PDA

View Full Version : Acts 16:16


rebekah
08-03-2002, 04:31 AM
Acts 16:16 “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.”

I need help in understanding this was use for a debunking that John was getting his ability from some other source than god. (They were not questioning his accuracy or saying that he uses trickery of any sort.)

The Full story is Acts 16:16-18 “Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “these men are servants of the most high god, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the sprit, “in the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her” At that moment the spirit left her.”

Ok Paul calls the spirit using the lord’s name AFTER the girl has been announcing to people that Paul and his companions that they could tell them the Good News, what they had been told to spread. Way was Paul so troubled, because the girl told fortune or that her masters were making money off of it? What does this story mean?

Why did the debunkers feel comfortable enough to use the context of the verse? What were they trying to hide? How did they expect this to explain why John source is not heaven based?

Pam
08-03-2002, 06:55 AM
It's extremely poor logic. Let's say that the verse is supposed to show that divinition is evil even if the information is correct, and that's why Paul "excorsized" her.

Just because the girl might have been possessed of an evil spirit, doesn't mean that everyone who divines correctly is. The bible is full of "fortune telling" or fortelling the future, (divining) that was from God, not evil spirits. For example the story of the Saul, Samuel and the witch of Endor. It was never said in that verse, that the witch was possessed by some other spirit than God. She just wasn't a Hebrew. Your debunkers need to know that the application of logic is ok, even when it comes to the bible. In other words, just because A = B, it does not mean that C= B.

Pam
08-03-2002, 10:17 AM
You may want to remind them that Jesus said:

John 14:11-13:
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Don
08-03-2002, 10:33 AM
Of course it's hard to say for certain, but from the way it is written we can draw the conclusion that the spirit associated with this girl was (at the very least) a mischievous one. Given that, one gets the impression that she was, in all probability, mocking them as they went from place to place trying to spread their message. That being the case, I thought Paul dealt with it nicely - actually ending up doing the girl a favor.

Pam
08-03-2002, 11:54 AM
Rebekah, if you read that whole passage, it's not the "whole story". This is a case where a fundamentalist is pulling a few sentances out of the bible, out of context of the whole story, and thereby changing the context of the sentances, to use as "evidence" for their claim.

The story is not about trickery of the spirit, it's about Paul and his group's conflict with the Roman authority.

rebekah
08-03-2002, 04:38 PM
I thought the same thing but I was still a little confused about that passage. Thank you Pam (and Don) for helping me understand it.

AuntJeannie
08-26-2002, 02:57 PM
Originally posted by Pam


Just because the girl might have been possessed of an evil spirit, doesn't mean that everyone who divines correctly is. The bible is full of "fortune telling" or fortelling the future, (divining) that was from God, not evil spirits.

Pam,
Thanks for this. Those who really know their Bible will remember it was wise men (at that time they could interpret dreams, read stars and heavens, etc) who went to see the Christ child to report back to Herod. Then as they went away after worshiping him, they were directed to return another way, trying to protect the child. The heavens & stars told them.

I believe with everything in my heart that JE is totally above board. Probably because I have personally experienced evil in others.....I don't think JE would do one thing to hurt anyone he knows or any viewer. Just don't think it is in him.

God bless,
AuntJeannie