to respond positively to the message of the gospel suggests their expe-
rience included engagement with those broader cross-cultural religious
traditions, local culture and the context of their listeners. Therefore, I
would suggest that the experience of Paul and Barnabas, that was a central
component of the deliberations of the Council of Jerusalem, would have
most likely included an engagement with Greco-Roman culture (includ-
ing philosophy and tradition) and recognition of the contextual factors
of the locations in which they ministered alongside the miraculous dem-
onstration of the Spirit. In this sense, their experience included not just
supernatural or miraculous occurrences, but also cognitive and intellectual
engagement with the worldview of those they engaged within the local
context.
As described in the Lukan narrative, the experience of Paul and Barnabas
not only included miraculous healings and miracles, but also emboldened
(what Pentecostals would described as Spirit-inspired) speech as they com-
municated the good news of Jesus Christ to the gentiles. This factor must
be included within the component of their “experience,” not just miracu-
lous signs and wonders but also empowerment to witness and engage
cross-cultural arguments through their speech. For example, Acts 14:8–18
describes the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in the new cultural frontier of
Lystra. 5 Among the listeners to Paul’s preaching was a crippled man who
was subsequently healed of his ailment. The response of the crowd was to
pronounce (using their own Lycaonian dialect) Paul and Barnabas as gods
known and worshipped within the religious practices of Lystra: Barnabas
as the Greek god Zeus, and Paul the Greek god Hermes (14:12). Even
the priests of the Temple of Zeus responded to this perceived outpouring
of the grace of God by preparing to make animal sacrifi ces to Paul and
Barnabas. This forced Paul and Barnabas to then engage the culture, phi-
losophy and religion of the local context of Lystra.
Paul and Barnabas began their response by communicating their grief
and anguish at this turn of events through the symbolic action of tearing
their clothes; what Béchard calls a “conventional gesture” recognized in
both Jewish and Greco-Roman culture. 6 The narrative then describes how
Paul and Barnabas argued with the local people and thereby engaged in
cross-cultural communication that exhibited knowledge of the religion,
philosophy and traditions of the location as well as recognition of the
specifi c contextual factors of Lystra. To convince the gentiles to turn from
idolatry and instead to worship the living God, Paul had to invalidate the
elements of Greco-Roman philosophy and religion that were considered
146 J. GREY