New Article on Acts 27

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Saturday, March the twenty second, twenty twenty five. It is currently three point fifty three pm Central Time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, I'm starting to think that someone is messing with me, right. I'm having a hard time believing that this is just a coincidence. Something is up here. Someone is pranking me, punking me, whatever word you want to use. Messing with me.

0:48 Someone someone out there. You're not very funny. You're not very funny. Something is up right, I mean, something happens once you're like, okay, that's interesting. Happens twice, okay, maybe it's a coincidence. Happens three four times you're like, okay, something's going on. And that's kind of where I am today. So let me try to put this all back together. Remember it all started at about three or four o'clock in the morning. I'm listening to Christian radio. They're like, hey, go to this web address right now and you can get a seven week Bible study on how to weather the storms in your life. And as soon as I hear how to weather the storms in your life, I'm like, oh boy, here we go, the storms of life metaphor.

1:31 I can't stand that old thing that's not from the Bible, that's being imposed upon the Bible. Okay, all right, So I went downloaded the study guide and I thought, you know, it'll be fun. I'll just tell everyone about the study guide, not really say whether I agree or disagree, and just someone will have a resource, and whether they agree or disagree, they will have this seven week resource, seven week Bible study resource, and they can use it. All right. Great, So I turn on the microphone, tell everyone how to get it, and then I'm like, well, let's start looking at it. So we looked at like the introduct with the first page, and then we looked at the introduction and then we're like, oh, so this study guide for seven weeks is going to take different storms that are recorded in the Bible, and then of course then interpret these storms in an allegorical metaphorical way. All right, hermeneutical red alert, you know, sound the sirens. This is a problem, okay.

2:25 And then we saw that the first one was Acts Chapter twenty seven, and I'm like, you gotta be kidding me, No, not Acts twenty seven. So then I'm like, okay, you know what, We're already this far in. We're just gonna spend We're gonna spend I don't know how many weeks going through this seven week study guide on the Storms and the Bible so that we can supposedly learn how to weather the storms of our lives. I think what we're going to learn with this seven week Bible study guide really is how to weather really bad hermineutics. I think that's what we're going to learn. We're not going to learn how to weather the storms of life. We're going to learn how to weather very very very very bad hermoneutics. Because this thing is is a train wreck of epic proportion. So I said, let's start working on Acts twenty seven. The first thing we did with Acts twenty seven is we started reviewing sermons. And guess what.

3:20 We reviewed two sermons that were absolute disasters because guess what they opened their bibles to Acts twenty seven. Here's a storm, Paul is in the storm, and it all becomes a metaphor, an allegory for the storm in your life, even though the text is not about you, it's not about me. It's not a prescriptive text, it's a descriptive text. All the hermeneutical problems are glaring, and I'm like, man, that was bad. So I'm like, I don't think we need to review any more sermons. So I'm like, you know, let's start working through the study guide. So we started working through the study guide and we're like, well, let's let's look at the history of this storms of life metaphor. We went through church history. We I tore apart the whole metaphor that pastors use, and I'm like, We've got to stop using this metaphor. Right, that was interesting. That was good, And I'm like, Okay, at the very first chapter or the first section of the Bible Study Guide, it gives us the reasons for the storms in our life.

4:21 Now it's still using the storm metaphor. But I'm like, this could get us into some very interesting philosophy about why God does this and why this happens and why this doesn't happen. Okay, and I saw I got it already, have about ten pages of notes. I'm like, let's do that. And then today happened? What is going on? I get an email of a new article that has been published right now. It's an email, so I know I can't really make the sound of you know, you got mail. I guess I could do that, right, But all I have is this a brand new article has been published on Acts twenty seven. Not only that, when I was just walking up the stairs to come into the studio, I noticed on one of the steps that I had a stack of sort of The Lord newspapers that I had not brought into the studio. I always bring these up into the studio, leave them right here on the desk because they make for great podcast episodes. Right, I can just open up a sort of The Lord and like, let's take this apart hermeneutically, theologically, let's go right. So I picked one up, I dropped it on the desk.

5:34 I looked down. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. So I'm turning on the microphone to talk about this new article on Acts twenty seven, and then I throw down the sort of Lord newspaper and the very front it's a picture of a lighthouse, big waves crashing against it, and it says in the midst of the storm, and then, but not long after, there arose against it a tempetuous wind called your Rouklad Acts twenty seven fourteen. I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. Everywhere right turn, it's Acts twenty seven, Acts twenty seven, Acts twenty seven everything what is going on? Like, I don't get it. So that's more than just interesting, that's almost more than a coincidence.

6:17 It's almost like, you know what you're gonna have to talk about Acts twenty seven. For a long time, I never dreamed that Acts twenty seven would take up this much time, but obviously it has. So at some point we'll get to the Sword of the Lord newspaper and see how they handle in the midst of the storm. I guarantee you it's gonna be guess what allegorical metaphorical? Because everyone does this, and why do they do it? Because it comes Christianity has been forever changed because of three books right Pilgrim's Progress, which all allegory Right A Morning and Evening by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I mean he uses this like one verse, take it out of context, and does all kinds of just the otional type reading where you take a text make it about us, even if it's not about us, and then you have my utmost for its highest, which brings into this kind of almost mystical hearing God's voice type of thing. So we talked about those are the books that cost all of this problem, and sermon after sermon, publication after publication, they all handle ACS twenty seven the same way. It's about our storms. It's about us. It's not about your storm.

7:24 It's not about us. It has nothing to do with you. It's not prescriptive, it's descriptive. I mean, I could go all day. It's a historical narrative, all right, But all right, I just want to lose my mind. So I'm like, what do we do? So I'm gonna set the Sword of the Lord newspaper. I'm gonna set it down, all right. I'm gonna put it down right here next to me. We will come back to that. I'm gonna come over here to my left, pick up my iPad. I'm gonna go over and here it is, ladies and gentlemen, The Gospel Coalition dot o RG. The Gospel Coalition dot oh RG article today entitled Biblical Theology, helps explain Paul's c Journey and Acts twenty seven. Now I hear biblical theology, I get excited. I mean, all of my education, of course, is in theology. I've got degrees in theology and some are more specified or specifically focused on biblical theology. All right, I courses in practical theology, biblical theology, theology proper. We can get into all of the philological distinctions. But I'm like, okay, biblical theology, this should be interesting. How will biblical theology read Acts twenty seven? Now immediately, I'm like, okay, this is going to come up at it from a more academic perspective. But my question was, even though it's going to approach it maybe from a more academic perspective, when we strip away all of the academic language, when we strip that all away, are we going to find ourselves

8:57 right back to kind of an allegorical metaphorical way. And I'm like, I bet you we do. I bet you we do. So we're gonna start exploring this article again. You can go to the Gospel Coalition all run together, the Gospelcoalition dot oorg. You will see it. Now before we can even get to the article, right at the top of the they have a banner at the top of the page TGC twenty five, TGC twenty five At TGC twenty five, Happening April to twenty second through twenty fourth in Indianapolis, thousands of us will be standing shoulder to soldier, soldier to shoulder to shoulder, not soldier to soldier, shoulder to shoulder, soaking in inspiring keynote talks, joining in heart changing worship, and being filled up by the unifying fellowship.

9:52 You'll be there right. Oh, they want me to go to a conference so I can stand shoulder to shoulder with other people soaking in all of this information. It's going to be life changing. Right, So it says register today. Let's just click on it. Register today. Let's see what happens here, all right. So they want me to come to a conference so I can worship. They want me to come to a conference so I can hear teaching and preaching. Right. Well here it is. Well the keynote speakers. We've got John Piper, Oh boy, so everyone should be happy. David Platt's there, Alistair Beg is there, Andrew Wilson is there. Kenneth I don't know how to say his last name. Met Booga mid Bugabooga. I have no idea how to say his last name, but here it all is. Here's the keynote speakers. Here's our register now, all right, and I'm said his last name incorrectly. I apologize, not trying to do it on purpose. All right, So I'm going to register now. It's called a live together, faithful living and a faithless age, so that we want to go to learn how to live faithful and a faithless age. Right, don't you need to know that? Don't you need to know how to live faithful in a faithless age? Don't you need to be encouraged? Don't you need to experience life changing worship? Don't you need don't you need this preaching and this teaching? Don't you need it? Oh? Yes, I need it. Okay, well let me register. Let's see what happens here registering. Oh wait, okay, hang on? Oh wait, gives me the ticket type? Now I got to put

11:23 in my name. It doesn't give me much information here, hang on, Oh I gotta fill all of this out. Oh no, okay, hang on. Let me see here. Let's do this live on the air, because this is the very first thing before we get to the article. I know this is taking away from the article, but hey, I'm doing this for a reason. I'm doing this for a reason, right because if they're the ones putting out the article, well then if the article is of great quality, well then obviously we want to go to their conference. Right, Okay, So hang on, Well let's just see here all right. Hang on, here's my email address. Oh I got to put a phone number. Okay, this is ridiculous. I just want to know, Okay, hang on, uh okay, I'm trying to find out. Why do they make me go through all of this. They won't let me get to They will not let me get to the price. Okay, give me the schedule. Oh, here we go, Here we go.

12:38 All right. I was like, man, just show me the price, all right? Are you ready so to get to a place so you can experience life changing worship, To get to a place so you can hear the Book of Ephesians taught because it looks like the Book of Ephesians. Guess what if I want to if I want to register today, it will cost me three hundred and thirty nine dollars to get into a bill to hear the word of God. Preached three one hundred and thirty nine dollars to hear someone teach from the Book of Ephesians so that I can experience life changing worship. Because nothing will change your life like paying three hundred and thirty nine dollars so that you can worship because you can't worship me. I guess so you pay them three hundred and thirty nine dollars. Yeah, the whole conference industrial complex.

13:25 I will constantly bash it. I will constantly condemn it. I don't care who gets offended. That's ridiculous. You. Oh, you open a church and let people come in to hear you preach from the Book of Ephesians, and guess what, then worship there and then you know what, you can take up a love offering. You can then divide the love offering amongst the speakers. Or if it's a very big church, because there's these very big churches, let me see, they could pay for the travel for those preachers to come preach. Oh wait, wait, wait, many of those speakers come probably from big ministries. Those ministries could see their pastor or their leader them going to speak in other places as an extension of their ministry, and they could pay for their pastor to travel and guess what, nobody has to get paid or rich. You could just have a conference where you open up for the teaching of God's word. But no, no, no, no, no, we got to make sure we charge three hundred and thirty nine stinking dollars to get in to hear the word of God preach. Yeah, I get sick and tired of it. Now, if you have done it early, it would only been two hundred and twenty nine, But then there was a holiday rate of two fifty nine, and then there was a regular rate of two ninety nine, and then ultimately it came down to three thirty nine. So I just kept increasing the price as it got closer and closer to the end. So if I want to hear the word of God taught, three hundred and thirty nine dollars, And so what am I paying money for? Am I

14:56 paying money to hear the word of God preach? So what is the product being sold? Is the product being sold the Bible? The preaching of God's word is now our product we sell for three hundred and thirty nine. The apostle Paul should have been charging people money, right, So I'm going on missionary journeys, the Apostle Paul have an Apostles conference, right, get Paul, Peter, get them all together. You gotta probably charge seven eight hundred dollars. So what is the product being? Oh? Is the product that Piper? Is it? His name? Is that the product? Wait? I thought we were against celebrity culture. No we're not. We do everything we can to promote celebrity culture. Now why am I spending all of that time talking about the conference?

15:37 While I apologize first because I thought I had to register and I'm like, I'm not gonna give my number and everything. Okay, So all right, I got it's all the way at the bottom, all right. That don't put the prices at the top, obviously at the bottom, all right? So now why do I do that? I'm gonna exit that out now that banner is gone, because is this article now going to be somewhat an example of what I can give it if I pay for three hundred, If I pay three hundred and thirty nine dollars, now I would just say, instead of going to that conference and dropping three hundred and thirty nine dollars, you could give three hundred dollars to sermon audio since they provide you, I don't know about five to six thousand new sermons every week for free. Or you could pick a broadcaster and say, sermonadio who pay sixty dollars a month to be on that platform and for three hundred and thirty nine dollars. Well, you can you can break down the math.

16:29 How many months you could be supporting them sixty dollars a month? You can figure it out. You're paying for a couple of months of them broadcasting, and depending on the broadcaster, they may actually give you more content then you'll get at that conference. Now, that conference may say, well we're offering forty of this. You can only be at one at a time. So how many are you actually going to get? What? How was it a two day conference? Two day conference? Read? How many sessions are you actually going to get for three hundred and thirty nine dollars? I guarantee you I will provide you more content and a week than they will provide for three hundred and thirty nine dollars. That stuff has got to stop. So let's see now the quality of this what we're going to get for three hundred and thirty nine dollars. Now, again, I know that that's not a completely fair argument, but it's the main article right here on their website. Right, that's the first It was sent to me today by email.

17:23 So it's got I mean, it's under the Gospel Coalition dot org and they're the ones putting on the conference. So you know what, I'm gonna draw a correlation here. So what are we going to get? Well? This comes from the Carson Center Biblical Theology helps explains Paul's Paul's see journey in Acts twenty seven March March to twenty second, twenty twenty five by Patrick Shriner. All right, here we go. Oh boy, okay, here we go. I'm gonna try to take a deep breath. I'm gonna try to be nice and calm here. Now, at some point we'll break this entire article down. I just want to. I'm just going to read the intro and then the first paragraph of the first point. Here we go. The second half of Acts is a whirldwind journey. Paul travels some ten thousand miles as he witnesses in Turkey, Syria, Greece, and Israel.

18:22 Of course, he was going all those places to hold conferences for life changing worship, and you could soak in the Word of God and stand shoulders. Okay, Now, being a little sarcastic, all right, So he travels ten thousand miles as he witnesses in Turkey, Syria, Greece, and Israel. He preaches in various cities including Listra, Philippi, the Thessalonika, Corinth, Athens, and Ephesus. What sometimes overlooked is an obvious reality, most of this is done on land, all right, So it says, sometimes we overlook an obvious reality that most of all of this occurs on land. Yet and Acts, chapter twenty seven, Luke devotes forty four verses to a detailed description of Paul's ce journey. The purpose of this long marine narrative sometimes eludes interpreters. Some think it simply recounts a change of location for Paul, but this does little to explain the narrative's length and all the specifics Luke includes. To understand this narrative properly, we must employ biblical theology. Three Biblical realities help us ascertain the purpose of Luke's narrative and see it as Paul's climatic journey. Now that sounds

19:57 so thiological sounds so academic to me. The screams, we got a problem, We got a problem. We got a serious problem here because of the logic being utilized. Now, how is he going to use biblical theology to help us understand? Well, point number one, pull the conqueror. The first thing to understand is that the sea is symbolic in the biblical narrative. There we go, ladies and gentlemen, there we go. Immediately it slides right over into the symbolic, right over into the allegorical, right over into the metaphorical.

20:40 I knew it's where it was going to go before I I before I even before I even looked at it, I knew that's where it was going to go. I could have bet you money. We could go to Vegas and put money down. Because everyone, I don't care if you're saying we're approaching it through the lens of biblical theology or we're approaching it through a devotional list. I don't care what nonsense you want to dress it up. And the bottom line is you are following the tradition of Bunyan Spurgeon and Oswald Chambers, and this devotional allegorical metaphorical approach to scripture, which is an enemy to biblical hermeneutics. So immediately I'm like, this, what is happening? What is happening?

21:22 So I have already taken apart the entire article, but I don't want to go there. I just want to start taking this apart in small segments. All right, So the opening argument from the article, and this is what I did. I started discussing this with artificial intelligence. We kind of went back and forth. Artificial intelligence. I started asking it to analyze it, critique it, and break it down, and AI ultimately gives me this. This opening argument from the article lays the foundation for Patrick schiner symbolic reading of Acts twenty seven. Did you just hear that? Did you hear that? The opening argument from the article lays the foundation for Patrick Schriner's symbolic reading of Acts twenty seven.

22:13 Even AI knows he's taking this symbolic, allegorical, metaphorical approach to Acts twenty seven, and I'm so sick and tired of this happening. AI goes on to say, however, it contains several assumptions and interpretive moves that deserve careful critique. While it's rhetorically smooth and seems reasonable on the surface, it actually sets the stage for a problematic hermeneutic shift. Let's examine it in detail. And I'm like, yes, let's examine this in detail. All right. Here, so Acts twenty seven.

22:55 We've been talking about it a lot. Now here we go. We have this article on the Gospel Coalition. By all means, go to the website and if you want, pay three hundred and thirty nine dollars and go to their conference so you can have life changing worship and you can hear the Word of God preached. Okay, by all means go But I mean you could obviously then do other things with the money, but all right, we won't get into that. However, what are you going to get for your three hundred and thirty nine dollars? Is this article? And I gives us an idea of what the content the Gospel Coalition puts out. Well, let's find out. Here we go. AI obviously think thinks there's a problem. Artificial intelligence believes there's a problem. Let's see if there's a problem. Number one, this is what AI tells me. The argument's key claim. Because the narrative is long and detailed, it must mean more than it says than AI quotes from the article. Some think it simply recounts a change of location for Paul, but this does little to explain the narrative's length and all the specifics Luke includes. So, according to the article, basically the argument being made the narrative is long. It is detailed, so it has to mean more than what it seems to say. It gives us all of this detail, and it's very long. It can't just mean what it says. No, no, no, no, no, it doesn't mean what it says, But I'm here to tell you what it actually means. It doesn't mean what it says, but I'm going to tell you what it says, not by I'm gonna tell you what it means, not by what it says, but by what I say it says.

24:29 That's what preachers do all the time. I know it seems to say this, but what it really means is this. Well where did you come up with it? Because either I determine what a text says by the words that are used, or I just impose whatever meaning I want upon the text. AI says, this is a classic argument, and the argument goes like this, All right, narrative length equals deeper symbolic meaning. A lot of pastors make this, If the narrative is long, ooh, that's going to be telling us something deeper. There's got to be a symbolic meaning here. It has to be an allegorical It has to be metaphorical, because look at how long it is, look at how detailed it is, Ooh, something must be going on. I mean, it spends a lot of time.

25:22 That pastors love to do that, all right, but that assumption is not hermoneutically sound on its own. Narrative length in scripture is not automatically tied to hidden or symbolic philological significance. Luke may include details for reasons of historical realism, eyewitness precision, or simply because he was present. Right, If you look at Acts twenty seven, who's the author of Acts? It's Luke and No. And when it was determined that we we should sell into Italy, they delivered Paul. So that's not Paul referring to that's that's Luke talking. Luke is present. Most believe Luke was present for this. So maybe the detailed and length of the account just comes to the fact that I don't know Luke was there.

26:26 This is his eyewitness account. The detailed narrative may reflect Luke's interest in maritime travel, maybe in Greco Roman historiography, or even literary pacing. As Paul nears Rome, not necessarily some hidden typology, because the minute you say, ooh, there's some hidden type. I know this seems to be talking about just a storm. But look at its length, look at it actually says something else. See it says something that it doesn't actually say. It's saying something below, oh, the surface. You just got to be able to find it. Well, the minute you say that, then anybody can pull anything out. Well I think it says this, Well, then it becomes subjective.

27:09 There's no objective way to challenge it. Or because you just make it say whatever you want, and then you just start then death by cross reference and find any Oh, then it just becomes a mess. Ai says, this is a flawed assumption. Long narrative equals philological metaphor. That's a flawed assumption. Long narrative does not equal philological metaphor. Nobody can make that claim. A better hermeneutic would be long narrative equals attention worthy. But meaning must come from textual and con but the meaning must come from textual and contextual clues, not link alone. So when you see something long, you know what that means. Pay attention. It obviously is worthy of this much space. God believes that this account is worth this much space. That's what it means. Now, the meaning of the text doesn't come from how long it is. It comes from the textual and contextual clues, not link alone. Well, Acts twenty seven or Acts the Book of Acts is a historical narrative. It's a historical account.

28:18 It's telling you what happened, Literal things that happen, real things that real people, real places, real death, real persecution, real prisons, real everything. It's not some allegory, allegorical story about the storms in your life or anything along that line. So Ai points out that number one the argument's key claim, because the argument's key claim is this, because the narrative is long and detailed, it must mean more than it says, and that that's just not true. It is not true that the narrative length equals If it's long, narrative length, it equals deep symbolic meaning. That's just not true. Number two, overting overstating the lack of interpretive purpose without symbolism. Overstating the lack of interpretive purpose without symbolism. AI quotes from the article. Some think it simply recounts a change of location for Paul, but this does little to explain the narrative's length. AI criticizes this. This falsely presents a false dichotomy.

29:25 Either the chapter is either symbolic and rich with biblical philological meaning, or it's just a dry travelogue. It's just simply an account of a change of location. See, it's either symbolic or it really doesn't mean anything. That's a false dichotomy, and you've got to learn to see these logical flaws when pastors and Bible teachers do this, this is a hermeneutical misstep. There is a middle ground. Acts twenty seven is a historical narrative with a nomadic, philological and missional significance without being symbolic. It doesn't have to be symbolic to have important philological significance. You don't have to make it an allegory, a metaphor. You can still get the theology from it. Anyone reading Action twenty seven should be able to see the theology all over it.

30:19 God is sovereign. God's purpose is going to be fulfilled in Paul's life. For example, so I asked Ai for some examples that Acts twenty seven. It demonstrates God's providence and Paul's credibility as a messenger. It builds tension betward towards his arrival in Rome. It shows Paul's trustworthiness, leadership, and courage, setting up his final witness before Caesar. There's a lot of different things you can find. These are narrative functions, not allegorical symbols. It's a narrative function. The Acts twenty seven is not a story just and removed from the overall narrative. It's a part of the narrative arc.

31:01 It plays a part there. So AI has pointed out that number one, the argument's key claim in the article. The article's key claim is that because the narrative is long and detailed, it must mean, it must mean more than it says, and that it basically is providing the classic argument that narrative link equals deeper symbolic meaning, and that is just not accurate. Number two, it overstates the lack of interpretive purpose without symbolism Basically, the article is like, hey, if it's not symbolic, this text is useless and that's just not accurate. Number Three, to understand this narrative properly, we must employ biblical theology. Here's the critique AI offers.

31:45 This sounds still logically grounded, but the phrase employ biblical theology becomes a license to import outside theological theme into the text, even when the text itself does not point to them. Just because you say we're going to utilize biblical theology doesn't mean you can just take any theological idea and read it back into the text. You get the theology from the text, you don't read the theology into the text. That's basic herboneutical role one oh one. You we take from the text, you don't put into the text. That's for crying out loud. But hey, this is the Gospel Coalition. Let's pay three hundred and thirty nine dollars to hear this great preaching. Okay. I know it's not a direct correlation that this article represents what's going to happen at the conference, but it's just funny that when you try to get to the article, the first thing you see is the banner ad to sign up for their conference. But it's just not a correct way of thinking, all right, biblical In fact, let me put it this way, so let me read this again.

32:54 When they talk about we need biblical theology must be employed here it sounds still grounded. The phrase employee biblical theology becomes a license to import outside theological themes into the text, even when the text itself does not point to them. Biblical theology is not about reading thematic echoes into every detail. It's about tracing redemptive history through the actual progression of revelation. It's not about reading things into the text. And Acts twenty seven, there is no direct textual signal that Paul's journey is to be read as a parallel to Israel's Red Sea crossing. There's nothing in Acts twenty seven that would tell you to do that right, or to Jesus calming the storm, or to creation chaos, creation chaos. There's nothing. I'm gonna make it very There is no textual signal in Acts twenty seven to say we should read Paul's journeys parallel to Israel's Red Sea crossing, or to Jesus calming the storm, or to creation chaos.

34:01 Luke gives no interpretive commentary. Luke gives no interpretive commentary suggesting symbolic meaning. He doesn't say in any way, he doesn't give any clue. Luke the author doesn't give any clue in X twenty seven, going hmm, I think there's some symbolism here, but guess what he does that in regards to Peter's vision in Acts ten, but not in Acts twenty seven. So, while biblical theology is valuable Shriner's use of it, Shriner's use of it here expands the boundaries of the method into the territory of creative allegorization, which, well, you're just being creative, and how you're using allegory. That's not biblical theology. You're just using biblical theology as the excuse for going in and over allegorizing the text. But it sounds still logical, It sounds academic. This is the thing that a pastor can do from the pulpit. And everybody are like, well, this sounds good, this sounds he learned this in seminary. This sounds great. Well, you just all they're doing is just manipulating the text right in front of you. Number four, the framing implies a hidden meaning.

35:18 Luke never mentions this is AI taking this this this introduction to this article apart. By asking why Luke includes forty four verses and suggesting it must mean something deeper, Schriner implies there's a philological lair Luke assumed but did not articulate. So the idea is like, well, Luke didn't articulate this, but there's there's this philological lair, and you just got to see it. You just got and so you need a well, you need a pastor, you need you need to go to a conference and pay three hundred and something dollars to hear this theological layer because you just can't see it. You know why you can't see it, because it's not there. Someone is putting it into the text and sounding all smart when doing it.

36:07 The journey itself is a symbol of the Gospel's advance over chaos or Paul's prophetic significance. See he's implying that the journey itself is a symbol of the Gospel's advance over chaos or Paul's prophetic significance. But there's nothing in the text that says that Luke never invites the reader to interpret the voyage that way. Luke never invites the reader to interpret it as there's a deeper theological layer here, or that the journey is a symbol of the Gospel's advance over chaos or Paul's prophetic significance. Luke never insinuates that the text doesn't hint at that. And fact, what is Luke known for. He's known for historical precision, naming Roman officials, cities, and roots. Well, guess what. Since he's known for his historical precision, then Act twenty seven fits perfectly with the way Luke typically writes. So I don't need d it fits perfect. It would be one thing if Luke is not known for historical precision, not known for details, not known for any and all of a sudden Acts twenty seven, and then you would be like, well, something weird is going on. But that's not the case.

37:20 Geographical awareness, especially in Acts. Luke is very aware of geography and acts and points it out. So guess what. He points out. All the geography in Acts twenty seven that's consistent with his writing doesn't mean that there's something deeper going on. Literary build up Paul's journey to Rome spans many chapters and culminates in Acts twenty eight. The most consistent reading is that Acts twenty seven is a climatic, real, real world journey, not a symbolic reenactment. Now I know what something. Well, I'm not saying it's it's not literal. Yeah, you say it's not literal. And then you turn it all into a symbol, into an allegory, into a metaphor.

38:04 Who cares if you are going to pay lip service that it's a real event, when you're going to just leave the real event to then just add whatever you want to it. Because now you say there's something deeper here, there's no there's no textual there's no hermeneutical clue for anything more than a historical narrative about what happened in this overarching narrative of Paul's journey ultimately to end up in front of Caesar. Right, I think that's I think that's very important, all right, And it ends in Acts twenty eight. That's where the narrative ends, okay, now, or yeah, I believe Caesar, Okay, if I get that wrong, The story ends in Acts twenty eight. It's all about him ultimately getting to his destination. All right, now, Ai says, the argument relies on hermeneutical assumptions, not exegesis. It elevates narrative length to a tool for inferring meaning, and we don't do that. You don't infer meaning from how many verses are used. You infer meaning from what the words that are used. It uses biblical theology as a platform for non contextual symbolism. Biblical theology is not an excuse for using non contextual symbolism. Next, it quietly applies that historical narrative is not sufficient unless it's interpreted metaphorically. Basically, it implies, maybe quietly, hey, this text is really useless.

39:37 It's not really sufficient unless it's unless we interpret it metaphorically. Unless we interpret it metaphorically, there's not really much here that's that's not true, ay I says, here's a better approach. Recognize the historical and literary function of Acts twenty seven within the narrative arc of Acts. See it as a demonstration of God's providence, Paul's obedience, and the unstoppable mission to Rome, without turning it into a metaphor for spiritual chaos or symbolic exodus. So then I was like, Okay, I agree, Ai, I agree that this whole thing is starting us off and raw. This is another example of what's going on. This is another example of what's happening.

40:21 But I had to ask Ai a question. I'm like, well, you know, if we kind of take the argument that he uses, and his argument basically is the link of this narrative means it's got to mean something more than what it says, I asked Ai. If we take this argument and we follow it logically, then where do we end up? All right? So Ai begins to say that if we take this narrative and it's forty four versus and length, then this could possibly mean that we then interpret it any narrative that's forty four verses in length, because twenty seven is forty four verses in length. Let me make sure of that, yes, it's forty four verses in length. Then it would mean we could interpret any narrative that's forty four verses long in an allegorical metaphorical way.

41:12 And Ai says that's the logical consequence of Schriner's argument if followed consistently. If narrative length is used as a justification for symbolic or metaphorical interpretation. Then any extended biblical narrative, especially one with around forty four verses or more, would by that same logic be presumed to carry hidden symbolic or philological meaning beyond the historical events themselves. That would be a deeply flawed hermeneutic because number one it uses literary quantity verse count as a basis for interpretive method rather than textual clues or the intent of the author.

41:53 Number two it overrides genre, treating a historical narrative as allegory. You're not you're over writing what the genre is supposed to be understood. It's a historical narrative interpreted as a historical narrative. Number three is suggest that the meaning is inferred by structure or length, not what the author actually says. Now, AI was like, Hey, if we approach this logically, here's what would happen. Well, Genesis twenty four Isaac and Rebecca sixty seven verses. Would we allegorize this as Christ Isaac choosing the church, Rebecca through the spirit Abraham's servant. Many devotional and mystical readings have done just that, but the text itself gives no internal warrant for such symbolism. And guess what, you go look up sermons right now on Genesis twenty four. They will take this metaphorical allegorical approach.

42:49 They will I've heard it a million times. Well, are they doing that just because they've been taught to preach it that way? Or look at sixty seven verses? It's gotta be There's got to be something deeper here. You've got to have something in the text more than just the number of verses. How about Genesis twenty nine, Jacob Leah and Rachel thirty five through fifty verses combined across episodes. Would we allegorize Leah and Rachel as law and grace? Are Jacob's labor as striving under the law. Again, this has been done in historical interpretation, but with disastrous theological results, and there's no justification from the text. How about the passover in the Exodus fifty one versus. Now, I know what you're gonna say, Oh wait, wait, this is going to prove the point. But listen carefully. The passover in the Exodus, I think we could all argue, is clearly topological event and redemptive history. How do we know this, it is confirmed in the New Testament. It becomes clear because the New Testament explicitly develops it as such. First Corinthians, John Chapter one. The difference, it's not the link that makes it typological. It's the divine commentary elsewhere and scripture.

44:13 So you don't look and go, well, the length of this says, I can look at it typological, symbolical, metaphorical, allegorical. No, do you have anything else in the Bible that says, hey, do you have anything in the immediate text that says, look at it symbolically, allegorical whatever? Or do you have another passage somewhere that interprets it in a symbolic allegorical way, then you can if you have some other text that tells you to do that. How about the Raising of Lazarus fifty seven verses, Should we treat lazarus resurrection as a metaphor for spiritual rebirth? In all cases? Many do that. It is a historical narrative with clear theological implications, But it's not an allegory unless the text signals it now over into over and over. Pastors do this. They go to a text and just start adding symbolic meaning. Unless there's something in the text that indicates that you have Acts ten through eleven. I've got a number of examples Ai gives, but we have Peter's vision of Crenilius sixty six verses combined important redemptive historical turning point. The Gentiles receive the spirit, but the text interprets itself. Peter explains the meaning, and the Church confirms it again. Theology drawn from the narrative is authorized by textual signals not inferred from length. And then Ai points out something, isn't it ironic?

45:44 Don't you think? Okay, I'm borrowing from isn't it ironic? That Acts twenty seven is not one of the places where Luke gives us any theological commentary. It is one of the most straightforward eyewitness style travel narratives, and all of Acts It's length likely reflects Luke's presence, maritime detail and suspense. As Paul heads to Rome, not symbolism. If length implies allegory, you break the Bible. If we follow Shriner's logic, any long narrative is symbolic. Historical accounts are simply parables and disguise. Reader's imagination becomes the key interpreter and the intent of the author, who cares the text becomes pliable, not authoritative. This opens the door to the Bunyan style allegory, medieval typology, and modern devotional metaphor, none of which are grounded and careful biblical exegesis. And of course then you could say, well, Genesis one through two, that's fifty six verses. Maybe it's just a metaphor. Maybe it's just an allegory. Maybe God didn't really create things in six days. Maybe maybe creation is just a metaphor.

47:11 It doesn't tell us how it's done. It's just it's telling us something else. How about the passion narratives, Death, Baryl, Resurrection of Christ Matthew twenty six through twenty eight, one hundred and forty verses, Matthew fourteen through sixteen, one hundred and twenty verses, Luke twenty two through twenty four, one hundred and fifteen verses, John eighteen through twenty one, one hundred and forty verses. Each gospel devotes three to four full chapters to the events surrounding Christ's death Baryl trial, crucifixion, Baryl resurrection. If we follow Schriner's logic, do these long sections mean they must be primarily symbolic or metaphorical. Should we interpret the Cross as a metaphor for personal suffering or the resurrection as a symbolic for emotional renewal? Absolutely not.

47:54 These are the most historically and philologically anchored events in scripture, repeatedly affirmed as literal redemptive acts by the rest of the Bible. AI completely rejects this approach outright. That is just completely wrong. So AI concludes this way, if we follow the standard put forth in this article the Gospel Coalition RG, nearly every lengthy, phiological, rich narrative is treated as an open canvas for symbolic meaning, not a text to be executed for what it actually says. This ends up aligning with devotional metaphorical style of the Pilgrim's progress life as allegory morning and evening verse simply as a prompt or my utmost for his high as texts as an introspective springboard, and now Biblical theology being used to justify metaphorical reinterpretation. Then AI says the irony. Schriner's article warns against using Acts twenty seven merely as a life application metaphor weathering storms, but then turns around and uses it as a cosmic gospel metaphor. It's the same hermineutical mistake, just dressed in philological clothing. In both cases, the objective historical meaning of the text is displaced by symbolic meaning

49:25 and posed upon it. If Shriner's interpretive logic is correct, all long narratives would carry hidden or symbolic meaning. We would be forced to reinterpret the creation and Crucifixion accounts metaphorically. That would undermine the historical, redemptive and theiological foundation of the Bible itself. And that's why narrative length and detail can never be used as a hermonutical key. Meaning comes from the author's intent, the genre of the passage, and textual and canonical clues, not from how many verses is used to tell a story. And just remember this, versus were not in the original. There wasn't like, oh, there's twenty verses, sixty verses, There wasn't chapter divisions, and there weren't verses. So even using that as a way to try to well, look at how many verses are used, it's got to mean something. There weren't any verses, so why are you counting verses? Once again, we have Acts twenty seven being turned into a metaphor, and no, I would challenge you to go to the Gospel Coalition dot org if you want to spend three hundred and thirty nine dollars and go to their conference, by all means, go have a great time in Indianapolis, all right, By all means go. And I'm not even saying that in a sarcastic way. You want to support the conference industrial complex, you get your money, you go spend it, all right.

50:54 I think at some point people need put it. And if you support the conference industrial complex, don't tell me you're against celebrity culture and Christianity because you're supporting celebrity culture. Because what are you paying three hundred and thirty nine dollars for? Let me tell you. Let me see what to hear the Bible taught? Yeah, that means you're paying money to hear the Word of God taught. That's you don't see a problem with it. Okay, but go read the article Biblical theology helps explain Paul's ce journey. In Act twenty seven. We read the introduction. We read the first paragraph of the first point, which is Paul the Conqueror.

51:35 All right, and you can just see how he handles it in a symbolic way. Yeah, well we'll get into that. Yeah, I want to start taking it apart. But we're already at fifty one minutes. I've already done my point. We could start taking apart. You start taking it apart. Their second point, Paul's the new Jonah. Paul is the prophet. Oh, yeah, there we go. Oh, you can register to hear of that.

52:16 Patrick Shriner will lead a TGC virtual cohort, the Mission of the Triune God, a study through the Book of Acts, on Tuesdays, May the sixth through June the seventeenth, from two to three thirty pm Eastern Register Soon Register Registration ends April to twenty ninth. Hang on, Oh, here we go. Oh I can register today. Go here we go. Oh, I gotta put in my credit card. Oh, guess what. It's two hundred and ninety nine dollars. I have to pay two hundred and ninety nine. Oh my, now, I'm gonna lose it two hundred ninety nine dollars to hear this man walk through Acts on Fridays from two to three thirty pm from May to sixth to June to seventeenth.

53:16 It's a six week online cohort, six week study, six session, six session weekly online cohort. So it's just on Tuesdays. I guess for six weeks, and I'm gonna pay two hundred ninety nine dollars. And we just saw all the hermeneutical errors. Two hundred ninety nine dollars for that. Man, I gotta stop recording podcast episodes and giving them away. I gotta stop. I gotta do. You gotta just have some major ministry support you. And then you're like, hey, three hundred dollars and I'll give you six lessons. What Christianity.

54:06 I don't get it. It's it's a business, ladies and gentlemen. It's a business. And you know what's being sold right here, the preaching and teaching of God's Word. The preaching and teaching of God's Word. I have no words. Acts twenty seven is a historical narrative. It means what it says by the words that are used. Now you go to read the go to Gospel Coalition dot RGI. Read the article for yourself. Read it. It's going to sound good, it's going to sound philological, it's going to sound academic. It's going to sound smart, and who knows your pastor may see it has preach a sermon on Acts twenty seven in the next couple of weeks or months, and you're going to know exactly where it came from. All right, thanks listening, everyone, have a great Saturday. I'm gonna go give up. God bless h