“Acts 16–21,” Scripture Helps: New Testament (2024)
Scripture Helps
Acts 16–21
Being led by the Spirit, Paul embarked on his second missionary journey throughout the areas now known as Turkey and Greece. Many people accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul established churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Corinth. He delivered an important sermon on Mars’ Hill in Athens. Paul started his third missionary journey in Ephesus. He stayed there for about three years. The local merchants and worshippers of the goddess Diana felt threatened by Paul’s success. Near the completion of his third mission, Paul warned Ephesian Church leaders about impending dangers and apostasy in the Church.
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Background and Context
What do we know about Paul’s second missionary journey?
Paul left on his second missionary journey with Silas. They first went to Derbe and Lystra. While in Lystra, Paul invited Timothy (or Timotheus) to join him and Silas in their missionary work. They briefly taught the gospel in Thessalonica. Their mission continued in Athens. After Athens, Paul spent at least 18 months in Corinth. In Corinth he taught in synagogues on the Sabbath and worked as a tentmaker. He also likely wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians while he was in Corinth. When Paul left Corinth, Silas and Timothy remained to continue teaching the people there. Paul stayed briefly in Ephesus before returning to Jerusalem and then Antioch. During his second mission, Paul taught the gospel, strengthened the Church, and spread the news about the decision reached in the Jerusalem conference. This mission lasted about three and a half years (about AD 50–52).
Why did Paul circumcise Timothy?
The decision from the Jerusalem conference was that gentile converts were not required to be circumcised or to observe the law of Moses to be saved. However, many Church members were not in favor of this decision. They may have perceived an uncircumcised missionary as lacking respect for God and His laws. Paul circumcised Timothy prior to their mission so Timothy could labor more effectively among Church members.
Was Luke a missionary companion to Paul?
The scriptures suggest that Luke is the author of Acts. The pronouns we and us that appear in Acts 16:10 may indicate that Luke was an eyewitness of these events. It is likely that Luke joined Paul and the other missionaries in Troas.
Who was Lydia?
Lydia lived in Thyatira, a city famous for its purple textiles. The best purple dye was extracted from a certain type of shellfish. “Because it was so expensive, purple dye was used on garments worn by royalty.” Lydia was a merchant of purple cloth and was most likely wealthy. She owned her own house and had servants.
Lydia was Paul’s first known European convert and was the first person mentioned by name who joined the Church during Paul’s second mission. Later, believers gathered at her home for worship and instruction.
What is the spirit of divination?
A slave girl made her masters a fortune by predicting the future as a soothsayer. This practice was also known as divination and was condemned under the law of Moses. When the evil spirit in the young girl loudly supported Paul and his companions as servants of God, Paul commanded the spirit to come out of her. The scriptures record other instances when evil spirits bore witness of the Savior and were rebuked by Him.
What beliefs did Paul encounter in Athens?
Anciently, Athens was “the intellectual capital of the world.” It gave rise to some of the world’s greatest philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. When Paul went to Athens, the city still had a reputation for philosophical thought and debate. There he encountered at least two philosophical groups, the Epicureans and the Stoics.
Epicureans did not deny the existence of God but did view Him as distant and uninvolved in human affairs. Paul’s message about the personal nature of God and His involvement in our lives would have been contrary to the teachings of Epicurus. Epicureans were materialists. They claimed that the body and soul are composed of matter. According to their philosophy, since a soul is made of matter, it cannot last forever. Thus, they taught that there is no immortality of the soul. This may explain why some Athenians mocked Paul when he spoke of the Resurrection.
The Stoics were also materialists. They believed that God is active and present in all of nature and that He is part of the world. Since we also exist as part of this world, the Stoics may have been more receptive to Paul’s teaching of the Resurrection. This may explain why some Athenians were willing to listen to Paul again.
When addressing those steeped in Greek philosophy, Paul did not recite Jewish history or scripture as he typically did when teaching Jewish audiences. After establishing commonalities with the Athenians, Paul taught important Christian doctrine.
Why did the Athenians have an altar to an unknown god?
The Athenians feared offending any god. It appears that they built an altar to avoid offending any god that may have been unknown to them. Paul used this altar to teach about Jesus Christ and testify that He was the God they did not know.
What does it mean that we are “the offspring of God”?
Paul’s quotation of a Greek poet uses the Greek word genos, translated as “offspring.” This word means “kind” or “family.” The family proclamation teaches: “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” In 1909, the First Presidency issued the following doctrinal statement: “All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity.”
What was the significance of Paul shaking his clothing?
In Corinth, when the Jews in the synagogue rejected Paul’s teaching, he shook his clothing and declared, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean.” Shaking his clothing demonstrated that he was blameless for the sins of the people he taught. This practice is also alluded to in the Book of Mormon. For more information, see “Matthew 10:14. What did it mean to ‘shake off the dust of your feet’”?
What do we know about Paul’s third missionary journey?
Paul’s third missionary journey was his longest mission in duration and distance. Paul visited congregations he had established in his first two missionary journeys and then spent about three years in Ephesus. Ephesus was a large city and an important commercial and cultural center. It was an ideal environment for Paul to “spread his religious message far and wide.” During this mission, Paul wrote his epistles recorded in 1 and 2 Corinthians and Romans; Galatians may have also been written at this time.
Who was Diana of the Ephesians?
Model of the Temple of Artemis, at Miniatürk Park, Istanbul, Turkey
The Ephesians placed great importance on worshipping the goddess Diana. She was a Roman goddess and was known as Artemis to the Greeks. Outside the Ephesus city walls, a temple was built in her name. This temple is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Pilgrims came from all over the Roman Empire to worship Diana in the temple. Local merchants earned their living by selling food, lodging, dedicatory offerings, and souvenirs. Paul was so successful in bringing people to the Savior’s Church that it affected the income of these merchants, who relied on visitors to the Temple of Artemis. Silversmiths who made and sold images of the goddess Diana provoked a public uprising against Paul and his gospel message. Paul wanted to address the crowd, but he was dissuaded by Church members and government authorities who were concerned for his safety.
Why did Paul and other disciples partake of the sacrament on the first day of the week?
See “Matthew 28:1. How did the Savior’s Resurrection influence when the Sabbath was observed?”
What did Paul’s warning to the Ephesians mean?
Paul’s prophecy to Church leaders of “grievous wolves” entering among them described a spiritual and not a physical threat. “Paul is describing the entering of evil forces into the Church and their gaining power over the Saints.” Paul’s prophecy is similar to his warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 of “a falling away.”
Why did Paul participate in rituals of the law of Moses if it was no longer required?
The decision of the Jerusalem council did not explicitly discontinue the law of Moses for Christians. The decree stated that gentile converts to the Church did not need to be circumcised to receive salvation. But it did not address how Jewish members should approach circumcision. Because of this ambiguity, Jewish Christians who were “zealous of the law” kept observing it.
To appease these Jewish Christians, James and others advised Paul to participate in a public fulfillment of ceremonial rituals before entering the temple. When Paul participated in the temple rites, Jews from Asia (not Jewish Christians) confronted him in the temple and caused a riot against him.
Who was the Egyptian the Roman captain confused for Paul?
About three years before Paul’s arrest, an Egyptian Jew had claimed to be a prophet and raised a large following in the wilderness. He led his followers to the Mount of Olives and promised them that the walls of Jerusalem would fall and the Roman Empire would be destroyed. Felix, the Roman governor, ordered his army to defeat these followers. But he was unable to capture the Egyptian leader, who remained a fugitive.
Learn More
The Offspring of God
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Topics and Questions, “Children of God,” Gospel Library
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Tad R. Callister, “Our Identity and Our Destiny” (Brigham Young University devotional, Aug. 14, 2012), speeches.byu.edu
Media
Video
“We Are the Offspring of God” (4:30)
Images
She Worketh Willingly with Her Hands, by Elspeth Young
Illustration by Dan Burr