the apostle Paul in Roman custody.  I have posted an article on that historical cliffhanger.

Tags: acts, grace and knowledge articles

The apostle Bartholomew is only mentioned four times in the New Testament, all in lists of the Twelve.

But there are a number of Christian traditions about Bartholomew's later travels, including multiple accounts of his martyrdom. 

In Chronicles of the Apostles, a study of early Christian history (First Fruits of Zion, 2012), Daniel Thomas Lancaster gives this tongue-in-cheek summary of Bartholomew's travels and martyrdom(s):

"The king of Naidas, a coastal town in Egypt, sewed Barholomew into a hair sack and drowned him at sea.  Bartholomew sailed on to India and from there through the Persian Gulf to begin making his way back into the western world.  During a period of ministry in Armenia, however, at Albanopolis on the Caspian Sea, he was beaten, tortured, and thrown outside the city.  `He languished for several hours, and then he died.'  Not to be deterred from his travels Bartholomew continued on through Pontus, Bithynia, Mysia, and Lydia to Hierapolis on the edge of old Phrygia.  Here the pagans nailed him to a gate, but Bartholomew survived this form of crucifixion to continue on into Lycaonia and Cilicia Tracheia, where he defeated elements of the kingdom of darkness and preached to the Jewish...

Tags: acts

In a Bible study on the book of Acts in which I am participating, we are reading Acts 19 this week.  Acts 19 describes Paul's adventures in Ephesus.

In most of the cities he visited, Paul eventually wore out his welcome.  In Ephesus he ran into trouble because of his success at turning people away from idolatry and toward the one true God.  A riot ensued because Ephesian metalworkers figured they would sell fewer statues of Artemis if fewer people were worshipping Artemis (verses 23-28).

In rereading this account today, it occurs to me that Demetrius, the metalworker who started the riot, was not really much of a businessman.  If he were a true entrepreneur, he would have seen changes in business trends as an opportunity rather than a threat.  If people were buying fewer idols, he could have started making, say, menorahs instead.    

Tags: acts