04-08-2025, 08:28 PM
In the middle of the 50th episode of the Naked Bible podcast (Acts 14), Heiser mentions quite specifically how the teachings of Plato had such a very strong influence on the Early Church Fathers. To be precise, Plato's teaching caused a serious doubt about the Greek pantheon of deities. Instead of the Divine Council viewpoint, the church scholars embraced the notion that the other deities simply didn't exist. It's a bias from Greco-Roman culture, not from the Bible.
Already by the time of Paul's missionary journeys, people began to have doubts about whether the various deities of the ancient times actually existed. Thus, when Paul heals the man born crippled, the reason the priests and people were so very excited was that they believed the gods had shown up finally. They weren't struggling with the idea of the gods taking on human form, but that they actually manifested. The gods hadn't permanently withdrawn into Mount Olympus after all.
He also covers the idea of whether the stoning was a near death experience; he says the time does not account for when Paul mentioned having left his body and entered the spiritual realm for a brief visit.
Already by the time of Paul's missionary journeys, people began to have doubts about whether the various deities of the ancient times actually existed. Thus, when Paul heals the man born crippled, the reason the priests and people were so very excited was that they believed the gods had shown up finally. They weren't struggling with the idea of the gods taking on human form, but that they actually manifested. The gods hadn't permanently withdrawn into Mount Olympus after all.
He also covers the idea of whether the stoning was a near death experience; he says the time does not account for when Paul mentioned having left his body and entered the spiritual realm for a brief visit.