The Early Church

“From one man he made every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territories and the periods when they would flourish.

God did this so that people would look for him and perhaps reach out and find him although in fact, he is not far from each one of us,

‘for in him we live and move and exist.’ Indeed, as some of the poets among you have said, ‘We are actually his children.’

So, since we are children of God, we shouldn’t suppose that God’s essence resembles gold, silver or stone shaped by human technique and imagination.

“In the past, God overlooked such ignorance; but now he is commanding all people everywhere to turn to him from their sins.

For he has set a Day when he will judge the inhabited world, and do it justly, by means of a man whom he has designated. And he has given public proof of it by resurrecting this man from the dead.”

At the mention of a resurrection of dead people, some began to scoff; while others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”

So Sha’ul left the meeting.

But some men stayed with him and came to trust, including the High Council member Dionysius; there was also a woman named Damaris; and others came to trust along with them.

After this, Sha’ul left Athens and went to Corinth,

where he met a Jewish man named Aquila, originally from Pontus but having recently come with his wife Priscilla from Italy, because Claudius had issued a decree expelling all the Jews from Rome. Sha’ul went to see them;

and because he had the same trade as they, making tents, he stayed on with them; and they worked together.

Sha’ul also began carrying on discussions every Shabbat in the synagogue, where he tried to convince both Jews and Greeks.

But after Sila and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Sha’ul felt pressed by the urgency of the message and testified in depth to the Jews that Yeshua is the Messiah.

However when they set themselves against him and began hurling insults, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! For my part, I am clean; from now on, I will go to the Goyim!”

So he left them and went into the home of a “God-fearer” named Titius Justus, whose house was right next door to the synagogue.

Crispus, the president of the synagogue, came to trust in the Lord, along with his whole household; also many of the Corinthians who heard trusted and were immersed.

One night, in a vision, the Lord said to Sha’ul, “Don’t be afraid, but speak right up, and don’t stop,

because I am with you. No one will succeed in harming you, for I have many people in this city.”

So Sha’ul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

But when Gallio became the Roman governor of Achaia, the unbelieving Jews made a concerted attack on Sha’ul and took him to court,

saying, “This man is trying to persuade people to worship God in ways that violate the Torah.”

Sha’ul was just about to open his mouth, when Gallio said to the Jews, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case of inflicted injury or a serious crime, I could reasonably be expected to hear you out patiently.

But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law, then you must deal with it yourselves. I flatly refuse to judge such matters.”

And he had them ejected from the court.