CLEAN – podcast 18, The Slave Girl of Acts 16:16

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/clean-podcast-18-the-slave-girl-of-acts-1616/" target="_blank"><strong>website.</strong></a></p><p><strong>Introduction</strong></p><ul><li>Divination and magic were highly popular and very real in the 1st century Mediterranean world.</li><li>Also, many were enslaved by their fear of the future. Contemporary writers mention a strong and abiding sense of fate.</li><li>The spiritual world is real!</li></ul><p><strong>Scriptural study: The Slave Girl of Acts 16.16-19</strong></p><ul><li>We meet our character (v.16), unnamed, but able to divine by the power of a Pythian spirit, πνεῦμα πύθωνα.</li><li>Lucrative possibilities!</li><li>"Servants of the most high God" (v.17) contrasts with her own service to a pagan spirit.</li><li>The term "Most high God" (see Mark 5:7) may be indirectly belittling her owners.</li><li>She follows Paul and Sila as they head to the place of prayer (and evangelism, as Philippi lacked a synagogue).</li><li>It sounds like she's promoting Christianity (v.17)! Was this mockery? Were her prophetic outbursts intended to turn people off to the Way of Christ?</li><li>For Paul, her jabbering was annoying (v.18). Why?<ul><li>Christianity doesn't need gimmicks or tricks to spread. Paul sees little promise of assistance in the Christian mission. He doesn’t just incorporate the girl’s unusual ministry into his own.</li><li>In a place of prayer, this girl could have been quite a distraction.</li><li>One would think the testimony of a competitor would be the ultimate advertising. Imagine a picture of Bill Gates happily using an iPad. (Source: <a href="mailto:http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/1506/why-does-paul-get-annoyed-with-the-slave-girl-in-acts-16">link</a>)</li><li><i>The way</i> or <i>a way</i> (v.17) -- is the spirit relativizing the Way? Perhaps.</li><li>Or maybe it's simply a problem of emphasis. She seems to be focused on the preachers, instead of on the message. Christian missionaries