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To: ravenwolf
Preaching the Gospel of Jesus is what the Apostles were sent out to do but how far beyond that can it go without proselyting? In Acts 20:28-31 Paul was talking to the overseers of his Church, to warn them against the grievous wolves, he was not trying to convert the ones he thought of as grievous wolves.

On your "grievous wolves" comment, you seem to neglect how much Jews were targeted by the earliest church ... :

"7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:7)

These were Jewish priests being converted to the faith.

Also on both your points above, I encourage you to read the book of Acts, chapters 17 & 18...One of the first things Paul would do upon arriving at a new city would be to target religious Jews by going into the synagogue...I think that's mentioned about six times (Paul doing that) in the book of Acts.

What kind of an approach would Paul -- and Apollos -- take? (And how far would they go?)

"2 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he REASONED with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women." (Acts 17)

"4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks...when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it." (Acts 18:4,6)

"24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue....28...he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah." (Acts 18)

170 posted on 08/27/2013 11:08:39 AM PDT by Colofornian
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To: Colofornian

On your “grievous wolves” comment, you seem to neglect how much Jews were targeted by the earliest church ... :


You are right.


172 posted on 08/27/2013 12:22:46 PM PDT by ravenwolf
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