Christianity In A Corner

By John Warwick Montgomery

[Director, International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights, Strasbourg, France

Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought, Patrick Henry College, Virginia]

Presumably everyone has a pen, a pencil, and a Bible. Use your pen and pencil to take down two Web sites. Web site one: http://www.ciltpp.com. This is an acronym standing for the Canadian Institute for Law, Theology and Public Policy; they publish my books. Since Dr. Bush was so kind as to mention books of mine, I am less embarrassed to say that all of them, plus my tapes, are available from the Canadian Institute. Because the Institute is in western Canada, the books arrive by dog sled; they therefore get to you a little slower than by way of the local “Blessings Bible Bookstore.” As consolation, the Canadian Institute will even send you a free catalog.

The second Web site is http://www.apologeticsacademy.eu. That is a European Web site where you can get information on the International Academy of Apologetics, Evangelism, and Human Rights, held every summer for two weeks in Strasbourg, France. You can study with a faculty of four of the very best apologists—defenders of historic, biblical Christianity. We accept only twenty students each summer, and there are scholarships available. If you are concerned with defending the faith in a secular society (and shouldn’t you be?) we strongly recommend that you go to that Web site and plan to attend. The brochures on this, which parallel the Web site, are available on campus from Jim Lutzweiler and from Dr. Bush.

Now, put away your pen, pencil, and paper—and turn to Acts 26.1 read from the King James, the Authorized Version. I agree with T.S. Elliot that the modern versions read rather like the telephone directory! So I go with a literary version. Acts 26:

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself: I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews: Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.

This is one of the most famous trial scenes of antiquity. When I took the English bar examination at Lincoln’s Inn, London, there on the wall was Hogarth’s painting of Paul’s heroic defense. You will be interested to learn that archaeologists recently discovered the very place where the trial occurred. In 1997 there was a London Times article about this. They found a section of pavement at Caesarea which identified the room where trials of this kind occurred. A member of the archaeology commission spoke of this discovery as absolutely remarkable. Apparently, it is the only instance where it has been possible to find a complex clearly identifiable with a specific trial event taking place in Israel at the time.

Interestingly enough, this Acts passage is cited in the first modern work of psychology. I refer to Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy and the passage is especially relevant to a student community. “Students are commonly troubled with gout, catarrha, rheums, cackakexia, red pepsia, bad eyes, stones, and frequently lose their wits and, many times, their lives all through immoderate pains and extraordinary studies.” Burton goes on to explain exactly why this occurs. “There are two main reasons why students should be subject to these maladies: the one is that they live a sedentary, solitary life, free from bodily exercise and those ordinary disports which other men use. And many times, if discontent and idleness concur with it, which is all too frequent, they are precipitated into this all of a sudden. But the common cause is overmuch study, as Paul says, ‘Too much learning doth make thee mad.’ “Our interest in this passage, however, does not lie in its legal connections, its archaeology, or its psychological value. Our concern with the passage comes from the fact that it can teach us how to preach the gospel in a secular world.

The world of the first century was a world very much like ours. Christians were vastly in the minority, and they were faced with a diversity of sects, cults, and philosophical options. They therefore had to present the eternal truths of Christ in a way that would meet the secular culture of their day. From this passage, we have a prime example of how that sort of thing ought to be done.

Notice, first of all, that in a secular context one has to preach the gospel for oneself. At the beginning of the passage, Paul says, “I think myself happy for I shall answer for myself this day.” And at the very end the text says, “and after having spoken for himself.” Why this emphasis? Because in a secular world you do not have the luxury of delegating the preaching of the gospel to other people. Luther said that there are two things that everyone has to do for himself: one is to accept Jesus Christ, the other is to die. You can’t put those things off on anybody else. From our Acts passage, we can add a third one, namely, the preaching of the gospel.

Sadly, many people in the church today think that only the clergy are the ones who are supposed to be doing that. “We take care of pastor in this life, and he takes care of us in the next.” But most people don’t have enough contact with clergy to allow them to hear the gospel in that way. And there is the real problem of pastors and Christian workers who have developed styles of speech and mannerisms such that, if you see them coming, you turn around and go the other way. It thus behooves every layperson to present the gospel personally. If we don’t do this, there will be people who never hear the gospel at all. In legal terms, it’s a “non-delegable duty”—and, more than that, a privilege.

Secondly, according to the passage, Paul preached to the small and the great. This is illustrated in his missionary career. He speaks to a washer-woman by the shore. He preaches to the king of the Jews and the Roman governor. He deals with the philosophers—Stoics and the Epicureans—on the Areopagus (Mars Hill). In other words, Paul and his apostolic colleagues did not make social distinctions in their proclamation of the gospel. The modern church, however, frequently does.

When years ago I debated Thomas J. J. Altizer, the “death of God” theologian, at the University of Chicago, he made one (and almost only one!) perfectly correct point: that the most segregated hour in America is 11:00 on a Sunday morning. That’s when people divide into sociological groups — the blacks go to their churches, the whites go to theirs, etc. There may, of course, be some point to like-minded people worshipping together, but we’ve got to realize that the gospel is for everybody—equally. It follows that we must not make sociological distinctions when we offer the gospel to an unbelieving society.

Some years ago, White’s book, The Organization Man was published. There’s an appendix to The Organization Man in which the author talks about how executives change their religious connections as they move up organizationally. In New York City at that time, if I remember rightly, when the executive moved from Second Vice President to First Vice President, he tended to transfer from the Presbyterian to the Episcopalian church. Isn’t it touching to learn about such religious conversions? (Personally, I was depressed to find that neither Lutherans nor Baptists were even mentioned as alternatives.) Evidently, it was more prestigious to be Episcopalian than Presbyterian. I find this kind of thing really obnoxious. The saving gospel is supposed to be for everyone without distinction. “Go and preach the gospel to every creature” declares the Great Commission. So we must do gospel preaching for ourselves and do it without social distinction.

In the third place, Paul insists on creating a common ground. This is a fundamental to his entire ministry. Become “a Jew to the Jews, a Greek to the Greeks,” he insists. Become “all things to all men that, by all means, some might be saved.” And this is precisely what he does in the case of King Agrippa. “I think myself happy because today I shall answer for myself before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews, especially because I know thee to be an expert in all of the customs and questions which are among the Jews. Wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.”

Note that if you can create a common ground with King Agrippa, you can create a common ground with anybody. The Agrippa family consisted of quislings who had sold out to the Romans. One of them was responsible for the slaughter of the innocents at the time of the birth of our Lord. An Agrippa had John the Baptist beheaded simply because John told the truth—that the king was living with his brother’s wife. If this family moved into your community, the property values would drop instantly! But Paul was able to find a point of contact even with a member of this family who was to judge him. Paul Tillich once said that evangelicals are people who “throw gospel rocks at peoples’ heads.” An evangelical in his little separated church sees an unbeliever out there—he takes a gospel rock—and he hits the nonbeliever with it, rendering him unconscious. He then drags the unbeliever into the safe confines of his local church. But this is hardly apostolic evangelism. The Apostles went out where the non-Christians were. They dealt with the non-Christian in terms of his or her starting point.

So, we must take personal responsibility for witness; we must do it in a non-discriminatory way; and we must start where the non-Christian is. But what do we say? Paul begins with a personal testimony, and this is an ideal beginning. Why? Because, in general, people are interested in people. Take the magazine People: it sells much better than a magazine entitled Rocks. People are more interested in people than they are in rocks, and if you tell people what has happened to you, they will tend to listen. Paul therefore tells King Agrippa of his conversion experience.

But before we look at the heart of that conversion, we need to make an important point. Look at verses 13 and 14: “I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”

In the eighteenth century, Thomas Paine used Paul’s accounts of his conversion experience in the book of Acts as a prime example of contradictions in Scripture. Why? In Acts, Paul recounts his Damascus road experience two other times. Once in Acts 9:7 and again in 22:9. These appear to contradict each other. In Acts 9, we read: “And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man,” but in chapter 22 the text says, “And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.” It appears that the one passage is saying that the people with Paul didn’t see anything and didn’t hear anything; but in the other passage they did in fact hear and see.

But read the passages very carefully! The men with Paul saw the light but they were not able to distinguish Jesus. As for the problem of whether they heard or not, you’ve got to go to the Greek original. There you discover that in one of these passages the verb “to hear” is followed by the genitive case and in the other instance it is followed by the accusative case. In English, this is a bit like the difference between hearing something and hearing of something. In other words, Paul’s companions heard sound, but they were not able to distinguish the words. The passages are therefore perfectly consistent. Those accompanying Paul objectively saw a phenomenon and they heard something, but they couldn’t specifically make out the nature of it. It is still true that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable and trustworthy! If you are willing to do a little work on alleged contradictions and errors, they are invariably resolvable.

Another interesting thing about Paul’s personal testimony is that right in the middle of it (26:8), Paul asks, “Why should it be thought incredible with you that God should raise the dead?” Why does he do this?—To make sure that the hearers move from his subjective experience to the objective resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The great danger of testimonies is that they will be interpreted subjectively--that they will focus on the person who has had the experience instead of on the gospel. It is vital that a testimony move from the person of the one testifying to the objective Person of Jesus Christ who saves. After all, the gospel is objectively true, even if no one experiences it! Therefore, it is essential—and one can see this throughout the New Testament—that when testimonies are presented they carry the listener from the person who has had the experience to the Christ, the source of the experience. Unfortunately, in our testimony meetings, it isn’t usually like that, is it? You get, what? Eighty percent of the converted enjoying the opportunity to talk about their non-Christian, pagan existence, and then, maybe in the last twenty percent of the testimony, the gospel is tacked on. The emphasis is so often on the convert and not on Jesus Christ. Brethren, these things ought not to be!

Paul uses his testimony as introduction—to get the attention of Agrippa and of the Roman governor Festus. Then he moves to the message. And what is that message? Go to verse 22 and following:

“Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.”

Paul’s message is, first of all, Scripture and only Scripture. He proclaims only those things which Moses and the prophets said should come. In other words, Paul restricts his message to God’s revelation. Wouldn’t it be remarkable if preachers did that today? I went once, may the Lord forgive me, to Riverside Church in New York. The text was from the New York Times. Now that fine newspaper supposedly contains “all the news that’s fit to print”--but it falls a little short of the inerrant word of God. If preaching were restricted to Scripture, we would not be hearing from pulpits across the land the interesting ideas of human beings (which, as a matter of fact, you can get any time any where, outside the church)—but God’s message.

What is the heart of that message?—The gospel, of course—that Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification. The trouble with the liberals is that they do not take the Bible seriously as God’s Word from beginning to end. The trouble with the conservatives and the fundamentalists is that they flatten out the entire Bible and do not see that people are saved by the gospel. We Lutherans may have our problems, but at least we can make a distinction between Law and Gospel. We do not put bumper stickers on our cars which say, “Ruth was a Moabitess.” Now Ruth was a Moabitess, inerrantly. Ruth was not Chinese. Ruth was a Moabitess, but very few people have been saved by that truth. It is of central importance always to present the gospel, just as Paul does here: “that Christ died for our sins and rose again.”

And what was the result of all this? “And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.” The Greek word translated here as “mad” is mania. Festus is saying,

“Paul, you’re a religious fanatic.” Paul replies, “I am not a religious fanatic, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.”

What’s the point of this? Paul here picks up an Old Testament reference which our Lord used of himself and which the Apostles employ again and again. It is from the Book of Isaiah (28:16): “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” Jesus in Mark 12:10-11 identifies this “cornerstone” as himself: “And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” In 1 Peter 2:6, we get a commentary on this, Peter saying, “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.” Now Agrippa certainly knew this Old Testament passage, and Paul here declares that Jesus is that foundation, that cornerstone, and Agrippa (as everyone else) must make a choice. If one refuses Christ, that stone will fall on him and he will be crushed; but if one accepts Him, Jesus will become the foundation and basis of that person’s existence—in time and in eternity. Note that Judgment and Grace are connected, as always, where the gospel is concerned.

Paul’s assertion, “This was not done in a corner,” carries a double meaning. It also underscores that fact that the gospel isn’t something subjective and unprovable. There are reliable witnesses to its truth. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus appeared to over 500 people, most of whom were still alive at the time; this could be checked out by anyone who cared to do so. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ did not occur “in a corner.”

Some years ago, in Strasbourg, France, a knock came at our door on Saturday morning. I opened the door and there were two characters in black, funereal suits and short haircuts. I said to them, in French, of course: “You’re either CIA who have finally caught up with me or you’re Mormon missionaries. Which is it?” They leaped into the air with a shriek and admitted that they were Mormon missionaries. I fully expected them to give me evidence for Mormonism and the Book of Mormon, but all they would talk about was the “burning in the bosom.” Apparently, Mormon bosoms burn at a higher degree centigrade than non-Mormon bosoms. That’s all I could conclude!

But the biblical gospel is not like that. The saving events of Jesus’ life were public events. Jesus appeared after His resurrection not just to believers but also to people who didn’t believe—people such as Thomas.

And the final result of the proclamation? Festus said to Paul: “Almost you persuade me to become a Christian.” Note that even after the best of proclamations, we can’t guarantee the results; but we can be faithful. And we’re faithful if we preach the gospel and don’t try to push it off on somebody else; if we are careful not to make social distinctions in our ministries—realizing that everybody is created equal by God Almighty and is a soul worthy in His eyes; if we create a common ground with those to whom we witness, then offer a solid testimony, and use that testimony as a launching pad to present the eternal gospel of the atoning death and resurrection of Christ for the sins of the world. In doing all this, we must be sure that we are faithful to the Scripture and the Scripture alone, and that we never lose sight of its true center—Christ and His saving gospel.

Let us pray. Dear God, our heavenly Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast called us to serve Thee. We thank Thee especially that Thou hast made this possible by Thy death on the cross and Thy resurrection for our justification. We pray that Thou wilt take us back to the Scriptures and guide us by Thy Holy Spirit to preach the gospel more effectively, realizing that without Thee, we are lost, both individually and as a community. In Thy Holy name, Amen.