- Posted by on June 4th, 2017 filed in Uncategorized
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Hello Readers!
After a restful first day in Macedonia, Kavala, we journeyed to Philippi to learn more about the St. Apostle Paul. Our first stop was Saint Lydia’s Baptistery, the area where Paul met Lydia. Acts 16 tells the story of how Lydia came to Christ and later was baptized in a nearby river. Although theologians have struggled to understand who Lydia was, her life was significant because she was the first Christian to be baptized in Europe. Today, there is a church next to the river where people are still baptized. Here, we listened to part of Philippians 2 which thanked the people for all they did for Paul.
We continued on to Philippi, which was named after Philip of Macedonia, Alexander the Great’s father. Along with the theater and Basilica, we saw a few sites that were important in the life of Paul. We saw the area where Paul was dragged before the magistrate on charges of spreading a new religion and also the crypt where he and Silas were jailed. As we began this blog post, one thing we discussed was the significance of seeing these places. It’s one thing to read about these events, but it’s another to actually be standing where these things occurred and to be in the same place as some of the major events in Christianity.
As Americans, it’s crazy to think that the beliefs we practice everyday got Paul and so many others of his time jailed or killed. Even today, in many parts of the world, people are persecuted for being Christian, so we are incredibly fortunate to live in a country where we can freely and openly practice Christianity. Both Paul and the Christians persecuted today should be an example to everyone that in order to be good Christians, we must continue to practice and believe, regardless of the punishment here on earth because the ultimate reward is eternal life with God. (Julia)
On the way back to Kavala, our tour guide pointed out a few significant things within the city, such as the Acropolis and the Church of Saint Nicholas.
After dinner, we had a short discussion on several of the different theories of atonement, a controversial topic within the church. There are several different atonement theories about the significance of Jesus and his death. The first theory was the Christus Victor/Ransom theory, which focuses on Christ’s victory over sin and how He put death to death. Next was the Satisfaction theory, which dealt with the issue of the human debt created by sin that could only be repaid by a divine being; Jesus was the combination of the two. It also mentions that when someone did not repay their debt, the Lord’s honor would be lost until it was repaid. The death of Jesus on the cross ensured that God would never again lose his honor. The Moral Example theory says that Jesus came so that his life and character would be an example of how we should live our lives. Lastly, the Penal Substitution theory transitions to a more legal view, saying that in order to forgive us, God needed a substitution for our sin. This theory satisfies humanity’s need for retribution and the idea that for every sin, there is a punishment.
One theory that I personally had a hard time resonating with was the Satisfaction theory. As we had mentioned previously, this theory deals with the idea that if the debt was fulfilled, God lost His honor and He earned His honor back through the sacrifice. This signifies that God needs something and also He is in fact, able to lose something as well. Does this put down the character of God and his sovereignty? Some would argue yes, and others no. Through diving into these topics more thoroughly we were able to grasp a more thorough understanding of what atonement means and all that it entails. (Eliese)
Thanks for reading! 🙂
~Eliese and Julia
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