Living in the Image of God M05S10
A powerful elite during the early periods of the Gospel sought to preserve their power over society by suppressing the message. They had no real argument against the Gospel but feared the Gospel message of human relationship with God could undermine their authority as religious experts and leadership. They sought to suppress the Gospel by inciting division in society, instigating hostility against the apostles, and banishing or killing the apostles; because they feared the Gospel promise of independent relationship with God was a potential source of power and authority available to ordinary people. Similar to modern-day experience where holders of political power fear a population increasingly diverse and away from their views of society, doubt their capability to continue to win power by voluntary persuasion, and seek to retain power by suppressing and subverting democracy. They seek to preserve their power the same way the early religious leadership sought to cling to power: by killing the truth.
This bible study discusses the behavior of Jewish religious leadership in their interactions with Paul and Barnabas during the first missionary journey and their earlier response to Peter and John for healing a lame man. The discussion seeks to understand their strategy for seeking to cling to the power of religious authority despite growing popular acceptance of the Gospel as a source of power and authority available to every person. They feared the Gospel message could undermine their authority over society and sought to cling to power despite growing popularity and understanding of the Gospel.
We will see that their strategy included actions directed against the message, the messenger, and the people. They tried to contradict the Gospel message or discredit the messenger but had no real argument against either the message or the apostles. Therefore, they adopted a strategy of suppressing the Gospel by inciting division in society, instigating hostility against the apostles, and banishing or killing the apostles.
The real objective of their strategy was to hold on to the power of religious authority over society, despite growing acceptance of the Gospel message of personal relationship with God available to every person and independent of earthly powers or authority. They sought to retain power despite growing understanding and decreasing dependence on their religious authority.
Their strategy of seeking to retain power by subverting legitimate evolution of society appears to have been adopted by modern-day political organizations that face waning capability to win power by voluntary persuasion. They find the population growing increasingly diverse and away from their views of society. As a result, they doubt their capability to win political power by free and fair elections. Instead, they seek to retain power via new laws and trickery that suppress and subvert democracy. They seek to preserve their power the same way the early religious leadership sought to cling to power: by killing the truth.
Continue reading “Seeking Power by Killing the Truth”
messaging to reach as many as he could. He translated and arranged the message to a form that the audience was conditioned to receive while maintaining the content. We illustrate his tailored approach using four examples of his messaging during the First and Second Missionary Journeys.