Overlooked People In the Bible: Sosthenes

Have you ever sat down to read the Bible and you had one purpose in mind, but then another came out of it?  Well that’s what happened to me and how I ended up on this topic.  One evening as I laid in bed, I started to read 1 Corinthians starting at verse one.  As I read it, I ran across a name that I had glossed over before and never paid any attention, but this time the Holy Spirit prompted me to not skip over this name.  This is how I found the man Sosthenes.

First and foremost let’s go to the scripture at where he jumped out of the pages at me:

1 Corinthians 1:1-3:  
(1) This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes. (2) I am writing to God’s church in Corinth,[a] to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus,[b] just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. (3) May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

As you can see, you didn’t have to go far to find Sosthenes name, but I probably read a couple more verses past verse three before I had that “hey, wait a minute” moment.  I didn’t recall this name before and I gone through the entire New Testament. So, why is he popping out now?  For that matter, who is he and is he mentioned anywhere else in the Bible?  To answer these questions, I did a search through the Biblegateway.com and low and behold he is mentioned in the book of Acts (which of course is before Corinthians).  So how did I miss him?

In his introduction in the letter to the Corinthians, Paul identified himself and also Sosthenes.  Not only was he called by name, but he was identified as “our brother”.  With this description, we know that he was a follower of Christ.  This is all that is mentioned from this point onward of Sosthenes, but why is it important to mention him? Would the people at Corinth know who he was?  To answer that question, we’d have to travel back to the book of Acts.

In Acts 18, we find that Paul traveled from Athens to Corinth where he met a Jew named Acquila along with his wife Priscilla.  In these verses, Paul would go to the Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath and preach to them about Jesus Christ.  However, at around Acts 18:6, the Jews were not happy with what Paul was doing.  As such, they “...opposed and insulted him...” and “...Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, ‘Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.’”  Paul ends up staying for over a year in Corinth preaching the gospel, but at some point the Jews had had enough.  They wanted Paul dealt with so they brought him before the new governor of Achaia.

Acts 18:12-17 says, “(12) But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. (13) They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.”  (14) But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to Paul’s accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept your case. (15) But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.” (16) And he threw them out of the courtroom.  (17) The crowd[c] then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention.”

At this point in time, this is where we see the other mentioning of Sosthenes.  From verse 17, we find that Sosthenes was the leader of the synagogue.  In order to be the leader of a synagogue meant that he was a Jew!  But wait a minute, didn’t we just establish that later in 1 Corinthians 1-3 that he was also a follower of Christ?  If he was a Jew why would the Jewish people beat up their own leader?  I think it is highly unlikely that they would beat up their own leader without just because a Christian could not have judgement brought upon him by the new governor, Gallio.  Not only did they beat him up, but they “threw him out the courtroom”.  At this point, we have no more mention of Sosthenes until 1 Corinthians 1:1.  We know that he converted at some point but we do not know when.  Or do we? One of the things that made me curious about Sosthenes was why was he mentioned twice without a mention of when he was converted to Christianity.  If it was important to mention his name as a brother in the letter to the church at Corith, then clearly there was more to this man.  

What I am about to go into is a topic that I have discovered in my research.  This topic surrounds the idea that Sosthenes and Crispus is one in the same person.  As I began to read a little more into this it made a lot of sense and it answers some confusion in Acts 18.  I believe in correction, so if you see something completely wrong with this I am open to discussion and reproof,  so where we go.

You may be wondering where the name Crispus comes from. If you read Acts 18, you will notice that I skipped over a few verses (on purpose).  What I wanted to do was circle back to this name as it is important to who Sosthenes was.  Remember, in Acts 18:6, Paul upset the Jews to the point where he was no longer welcomed in the synagogue. Let’s go to Acts 18:7-8.  It says,

“(7) Then he [Paul] left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. (8) Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized.”

Verse 8 tells us that Crispus was baptized along with some other Jews in the synagogue.  We know this because Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:14, “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius” 1.  Paul baptized Crispus, but what does this have to do with Sosthenes?  Let’s look back at verse 8 of Acts 18.  An important thing to easily overlook is that Crispus was “the leader of the synagogue”.  Keep in mind that in Acts 17, when Sosthenes was mentioned, he was identified as “the leader of the synagogue”.  There is only one leader of the Jewish synagogue, so one would have to wonder why aren’t these the same people.  The Jewish people would not beat up one of their own people without cause.  However, if their leader had converted to Christianity, then they would no longer have a reason to be loyal to him and would have every reason to cause harm to him2.  Keep in mind, it did not say that they beat up Crispus, but rather the name Sosthenes was used.

So, we have drawn all of these conclusions but what of Sosthenes?  It would seem that the use of his name in 1 Corinthians is important to mention because he was once a leader but now a brother in Christ.  He was once a leader of a synagogue who probably many of the converted Jewish Corinthians were quite familiar with as they may have attended the same synagogue.  Maybe his name was used a reminder to them at how the church at Corinth got its start versus what it had become.  At the end of the day, I believe there is merit to Sosthenes and Crispus being the same person based on the idea that some converts to Christianity were given new names3.  After all, Paul, was originally Saul, and he began to go by another name. (see Acts 13:1-12).  

Be Blessed,

Antoine E. Hall

1.  BibleStudyTools.com.  Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible.  Acts 18
2.  Crispus-Sosthenes
3.  PAUL AND CO-WORKERS.  The Renaming of Benefactors.


P.S. Here are some additional links I read on Crispus and Sosthenes being the same person.
StudyLight.org - http://www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?number=T5972
Sothenes was Crispus - http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/corpus-paul/20110504/003397.html

Read More

Love Is More Than One Day

One "holiday" of gifts is not a strong indicator of how much one loves another.  There are 364 other days in the year and if those are ignored, then you have nothing but a nice shiny new gift until the next year's gift.  It should make you wonder to what you are looking forward....is it the gift or is it love?

Read More

What's Holding You Back?

Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Since I have been going through physical therapy to get motion back into my toe, I have learned a few things.  The first thing I learned was that sometimes pain is necessary as a part of progress (see my post on pain).  Well, this week, I started doing more activities at my appointments that involve jumping, lunging, and other agility exercises.  This leads me to the next issue that I have learned to handle and that is overcoming obstacles.

Some of the most difficult things that we deal with in life are obstacles.  You know, things that get in the way of progress.  Sometimes they are physical barriers that block us from moving forward and then there are times where they are mental blockers.  In my case, my obstacle was both mental and physical.  See, once I had surgery, I was limited with my motion because of my physical condition.  In my brain, I became use to my condition and mentally trained myself to protect my foot and to not do anything to cause harm or re-injure it.  I mean that makes perfectly good sense right?  Anyone who has had any type of injury goes to great lengths to protect that body part.

However, physical conditions typically heal while leaving mental obstacles behind.  To me, I could not jump or apply force to my foot because it was still healing.  I felt a little discomfort at times, so clearly I was not ready, or so I thought.  My fear was that at this point I would still injure myself if I became too physical on my feet.  

This is why we have people around us to help us see the potential in ourselves that we cannot otherwise see. My PT knew what I was capable of doing at this point of my recovery.  The only issue was that I was not confident in my ability of what I could do.  My body was ready, but my mind needed a little push to get over the hill.  Needless to say, I lunged, jumped, moved, balanced, and did a host of things this past Monday, however, if I was not urged to break down the mental barrier I would have never overcame it.

We can be the biggest obstacles to our own movement forward.  It can seem like a daunting task to tear down the barriers that we have created, but if we never attempt to overcome then we will always be stuck where we are.  Do not let your thoughts of what you think you can do place limits in your life.  So, what's holding you back today and what's your plan for overcoming it?

Matthew 17:20  "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."  

Be Blessed,

Antoine E. Hall

Read More

Sometimes Pain Is a Good Thing

Have you ever had to experience a little pain in your life?  Almost all the time, we try to do all within our power to avoid pain.  However, there are times in our lives where it is unavoidable.  Look at this example.  When our family drive to and from North Carolina we have to drive through the mountains.  Now, in order to get through a couple of the ranges, we have to drive through tunnels.  If you are that person who is scared to drive through tunnels you have no choice but to continue your current route.  Because you are on the interstate, you cannot turn around, but you have to drive through.  You could stop at the tunnel's entrance, but then you have no where else to go but to push on through to the other side.  In some cases, we have to  grimace, wince, and push through pain in order to succeed at some things in life.  It could be that you are exercising for strengthening to be a better athlete or rehabbing from a surgical procedure so that you can get your body back to normal.  In both instances, you have to drive through the pain to appreciate the end results. So really in some ways, pain can be a good thing.

Be Blessed!

Antoine E. Hall

Read More

Should You Pay Your Tithes Next Sunday?

I know what you are wondering.  How dare I ask if you are going to pay your tithes this upcoming Sunday?  Of course you are, right?!  Well, while I understand you may be certain about your intentions with your 10%, I wish to offer you some information about what you may be about to do.  I will go ahead now and give you warning that what you are about to read, may challenge teachings you have learned since childhood.  While I understand that these types of challenges can shake us to the core, I encourage you to continue reading.


I Probably Was Just Like You

Once I gave my life to Christ, I was taught that we are to give our tithe and offering.  I was taught that I should be a “cheerful giver” and that I was suppose to “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse”.  You’ve probably heard it too.  Once I learned that I was suppose to give an offering and that I was required to give the tithe (which was 10% of my income) I started to fall into line.  It was a gradual process because after all, one is not use to giving away 10% of their income.  At first it started off with 10% of my net income and then it changed to 10% of my gross income because God is suppose to get my “first fruits”.  That made sense to me, but then God threw a monkey wrench into what I thought I knew.  I had been doing it all wrong and what made it even worse is that it was right there in the Word for me to read.  I just chose to be spoon fed from the pulpit rather than picking up my bible and reading for myself.  Reading is definitely fundamental.


What’s Wrong With Tithing Today?

After doing some reading, studying, and discussing with my wife, I discovered something.  Tithing is an Old Testament (OT) teaching and as where it is taught that you should do it today in the church, it is an incorrect teaching.  There is a lot in the bible that supports this statement but I will simply point you to this.  In the OT, the only people who could collect the tithe were the Levitical Priests which meant you had to be a descendant of Levi (see 2 Chronicles 31:1-12).  In that alone, unless a Pastor today is a descendant of Levi and they live under OT Law, then what they are teaching is incorrect.  Also, in that scripture, there is no mention of money (which is man-made), but rather it is a tithe of things that were created by God ("...firstfruits of grain, vintage fruit, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field").  


If It’s Not Money, Then What Is It?

Well, some would argue that the Israelites did not have money, so they tithed other things. Well that would be an incorrect argument as well.  In Deuteronomy 2:5-7, Moses told the Israelites that they "...shall buy food from them for money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink". So, clearly money was present, but God never commanded them to tithe money.  It was always something from the land and/or an animal (of things God created).  One scripture that people love to quote is Malachi 3:10, but this really point to the fact that tithe was not about money. It says to "Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."  Using that scripture alone, it is easy to deceive and keep with the same teachings of tithing today.  However, if you look at that scripture and keep in mind the directive of God as to what to tithe, you will know that it is not money, but the first fruits of God created things (see back in 2 Chronicles 31:1-12).

Let’s look at the BibleStudyTools.com commentary for Malachi 3:10.  (Just an FYI, they are using the NIV version).  You will notice that it points to Proverbs 3:9 which says "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;".  Here wealth is not money but their increase from the crops.  Going back to the mentioning of the "storehouse" in Malachi 3:10.  The commentary points to 2 Chronicles 3:11, but I would suggest for you to read 2-chronicles 31:9-13 for the full context.  Here "Hezekiah gave orders to prepare storerooms in the temple" because the people brought so many contributions that they "...had enough to eat and plenty to spare, because the LORD has blessed his people, and this great amount is left over."  So, the storerooms (or storehouse) was a place to store the "contributions, tithes [which is not money], and gifts".  Nowhere does it mention bringing 10% of your gross monetary income.  In addition, this again is in Malachi which is in the OT which is under the Law!


What About Paul’s Instructions to Give Cheerfully?

So then, we have to move to the New Testament (NT) because a lot of the times 2 Corinthians 9:7 is used in the context of tithing.  It says, "Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He [a]takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]."  I do not have a gripe with this at all because we are to give cheerfully.  We are to give of our time, talents, resources (which could include money, but does not have to).  Going back to 2 Corinthians 9:7, you have to read it in context.  If you read verse 1, Paul says "Now about the offering that is [to be made] for the saints (God’s people in Jerusalem), it is quite superfluous that I should write you;".  Directly, he tells you that the offering is made for the saints of Jerusalem who are poor (see verse 9).  It is not a tithe.  It is not 10% of their income, but rather an offering from their heart to support the poor in Jerusalem. Paul gave them notice that he was coming as to prepare before he arrived so that the offering was not as a surprise, but so that it would "be ready, not as an extortion [wrung out of you] but as a generous and willing gift".  Notice again there is no reference to money.  Today, our society has trained our brains to think that when we give something representing a charitable donation that it has to be monetary.  Well, once again I would like to challenge you to believe otherwise and that there is other value found in things outside of printed currency.


But, What About the 10% of My Income Part?

If we cannot find an account of it in the written word, then it only leads to one thing.  Humans made it up.  Now, I would like to turn the question back to you.  What about it?  Can you find any mention of it in the NT scriptures that says we as Christians, living under grace, should be doing this?  It is not my intention to offer up opinions, but rather to provide facts based on the truth, which is the Word of God.  If you decide to keep giving 10% of your income out of the cheerfulness of your heart, then by all means do so.  However, know that you are not tithing.  It is not an obligation and neither will you go to Hell for not doing so.  Those misconceptions are not true and many have been misled.  I encourage you not to take my word for it, but rather go to the Word of God for yourself.  Also, I encourage you not to discount what I write because it goes against anything you’ve ever learned.  Again, read the Word for yourself and if you find different then please correct me as a brother in Christ.  


In Conclusion

By no means, did I provide an exhaustive explanation and or list of scriptures, but what I wanted to do was provide an invitation for you to look for yourself.  God does not contradict himself, so I wouldn’t expect any of the scriptures listed to contradict any others in his Word.  There is a lot of information out there on the topic of “should the church teach tithing”.  Google it when you get a chance. Any time we as Christians give, it should not be a guilt trip, game, or the need to give because we think God is a slot machine.  All of these thoughts have been incorrectly taught and is still preached every Sunday from the pulpit throughout the nation.  The issue is that a lot of us don't pick up the Bible and read for ourselves and simply accept spoon feeding.  I know because I was one of them, but when you know better you do better.  

Be Blessed Folks,

Antoine E. Hall


Some Other Reading Resources:

"Tithing is Not a Christian Doctrine", by Russell Earl Kelly, PhD
“Tithing Today”, Gary Arnold Ministries
NoMoreTithing.org

Read More

Don't Dwell On The Past

"Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now, in this instant of time. From this moment onward you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed."  

--Eileen Caddy

Read More

Dream

"Nothing happens unless first we dream" - Joseph Herrin

Read More

Making Changes in 2013

While many will set New Year's resolutions and declarations, you are to be applauded for your willingness to take new actions in your life.  Realistically the difference between 2013 and 2012 is but a few hours.  Change is hard work and it takes dedication and persistence. If the only thing sparking your willingness to change is the excitement in the change of one day on a calendar, most likely you haven't set realistic expectations and goals. Before you resolve to make a change, ask yourself is your idea of change Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and can be accomplished in an acceptable span of Time .  Be safe tonight folks and use your noggin'.

Read More

Hope, Patience, & Prayer

Romans 12-12   "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. " (NIV)

The verse above is a pretty simple concept and it can hit home for all of us. It says that in my hopes I am to be joyful. Even while I am hoping for something to happen or for God to move, I must be joyful in my current state.

In my afflictions, I must exercise patience. Now, I know this can be a hard one. You mean to tell me while I'm going through suffering and distress I must be patient? Well, yes.  That's what the word says doesn't it? See, a lot of the times we have issues with being patient even when we aren't going through something. To say be patience in time of hardship is one that's hard for us to grasp. Well guess what? It's in the Word and the Word doesn't lie. So, be patient in your affliction.

Lastly, you must be faithful in your prayers. Do you have a broken prayer life? Could you do a little more to improve your prayer life? I cannot speak for you, but I find myself wavering on this one. At times, I make sure that I stay prayed up. Then in times of distress, I get lax. Well, the first step is acceptance. I accept the fact that I do this and now the next step is to fix it. What's the solution? Simple! I just need to do what I'm told to do and pray faithfully, night and day; through good times and bad times.

If you can digest this simple but powerful verse I think it can help you in your every day walk as well. As Jesse Jackson would say, "Keep Hope Alive". As the good 'ole saying goes, "Patience is a virtue" and last but not least pray, pray, pray.

Read More

"World View", by FLAME - OUR WORLD FALLEN

Read More