After Paul recovers from his blindness, we are told that he spends “some days” with the disciples in Damascus. Paul immediately begins his attempts at evangelism in the Diaspora synagogues, proclaiming that Jesus is the “Son of God” (verse 20). Notice that he immediately begins this preaching, there is no lengthy period of time after his experience before he announces to the synagogues that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. Luke describes the content of Paul’s preaching as “Jesus is the Son of God” and “Jesus is the Messiah.” That Jesus is the Son of God resonates with Psalm 2, a text which has already been used by Peter at Pentecost to show that Jesus is the Messiah.
A Damascus Wall, 1890-1900
This preaching “agitates” the synagogues. The verb here (συγχέω) has the sense of amazement and surprise, but can be used to describe confusion of a crowd about to riot (Acts 19:29, variant text, 21:27). What agitates the synagogues is that Paul is succeeding in proving Jesus is the Christ. Paul is able to teach from the scripture, through the Holy Spirit, in such a way that convinces people. This may not imply the believed, but it was impossible to argue against Paul’s evidence.
Where did Paul get this evidence? On the one hand, boldness in preaching is one of Luke’s evidences that an individual is yielded to the Holy Spirit. Like Peter before the Sanhedrin, Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly speaks the message of Jesus. A second source for his preaching is likely the preaching of Peter, or better, Stephen in the Synagogue.
Undoubtedly Paul has been arguing with Stephen and other Hellenists in the Synagogue for some time, Paul now accepts their arguments and begins to extend them to other scripture. A third source may be Paul’s own thinking about the Messiah and the Messianic age as a well-trained rabbi.
As observed in the last few posts, Paul does not go from totally ignorant of God to a faithful follower of Jesus. He was already aware of messianic texts and methods of argument in rabbinic discussions as well as how to present scripture in a synagogue context. Paul took what he already knew to be the truth and ran it through the filter of the resurrected Jesus and preached that Gospel in the synagogues in Damascus.
Once again, Luke presents powerful preaching and excellent scholarship working together to convince people of the truth of the Gospel. Paul is extremely confrontational – he goes right to the people who likely wanted the Jesus Community to be silent and announces that he is one of them! This is a boldness which is a direct result of the encounter with Jesus and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
There other elements of a “boldness” theme in Acts and clearly Luke is presenting the ministers of the Gospel as unusually bold in their confrontation with authority. By way of application, should we use Paul’s boldness as a model for modern mission, and if so, what would that look like? Does this sort of “boldness” work in a pluralistic society like modern America?
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February 13, 2013 at 11:18 am
Jake Fields
This is actually a really good set of questions, ones that I have never given thought to. Speaking boldly about Christ, I think, it definitely should be the attitude of Christians today. Speaking boldly means to speak with courage with the risk of being ridiculed and persecuted. I don’t see why Christians today can’t be even more bold than what the apostles were in the chapters we have been reading. Paul spoke boldly knowing that he may die for what he says. We have such a smaller risk than what they did. The most that can happen to us is we could be laughed at or judged. We would have the go to another country if we wanted to experience a similar persecution that the apostles experienced. Another aspect that I think we can take from Paul’s conversion is the fact that he knew just as much about what the opposing Jews believed as what he knew about the Gospel. This helps for defending the Gospel, is knowing what other’s may say to argue you. I think this just makes Paul’s arguments that much more convincing. I’m not saying we should all become atheists so that we can learn why they believe what they believe. We can learn about other religions without living how Paul lived before. I think that it is important though that we are aware of what others may argue because that I think is a key importance when talking about the act of speaking boldly; we need to have confidence. A verse I found that I think tells us about this in a way is 1 Peter 3:15 which says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as the Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
February 13, 2013 at 1:02 pm
lvinton
By way of application, I do think that Paul is an excellent example of proclaiming Christ with boldness and authority. I find it interesting that when Paul is going through extremely confrontational and stressful situations such as in front of the Sanhedrin, he is filled with the Spirit which gives him strength to speak in boldness. As Christians, we are all filled with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. I think that this is convicting because I believe we all have the Spirit’s strength to be able to be bold in different ways in modern America. The problem is our willingness to be used by the Spirit. God performs miracles even in modern missions, however, we must be willing to allow God to use our lives to perform His miracles and glorify Him. I do believe that God prepared Paul to be the one to speak the message to the Jews and then the Gentiles. Paul was already well versed in the Scriptures and was a well-trained rabbi that he was able to give convincing arguments and speak for Christ. He was able to preach he truth in such a way that others could understand his logic and reasoning.
February 13, 2013 at 2:43 pm
Mike
Can I answer the question by asking a question? Why would this sort of boldness not work in a pluralistic society?
February 13, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Phillip J. Long
I think that it can, and does. I wonder, however, if people read Paul’s boldness and try to go to college campuses and preach (obnoxiously) against particular sins. That “style” of boldness is perhaps more of a problem than a help.
Another angle at this – was the Jewish or Rome world really a “pluralistic society”?
February 13, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Mike
Yeah that really puts people on the defence.
February 13, 2013 at 2:46 pm
nfisher2013
The boldness of Paul in Damascus is a good template for modern Christians to use, and I think that it this kind of boldness is applicable to today’s society. Though we aren’t going to be (legally) killed by the government for spreading the Gospel, there are those people who would react violently to the Gospel message. Just as in Paul’s day, the Roman government tended to leave Paul alone (unless the Jews were mad), whereas the Jewish sect would be angry and plot to kill him. Here in America, the government wouldn’t legally try to harm us, whereas individual people or religious sects would react quite violently. In this way, our society is still very much the same as in Paul’s day.
However, our nation has become drunk on the praise and worship of self. We care about us and we care about what people think of us. I am not saying that this wasn’t a problem in Paul’s day, for I believe that this is a very human trait that we all share. The Bible is full of people who put aside this human trait of self and put on Christ-like boldness. One thing that helped with Paul’s boldness was his vast knowledge that he obtained from being a Pharisee. He knew many messianic passages and he knew prophecies and scriptures. I can only imagine the days following the Damascus experience. Imagine the connections and realizations that he made from passage to passage, prophecy to prophecy. With this knowledge, he was able to from a convincing and foolproof argument for Christ. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit is the true source of Paul’s boldness. As P. Long has stated, it is Luke’s example of complete surrender to the Holy Spirit.
February 13, 2013 at 3:05 pm
danpierpont
The boldness that Paul uses might be acceptable in todays society, but I would like to say that it would only be accepted in certain areas, or settings. I do believe that the time has passed for people to go around the streets screaming and declaring the Gospel message. I think that that could have some value in other areas of the world today, but I do not think that it would be profitable here in the States. I believe that what is effective today is relationships, knowing someone, living with an individual, being around them, being transparent with them about life and through that, displaying to them a living Gospel. I have friends back in Detroit that call themselves the, “street preachers”, they go around preaching at big events such as, Red Wings, Tigers, Lions games. They go to big name concerts and just preach with mega-phones. Although they do get results of salvation on a very irregular basis, they do it very faithfully. Now with America and the people of America’s mentality shifting from openness to the Gospel to something completely different and almost counter-gospel I believe that Christians need to find another way of presenting the Gospel.
In the days following the Messiahs death and resurrection, I believe that that was the time to boldly proclaim the Gospel through preaching it everywhere the apostles went. It was a new day. The Law was passing and the people of “the way” was beginning. They had to proclaim the new way of salvation through the Son. Now days, we need to boldly proclaim it with our lives.
Having said all that, I do believe there is a place for the “boldness”. I believe it needs to be the pastor in the pulpit getting the ‘believers’ up and doing something for the glory of Christ. As a body, the church and it’s numbers are down. Pastors need to have boldness in the pulpit getting people out of he church and into their communities, sharing the Gospel through their everyday encounters with non-believers.
February 13, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Mike
Sticking to the verses in hand. Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue not on the street. He was proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ not condemning certain sins. So to be like Paul does not mean to be a street preacher ranting about judgement. Being like Paul means finding natural access points for the gospel and boldly taking them. This works in any culture. Our challenge is to find places where the message will be heard. As a side note I don’t think this means inviting people to a church service or event. Paul went to where people were not invite them to where he was.
February 13, 2013 at 8:43 pm
arenberg93
There is a movement (thank you Shane Claiborne) that says that the communal church that we find in early acts is the correct way to do church. The “come are you are” attitude is great for this community based church, and yet at times there can be to much tolerance. In fact, the whole church is moving towards more tolerance, even when it is contradicting scripture. There is nothing wrong with accepting and loving people, but when we are forming churches for the openly homosexual and mixing religion as to not offend anyone, we have a problem. Paul’s boldness is truly a slap in the face to the pharisees. Here is a man, who had a very promising future as a pharisee, and yet here he is preaching against them. Paul knows that this has to feel like a massive betrayal to the Sanhedrin, and yet he goes and preaches to them anyway. Is Paul spitting in their faces? is he spite preaching in the synagogues? I don’t think that this was Paul’s intention here, but i feel like he was just trying to let his people know what he had experienced. He wanted his kin to find the truth as he did, and to preach it themselves. This is bold because he knows of the consequences of his message (look at Stephen), and he still preaches what God has entrusted him with. This boldness and courage could revolutionize missions, especially in the US. As a whole, the church is not taking a strong enough stand against sin and is failing to evangelize strongly. In taking a Pauline stand we would see preaching against sin such as homosexuality and open religion (mixing different religions) and more emphasis into bringing people into the church without fear of rejection. The church needs a renewed boldness to preach against sin, and to reach the world more effectively.
February 13, 2013 at 9:45 pm
John Caprari
Along with what Mike said, I think preaching boldly has a lot to do with setting. “Paul spoke boldly in the synagogue not on the street” (Mike). Paul knew where he could be most effective, so he went to the synagogue’s. This is a common pattern that is evident throughout his missionary journey’s as well. He typically shows up at the synagogue of the city first, “When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues” (Acts 13:5). This is because this is what is most natural for him. There is no doubt that Paul and the apostles that Luke writes about set an example for us to follow concerning proclaiming the gospel boldly. If the Holy Spirit is attributed is the major element of his fearlessness and boldness, there is no reason it shouldn’t be the same for us. The same Holy Spirit lives within us. There is a time and place to be bold and preach the name of Jesus. As Pierpont said, relationships are crucial in today’s culture. Having said that, there needs to be more preaching of the gospel. God has given each believer gifts and talents to help glorify His name, mainly through spreading the good news. Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews, high among the ranks of Judaism. He knew what he was talking about with Jews in the synagogue. The same thing is true today. A Jew who has converted to Christianity would be much better at evangelizing to a Jew than I would. It’s about preaching boldly in settings that are most comfortable and natural that fit your passions and gifts. There also is an element of defending the name of Jesus when wronged. Or giving an answer if asked no matter what the setting (1 Peter 3:15).
February 13, 2013 at 10:11 pm
taczhompson
The most impressive part of Paul’s boldness is, for sure, that he immediately started to preach. There was no hesitation in his ministry, and that is the example, I believe, we should take. I do, also agree, that in our current society boldness such as Paul’s can often be offensive to people, and have the opposite effect intended. I guess it is, simply, important to know when to be bold, and when to have a spirit of “meek-ness”. There are often situations where a meek, and subtle approach to sharing the gospel, can often have more of an effect on someone’s life than a bold proclaiming of it in a public square. However, the idea of sharing without hesitation, is exactly what we need to take from Paul’s example. It is often the case, as Christians, that we miss many chances to share the gospel, simply because we hesitate. I think that the church today needs two things: a boldness to not hesitate in any opportunity, and a subtleness to know when not to speak against things.
February 13, 2013 at 10:39 pm
Nick Van Loo
I really liked this post. I am really starting to appreciate the character of Paul as a human being. Paul had to be one passionate guy for his complete 180 degree change from Christian Hunter to Christian maker. I think that Paul is the type of guy who would speak his mind when he saw something that he did not like. This is one of the reasons that when he accepted Jesus that many of the Jews did not like because he called them out on their wrong doings. Paul did not sweep their shortcomings under the rug but spoke out against them. The one thing I really like about Paul was that there was no lapse time for him. Paul was on the road to Damascus to put up even more road blocks for the church, he was encountered by the Lord, spent three days with the “scales over his eyes”, was healed of that, then starting claiming Jesus was the Son of God. Can you imagine what the people he was with must have been thinking? Paul never had a cooling down period, he was on fire to persecute, then he was on fire to spread the word.
Personally, I think that Paul’s level of boldness and confrontational attitude should be modeled after. The Lord definitely picked a talented human being to be his missionary to the ends of the earth. Like you said in the post, he was preaching in ways that the Jews could not deny. Paul was a smart guy who spoke with talent, boldness, and was not afraid of stepping on a few toes to get the message of Jesus across. That was a lethal combination that led to many conversions of Jews and Gentiles alike. Not to mention half the New Testament.
February 13, 2013 at 10:48 pm
cameronlowe5
I most definitely think that we should be bold like Paul was about his faith and about who God is. We are called to “Bring the gospel to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 So how can we not do this boldly, how impactful is it if we go about and just talk about the Gospel? It is not very impactful at all. We need to be burning with zeal and we need to “Not be ashamed of the Gospel.” (Romans 1:16) I see that so many times in our Churches we weakly talk about the Gospel, we emphasize it and make it sound cool but we don’t do it in a way that is bold or as something that is very important. We need to be speaking out against things and calling things for what they are. We need to be bold about homosexuality being a sin and we need to be bold about why it is that way. Boldness is not rudeness, boldness is rightfully speaking the word in love and truth. We need to be standing up for God and burning with zeal, bold proclaiming the truths of God and His Gospel. So yes, I do think that we need to be taking Paul’s example and applying it to our mission and to our live, it is our call and it is our duty to do so.
February 13, 2013 at 11:33 pm
Zac_Schutte
In reading Paul’s boldness of preaching Christ as the Messiah, it truly can be an inspiration to Christians to speak more boldly about their faith, but I do not think it can be used as a model in present day, pluralistic America for many reasons. First , Paul, “began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues (9:20).” Those who he was preaching to were already aware of God, and the scripture on the Messiah, they had just rejected Jesus as the true Messiah. This awareness of God and scripture in Palestine is much different than in today’s culture, where often times Christ and Christianity is grouped with other religions. Proclaiming Christ in a mall or on the street would resonate with people no more a Mormon proclaiming his beliefs. Another difference would be to go to a church, where not all people are necessarily are Christians, but this is already done in most churches as it is. The biggest difference is that the people Paul was preaching to were already followers of God. They did not reject God or any other aspect of Christianity other than the fact that Christ was the Savior and promised Messiah. Paul was not dealing with a pluralistic society; he was dealing with a society naive to the whole truth.
February 13, 2013 at 11:58 pm
anthonybeaulieu
I don’t doubt that Paul took no time to go preach in the synagogue and knew what he was preaching to be true. The whole reason that he was persecuting believers is because of their testimony to that fact so when he was revealed with it, it took no time for him to believe and no time to know how to share the message. I assume that he heard the message over and over again from the people that he persecuted and heard it over and over again because he is a Pharisee. Paul was already bold in the things that he did before he met Jesus and before he became a believer so it’s no surprise that he had such great boldness and courage when preaching the Word of God. I would imagine that he would have been a little nervous knowing what could happen to him because of what he had done to believers before and how much that were hated for believing that the Messiah has come. I think that the boldness could work in modern America in a pluralistic society if it was in the right place and done correctly.