Weekly Email: November 11, 2024
We’re officially into the final stretch of the Fall 2 term. From my conversations with students, week six seems to be a particularly difficult week. You’ve been working hard week after week, and you can see the end of the term, but it’s still three weeks out. Our team is praying for you as you begin working on those final projects and papers as we close out the semester.
Giveaway
This week I’m changing it up a little bit, and we’re going to do a giveaway. In order to be entered to win, you will need to fill out a two-question survey. Here is what we will be giving away:
Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls by Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite
Come and See: The Journey of Knowing God through Scripture by Jonathan Pennington
Faith Alone: The Doctrine of Justification by Thomas R. Schreiner
Cultural Sanctification: Engaging the World like the Early Church by Stephen Presley
A Southern Seminary Coffee Mug
A bag of coffee from my favorite coffee shop in Louisville, Quills Coffee
Faculty Devotional
This week's faculty devotional from Dr. Stephen Presley, Associate Professor of Church History on living an apologetic life.
While the early church grew slowly, it faced a culture set against it. Early Christians had to regularly live in the spirit of 1 Peter 3:15, always ready to make a defense for the hope within them. A good example of this is the story of Polycarp.
The church in Smyrna, where Polycarp ministered, was under persecution because its members refused to capitulate to a political and social culture of idolatry. Roman soldiers were dispatched to the home where Polycarp was staying. When they arrived, the bishop welcomed them and had a meal prepared. He only asked for time to pray. As the soldiers ate, they listened to Polycarp pray for hours. They were so moved by his piety that, on the journey back, they tried to persuade him to worship the idols to save his life.
Polycarp entered the amphitheater, and when the pagan crowd saw him, they roared, calling for his death. "This Polycarp," they shouted, "is the teacher of Asia… the father of Christians, the destroyer of our gods." In the amphitheater, Polycarp was brought before the proconsul. When he confessed that he was a Christian, the proconsul tried to persuade him to recant and demanded that he swear by the heathen idols. “Swear by the genius of Caesar! And say, ‘Away with the atheists!’” Polycarp looked around at the crowd of lawless pagans in the stadium, motioned toward them, and said, “Away with the atheists!” The proconsul was not amused and insisted, “Swear the oath and I will let you go! Revile Christ!” Polycarp replied with one of the most compelling testimonies of faith: “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he has never wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
After this, Polycarp was burned at the stake and killed. His story is recorded as one of the earliest accounts of martyrdom, written to encourage fellow Christians to maintain fortitude in the face of social and political pressures. Not all Christians were as strong as Polycarp, which is why accounts like his martyrdom this were written down and circulated. Ancient Christians encouraged each other to live faithfully in a pagan world, like Polycarp.
There is no question our world is eerily similar to the pagan world surrounding early Christians. Today we need the kind of fortitude and faith they demonstrated, learning to live in the posture of 1 Peter 3:15.
That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and check in next Monday. You can find an archive of each week’s email here.
