NT Characters: Felix

<p>For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ <a href="https://www.douglasjacoby.com/felixmp3/">website</a>.</p><p><strong>The man</strong></p><ul><li>Antonius Felix reigned 52-60 AD</li><li>He was a freedman of the emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) or his mother.</li><li>His brother was friend of Claudius.</li></ul><p><strong>Three wives</strong></p><ul><li>Drusilla of Mauretania (half-Greek, no issue)</li><li>Felix divorced her to marry a teenage Judean princess of the same name (53 AD)</li><li>She died in 79 AD -- more about that in the next podcast. He then remarried again.</li></ul><p><strong>The politician</strong></p><ul><li>Weakness for bribes.</li><li>Cruelty: murder of a high priest, sent many to Rome for trial, crucified thousands.</li><li>A compromiser with apparently little conscience or conviction. In several ways he resembled both Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate: the adulation of the crowd and the importance of political connection meant more to him than the truth.</li><li>Roman historian Tacitus notes not only that Felix was an anti-semite, but also that he "practices every kind of cruelty and lust, wielding the power of a king with all the instincts of a slave" (<i>Annals,</i>12.54).</li></ul><p><strong>References in the New Testament</strong></p><ul><li>Acts 23:23-35 -- Paul is sent to Felix</li><li>Acts 24:1-27 -- Paul speaks (repeatedly) before Felix.</li><li>Also referred to in Acts 25:14.</li><li>Be sure also to listen to the NT Character Podcast on <i>Drusilla.</i></li></ul><p><strong>Lessons for us</strong><br /> </p><ul><li>Positive lesson (?): We can learn from Felix's shrewdness (see Matthew 10:16). Yet this is hardly to his credit.</li><li>1. Power corrupts (cruelty, bribery, willingness to compromise the truth).</li><li>2. Leaders mustn't be self-serving -- which is the exact opposite of Christ (always looking for how he could benefit, not caring about others).</li><li>3. Don't marry for beauty, but for character. Heart is what counts, not looks.</li><li>4. It's never convenient