Teachers: again, the thoughts and concepts in this lesson may be unfamiliar to your students. Always remember that the purpose is to inform and enlighten. If someone disagrees with the thoughts or ideas that you see and understand, avoid being confrontational. Your goal is to share, to motivate your students to think. Personal faith is produced through understanding, not through compliance. Your objective is to provide guidance, not to be the authority figure.
Christians too seldom study Acts or the epistles with this awareness and understanding: the messages and instructions were written to people who were fundamentally different. Conversion questions and issues differ among people in our society and our world. For similar reasons, conversion questions and issues differed among people in the first century world.
The objective of this lesson is to introduce some peoples' conversion issues who had no knowledge of or involvement with the living God.
The words, "The Conversion of Idol Worshippers," were chosen for a specific reason. The reason was to call attention to this fact: the conversion issues of first century idol worshippers and the conversion issues of first century Jews had little in common. Why is that fact important? Conversion issues were distinctively different for those who were not a part of Israel.
A Christian's basic understanding of the gospel's purpose and of Jesus as world Savior is strongly influenced by the following awareness. From the beginning, people who considered conversion to Jesus confronted a variety of conversion issues. Conversion issues differed among people who were part of Israel and people who were not.
Was there one God or many gods? Should they forsake all "known" gods to devote themselves to the one living God? Was that a dangerous choice? Why should they make that choice? If they made that choice, would the living God protect them from the other gods? Did they need protection?
For many in the first century Roman world, the gods controlled happenings in the world and the lives of individuals. The gods either influenced or determined events.
It is highly probable that most American Christians consider such questions ridiculous. Most American Christians enjoy the blessings produced by a religious heritage that acknowledges only the one living God. The fact that religions that worship other gods are becoming common in America confuses many American Christians. They cannot understand why anyone would choose to worship gods other than the God they worship.
A person or group who originally received a writing that became part of the New Testament understood common attitudes toward the gods. First century thinking about the gods is an unknown to most American Christians. Serious Bible students must realize the entire Bible was written in historical periods when most people thought the gods were a part of daily life. Do not forget the centuries that Old Testament Israel spent worshipping the gods. An accurate understanding of the Bible's message depends on having a basic understanding of common attitudes toward the gods.
In the first century, such questions were not considered ridiculous. Much of the first century Roman world worshipped a god or gods other than the God of the Jews. While a few gods required exclusive devotion, most gods did not. In most instances, worshipping one god did not mean the worshipper could not also worship other gods.
In most people's thinking, rejecting the gods was dangerous. Many idol worshippers believed that neglecting the gods produced horrible consequences. The actions of "unhappy gods" could hurt every aspect of life. Conversion to Jesus Christ meant (a) accepting one living God and (b) rejecting all other gods.
Many considered it dangerous not to honor other gods. Trade guilds commonly had a patron god or goddess. When business went well, that guild correctly honored its patron god. People whose livelihood depended on agriculture honored gods who assured fertility. Everyone honored the gods their local government honored [many population areas had a patron god or goddess]. Depending on the area of residence, people honored the ruling Caesar as a god.
Did a person seek healing? Did a person want prosperity? Did a person seek status? Did a person need to rid himself or herself of a demon? Was the person looking for immortality? Approach the god or goddess who could be of assistance. Better still, approach numerous gods who collectively assisted in a variety of ways.
For many, the actions of the gods held the answer to crises. Today, many look at God as "the last resort" when all else fails. In the first century, a person appeased the gods (a) to prevent crises or (b) to gain help with a crisis. For many, "making the gods happy" was not a "last resort" approach. When a crisis occurred, the first thing to be done was appease the gods.
First century "religion" was not restricted to a compartmentalized life. For example, a person did not do his "business" thing, his "civic" thing, his "financial" thing, his "family" thing, and his "religious" thing as separate, independent facets of life. The attitude that "business is business, work is work, civic responsibility is civic responsibility, and religion is religion" was neither typical nor common. The gods were a part of everything: business, agriculture, family, local politics, and world politics.
Suppose significant adversity occurred in business, agriculture, family, or politics. An acceptable answer to "why" was, "The gods are upset." Offending the gods was dangerous. If a person was the "reason" for the gods being offended, he or she was in serious trouble.
Do you want a biblical example? Consider Acts 19:23-41. Artemis was the patron goddess of the city of Ephesus. In Ephesus, Artemis and her temple made a major economic contribution to the city. That temple was one of world's wonders. Pilgrims from the Roman world came to honor Artemis.
Significant temples of significant idols often served as financial institutions in the first century world. The economic power of these temples was strong. On occasions, governments borrowed money from temples. For a city to have a temple with world recognition was a major financial benefit to the city and area.
Demetrius [possibly the leader of a guild] called a meeting of his guild and all the workers "of similar trades" (verse 25). His message was blunt, straightforward, and exaggerated. His calculating intent was to incite a powerful, emotional response to a concern.
Society in the city of Ephesus was quite status conscious. The silversmiths gained a desired and important level of status because of the value and importance of their trade. A decline in interest in Artemis would affect them economically. However, it would also threaten their social status in Ephesus.
The status and standard of living of the silversmiths in the Ephesian society depended on their trade. Likely, the silversmiths made replicas of Artemis' temple that were used as offerings to Artemis, amulets, or objects of worship when the pilgrim returned home. Though Demetrius' financial concerns are obvious, his concerns involved issues beyond financial considerations.
To regard people buying the silversmiths' products as "souvenir shopping" is inadequate. Many of those purchases were not souvenir purchases. Buyers used many of those purchases as suitable offerings to be given to the idol, or "charms" to protect the purchaser against evil, or objects to be used for "home worship purposes." The objects had religious significance to purchasers, not mere souvenir significance.
His concern verifies people throughout Asia Minor were hearing about Jesus Christ. However, evidence does not verify "a great number of people" in that region had turned from idolatry to Jesus at that time. Demetrius exaggerated to serve his own purpose.
Demetrius presented a possible harmful situation as though it were an existing situation.
"Imagine what will happen if our trade becomes shameful [loss of status in a status conscious city]! Imagine what will happen if Artemis' temple becomes worthless [loss of empire status]! Imagine what will happen if the magnificent Artemis is dethroned as a religious force in the world [loss of world religious influence]!" Demetrius was not thinking a few hundred years ahead. He was thinking of the immediate future. "Imagine what will become of us!"
Whose fault was it? Paul's! Why? He said gods made by human hands were not gods (verse 26). That simple statement provides an incredible insight. Paul's conversion message to the idol worshippers focused on God. His message in Athens on the Areopagus (Acts 17) is probably his core message to idol worshippers. The living God does not depend on human efforts for existence.
Paul began his presentation of the "good news" to those who worshipped the gods by introducing them to the living God. A person cannot respond to God's Son until he or she knows the living God. The way Paul approached a Jewish audience and an audience outside of Israel with the gospel was distinctly different. Consider 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
In Ephesus, what result did Demetrius' blunt, emotional charges produce? A near riot! The whole city was filled with confusion as people shouted, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians."
Conversion issues outside of Judaism centered in reactions to the gods. "Who is deity? What is the basic nature of deity?" To many Christians in early twenty-first century America, such questions are "non-issues." In the first century, such questions were major issues.
These "conversion issues" are evident in 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14. As you consider both scriptures, do two things. (1) Back off and look at the situation. (2) Suspend your theological issues and questions to look at their theological issues and questions.
Read 1 Corinthians 8.
In verse one the contextual matter discussed was an animal sacrifice given as an offering to an idol. In the minds of some Christians converted from idol worship, eating the meat of a sacrifice to an idol was an act of worship. [A common first century worship practice in idolatry included eating part of the sacrifice.] The worshipper ate part of the sacrifice in a meal. Often these meals occurred in the temple. See verses 10-13. If a weak Christian converted from idolatry saw a stronger Christian eating at the pagan temple, the weak Christian could conclude eating at the temple was acceptable. If the weak Christian ate at the temple, his conscience would convict him of engaging in an act of pagan worship. His conscience could be wounded in two ways: (1) by seeing a stronger Christian eat at the temple [which he regarded to be an act of pagan worship], or (2) by being encouraged to eat at the temple and offending his own conscience. If he regarded his act of eating at the temple as act of pagan worship, he sinned.
The stronger Christian had correct knowledge. Knowledge could create arrogance.
Strong Christians knew [knowledge] that idols did not represent gods who existed. They knew [knowledge] there was only one true God. For the strong Christian, there is one God who is the Creator and for Whom we exist. There is one Lord Jesus Christ who brought everything into existence and sustains the existence of all things. For others, there were many gods, even though these gods did not actually exist.
Some regarded idols as representing actual, existing gods. For these people the conscience was a primary spiritual issue.
The problem existed because some Christians believed that the gods actually existed. They did not know there was only one God. Paul's instruction: avoid offending their conscience and causing them to stumble away from Christ.
The situation existed because some Christians believed many gods existed [though the God and Father of Jesus Christ was unquestionably the superior God]. The situation: some Christians knew that only one God existed; some Christians believed many gods existed.
Read Romans 14. How do verses 1-12 verify that differences existing between those who believed that the gods existed and those who rejected the gods' existence was significant in the church at Corinth?
That chapter verifies such differences existed in these ways: (1) the difference in the views of dietary laws and practices; (2) the difference in the views of holy days; (3) the tendency to pass judgment; (4) the tendency to pass condemnation.
Some Jewish Christians at Corinth were vegetarians. They concluded the safest way to avoid eating meat sacrificed to idols was not to eat meat. Some Christians at Corinth correctly understood that eating meat [regardless of its origin] had no spiritual significance (see 1 Timothy 4:3-5). Some Jewish Christians felt that they should honor certain holy days [those always honored by devout Jewish people]. Some Christians understood each day is of equal significance. Christians who understood food had no spiritual significance and all days had equal significance passed judgment on Christians without those understandings. Vegetarian Christians who observed holy days felt contempt for Christians who rejected such views.
Paul said, "Do not judge; do not hold in contempt." The Lord could make both stand.
Link to Student Guide
Quarter 2, Lesson 3