Pauline Related Occurrences

Luke has numerous references in Acts where Paul is connected with the concept of persuasion. These again show the pointed ramifications of the term.

Three of the Acts references in particular are not directly related to Paul's ministry of preaching God's Word, yet all three show the forcefulness of the term. In the context of Acts 21:14 the prophet Agabus prophesied that if Paul went to Jerusalem from Caesarea that he would be arrested and delivered to the Gentiles. As a result, the believers were "begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem" (21:12). Paul, however, clearly rejected their pleas, indicating that he was determined to go to Jerusalem. "And since he would not be persuaded (peithomenou), we fell silent, remarking, 'The will of the Lord be done!'" (21:14). In this case, no "action" was obtained (although clearly "comprehension" was attained), and the text explicitly indicates no persuasion occurred.

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The second is found in Acts 23:21, in which context Paul had been arrested and his nephew learned of a conspiracy of more than forty Jews which was arranged to kill him. That nephew told the plot to the Roman commander, Claudius Lysias, and said, "So do not listen [be persuaded by] (peisthhs) to them" (23:21). In view of the fact that the commander prepared an escort of 200 soldiers, 200 spearman, and 70 horsemen to escort Paul safely out of Jerusalem and toward Caesarea, it is obvious that he was not "persuaded" by Paul's enemies in any way. Again, the stress is clearly on "action," not comprehension.

The third occurrence is found in Acts 27:11 during Paul's journey to Rome when the ship was in the harbor of Fair Havens on the island of Crete. Paul attempted to convince the others not to undertake any further sailing because of the certainty of shipwreck. In spite of Paul's best attempts, however, "the centurion was more persuaded (epeitheto) by the pilot and the captain of the ship, than by what was being said by Paul" (27:11). In this case, Paul's persuasion lost, and that of the pilot and captain succeeded — to the ship's ultimate destruction. No question exists that this again has a focus on "action," since the ship did set sail.

Concerning Paul's ministry of preaching God's Word, Luke, Paul's good friend, also connects persuasion directly to it. In one particular case the text is not as explicit as in others as to the result of Paul's preaching. When Paul was preaching in Antioch in Pisidia, he and Barnabas, "speaking to them, were urging (epeithon) them to continue in the grace of God" (Acts 13:43). We may assume that this persuasion was successful and that the believers did continue in God's grace, but the text does not precisely so state.

In contrast to Acts 13:43 stands 17:4 which considers Paul's ministry in Thessalonica. In this context Paul entered the synagogue and "reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead" (17:2-3). As a result of Paul's preaching, "some of them were persuaded (epeisthhsan) and joined Paul and Silas" (17:4). The fact that these responded and "joined" Paul once more testifies that "action" is involved, not merely "comprehension." Paul's own commentary on how the Thessalonians "turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9) confirms the result of his persuasive activity. Similar occurrences are recorded by Luke for Paul's ministry in Acts 19:8; 28:23, 24. Concerning 28:23-24, Moore astutely observes that it "states that some of the Jews in Rome were persuaded (epeithonto) by what Paul had said, indicating that Paul's attempt to persuade them (peithon, 28:23) was bearing fruit. The imperfect epeithonto should probably be understood as indicating a genuine conversion to Christ on the part of some of the Jews" (Moore, 1997, p. 398, ftn. 30).