response to paul ellis

[godsdozer]

[grandbassslayer]

Who is Paul Ellis?

[godsdozer]

The author of : AD70 and the End of the World: Finding Good News in Christ's Prophecies and Parables of Judgment [COLOR=#555555 !important]Paperback – July 21, 2017[/COLOR]

[grandbassslayer]

So theses two guys argue with each other?

[godsdozer]

Reading the bible is very helpful in understanding dialogue and debating.


Paul at the Areopagus of Athens

While Paul was waiting in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagoguewith both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good newsabout Jesus and the resurrection.(Acts 17:16-18)

Paul caught the attention of the philosophers and became an instant curiosity in the city. They asked Paul to come before the council of the Areopagus to explain his new way of thinking. They said, “You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” (Acts 17:20)
The Areopagus of Athens, also known as Mars Hill, is located just northwest of the Acropolis. Basically, it’s a small mountain of marble where people met. During the Classical period, it was used as an assembly place for judicial tribunals for major crimes. When Paul was in Athens, the Areopagus had also become a popular gathering place to discuss and debate ideas. The council of the Areopagus was composed of 100 members, including philosophers, scholars, and former officials of Athens.
According to Acts, Chapter 17, it was here at the Areopagus that Paul engaged the “professional thinkers” of Athens. Paul very wisely acknowledged the broad spiritual curiosity of the Athenians, which provided a natural opening for a conversation about God.

“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in itis the Lord of heaven and earthand does not live in temples built by human hands.And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”(Acts 17:22-25)

In his speech to the Areopagus council, Paul used an altar to the “unknown god” to illustrate that the God unknown to the Athenians was the one true God of the Bible. Famous Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle used the generic “theos” (god) in their ancient writings to refer to an ambiguous supreme god, so Paul’s explanation would have been particularly interesting to the educated philosophers of Athens.
Paul went on to make the Gospel understandable within the Athenian system of belief.He referred to Greek gods, Greek philosophers, and Greek poets in his talk — delivering a masterful example of how the Good News of Jesus Christ applies to everyone.
Paul concluded:

“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlookedsuch ignorance,but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.For he has set a day when he will judgethe world with justiceby the man he has appointed.He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:29-31)

Many rejected the message that Paul delivered, but Luke records that some of the people became believers, including Dionysus, a member of the Areopagus council, and a woman named Damaris. Although we don’t know much about these first Christians in Athens, history tells us that Christianity grew here in the late first century.



​I do not know how many people came to know Christ because of Paul's willingness to debate, disagree , argue or have contentious conversations over the things of Christ............................. But this passage above says some did............................I am not here to argue as you have defined it. I am here to bring the good news of the gospel of Christ. He came He saw He conquered . He did the will of the Father for us. He brought salvation to all men of which I am in need the most.

[grandbassslayer]

Are you comparing yourself or the youtube guy to Paul??

[godsdozer]

Are you comparing yourself or the youtube guy to Paul??

I believe the readers see what you are doing. Good night GBS, they can review our other conversations where you come to my threads and read the same thing.


Exegete the passages I provided and see if argument, fighting, explaining, defending (whatever you want to define it as being) isn't a biblical mandate/example .


Here is my edit............................If you will read the new testament you will find this passage.




1Corinthians 1Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.


I don't compare myself to anyone......................but I try ot imitate them.