Jesus Contradicted / Polycarp / Common Bible Study Mistakes

Author

Douglas Jacoby
August 14, 2024

Good morning from Bare, England!

It’s been an interesting (and very good) month. Seven days ago I attended a Major League Baseball game with my friend Mike Licona. That day I enjoyed a pretzel with mustard, a hot dog, and Crackerjack. (My American friends know the association of these with baseball!) That morning, speaking with the Atlanta Braves senior staff was a true highlight, as I shared with you last week. The wide world of sports doesn’t so often overlap the world of ministry and theology, but when it does, it’s always fascinating.

A few days earlier, my brother and I were swimming in the Atlantic, when a fisherman 50 yards away reeled in a young shark. It was only a few feet long, but impressive all the same. There had been several recent shark attacks nearby. Needless to say, we left the water (everyone did). My brother asked me if I was afraid. I said, “No, just being prudent.” Also interesting…

Then yesterday I turned 65. (Thanks for your many birthday wishes!) Very interesting—Medicare (American health insurance), becoming officially a senior, and perhaps greater respect (Lev 19:32)? Intimations of mortality…

A month from today I’ll be in Sri Lanka—really interesting! What a privilege it is to be able to minister all over the world. (For this I’m grateful to God—but also thankful for your continual support.)

Through Christ our lives are touched with the divine. We find meaning in God’s world, just as we find purpose and guidance in God’s word. The world has it precisely backwards. Life on the Way is never boring; it’s when we stray that life becomes flat, dull, and unrewarding.

Hopefully you’ll find this week’s offerings stimulating. We’ll begin with a few moments in the gritty 2nd century. Then we’ll jump to the 21st, for a short article that can improve our handling of Scripture, plus a recent release exquisitely explaining why the four gospels read so differently—and sometimes seem out of sync, or verbally contradictory. I pray this bulletin will prove faith-building for all!

EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS (3)

If you missed the intro to the new series on the early Christians, it may be found here. Last week’s piece on 1 Clement & Diognetus is here. Today: the third installment.

The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians

Polycarp was a disciple of Christ who personally knew the apostle John. He was also overseer of the church in Smyrna (Rev 1:11; 2:8). His letter to the Philippians is a real gem. I especially appreciate his convictions about church leaders.

Polycarp on leadership:

And let the elders be compassionate and merciful to all, bringing back those that wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting the widow, the orphan, or the poor… abstaining from all anger, favoritism, and unjust judgment… (Poly. Phil. vi).

A few things that stand out:

  • Gentleness and mercy are key requirements of a church leader—far more than confidence, charisma, or dynamism.

  • Elders are not characterized by what is sometimes called “righteous anger,” as anger in a leader is nearly always sinful.

  • Nor do they show favoritism—whether towards the rich, the popular, or the powerful.

  • Elders bring back those who are drifting away (see Jas 5:19-20).

  • They have a deep concern for the powerless—those whom the world tends to dismiss.

This ancient disciple paid the ultimate price for his faith. We read about Polycarp’s death in the fourth document in the Ante-Nicene Fathers.


The Martyrdom of Polycarp

Polycarp was executed 25 April 155 AD. For now, here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite, perhaps the best known.

Now, as Polycarp was entering into the stadium, there came to him a voice from heaven, saying, Be strong, and show yourself a man, O Polycarp! No one saw who it was that spoke to him; but those of our brethren who were present heard the voice. And as he was brought forward, the tumult became great when they heard that Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On his confessing that he was, [the proconsul] sought to persuade him to deny [Christ], saying, Have respect to your old age, and other similar things, according to their custom, [such as], Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repent, and say, Away with the Atheists. But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them, while with groans he looked up to heaven, said, Away with the Atheists. Then, the proconsul urging him, and saying, Swear, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ; Polycarp declared, Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior? (Mart. Poly. 1-3)

Christians were called “atheists,” since they denied the existence of the pagan gods. As Polycarp notes, it’s the pagans who deny the one true God, making them the real “atheists.” You can read Martyrdom of Polycarp in its entirety (22 short chapters) HERE.

Coming up: Ignatius was the overseer of the church of (Syrian) Antioch). He died in the first decade of the second century—nearly 50 years before Polycarp was murdered. On his way to execution in Rome, Ignatius penned letters to seven churches. Next week we’ll focus on two of these missives:

  • The epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians

  • The epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians

To be continued….

OUTSTANDING BOOK!

“The differences and discrepancies in the Gospels constitute the foremost objections to their reliability and the credibility of their message. Some have tried to resolve Gospel contradictions with strained harmonization efforts. Many others conclude the Gospels are hopelessly contradictory and, therefore, historically unreliable accounts of Jesus.

In Jesus, Contradicted, New Testament scholar Michael Licona shows how the genre of ancient biography, to which the Gospels belong, actually allows biographers to be flexible in how they report events, construct a narrative, and make an argument.

Licona demonstrates that the intentional changes to the Jesus tradition by the Evangelists reveal that the differences in how the Gospels report events are not grounds for their rejection. Instead, they are a result of the Gospel writers employing standard literary conventions common in their time for writing ancient biography.” — from Amazon

This may be Licona’s best book yet. There’s so much food for thought! As a friend, I received a complimentary copy. You will need to pay for yours—an expense well worth it. I highly recommend Jesus Contradicted.

INTERPRETING THE BIBLE: COMMON MISTAKES

Can we look to Scripture for a biblical view on everything? Does Scripture speak to modern issues of science? How can we interpret faithfully? Heavyweight O.T. scholar John Walton weighs in.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK…

While the Early Christians series will continue for a few months, I already have an idea for another series: Moments I wish I could take back. (I have so many!) Although I’m drawing a blank on who made this suggestion—which seemed brilliant to me—I am grateful to them all the same.

That’s all for now. Thanks for your prayers. — Douglas