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Can I Get a Witness?

David Anguish

At a time when alternative views vying for their place alongside Christianity include some that actively seek to discredit the faith, we are wise to review how the first Christians responded to the challenges in their world.

Think about the audiences Paul tried to persuade. In the Jewish communities, where he typically went first (cf. Acts 13.46; 17.1, 10; 19.8), he encountered fellow monotheists who believed God had spoken in the Scriptures and revealed moral absolutes. His primary aim in those settings was to show that Jesus had fulfilled the promises of the Scriptures (cf. 13.16–41). But the situation was different when he reasoned with non-Jews. With the exception of God-fearing Gentiles like Cornelius who, without proselyting, accepted the one God and the moral teachings and religious practices of the Jews (cf. Acts 10.2; 13.16, 26), the Gentiles Paul met would have been incredulous at the idea that there was only one God (cf. Ferguson 1993, 512–517; Hurtado 2010, 27–37). So Paul had to convince them that “the God who made the world and everything in it … is Lord of heaven and earth [and] does not live in shrines made by hands,” and not to “think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination” (Acts 17.24, 29).

But convincing their hearers about monotheism and to stop participating in polytheistic rituals was not the preachers’ only challenge when reasoning with Gentiles. They also had to persuade them to cease the “unrestrained behavior, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, [and] carousing” common in the Greco-Roman culture (1 Pet 4.3; cf. Rom 1.24–32; 1 Cor 6.9–11; 1 Tim 1.8–10). In mid-first century Ephesus, for example, where the silversmith Demetrius protested Paul’s affirmation “that gods made by hand are not gods” (Acts 19.26), Paul was confronted with a cosmopolitan population of 200,000–250,000 people. The city’s principal deity was the goddess Artemis, but as many as fifty other deities were also honored, including the cult of Dionysius whose worship featured frenzied rituals and revelry. Magic, occult arts, and emperor worship were also among the plurality of choices (cf. Arnold 2002, 301–303; McRay 1991, 250–261; Rogers 1979, 249–257).

In that climate, we readily understand why Paul would describe the Christian mission in terms of a war, even as he expressed confidence that the “weapons” the believers were using in the conflict were more powerful than those employed by their opponents and would enable them “to demolish arguments and take every thought captive for Christ” (2 Cor 10.3–5). The nature of the believers’ weapons is revealed in multiple words used in Acts to describe their preaching. Foremost among them are the words translated “witness” and “testify.”

According to Acts 1.8, the last thing Jesus told his apostles before the cloud took him from their sight was that they would be his “witnesses [μάρτυς, martys] in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Although other prominent themes in Acts have been proposed as the theme of the book (e.g., the conversions, the role of the Holy Spirit), none appear as consistently throughout the writing as the witness theme (Oster 1989, 40–45). The noun martys appears thirteen times (1.8, 22; 2.32; 3.15; 5.32; 6.13; 7.58; 10.39, 41; 13.31; 22.15, 20; 26.16). The verbs μαρτυρέω (martyreō, 11 times), μαρτύρομαι (martyromai 2 times), and διαμαρτύρομαι (diamartyromai, 9 times) appear twenty-two times (2.40; 6.3; 8.25; 10.22, 42, 43; 13.22; 14.3; 15.8; 16.2; 18.5; 20.21, 23-24, 26; 22.5, 12; 23.11; 26.5, 22; 28.23). Two related nouns meaning “testimony” (μαρτυρία, martyria in 22.18; μαρτύριον, martyrion in 4.33; 7.44) appear three times.

In their various forms, the witness words are used about the same number of times in each of the book’s three sections (chapters 1–9, 10–20, 21–28). Also, nearly every main character named in Acts is described by one of the words: Peter and the twelve in 1.8, 22; 2.32, 40; 3.15; 4.33; 5.32; 10.39, 41–43; 13.31; Stephen in 22.20; and Paul in 18.5; 20.21, 24; 21.15, 18; 23.11; 26.16, 22; 28.23 (notice especially those that appear in the extended account of Paul’s arrest, trials, and journey to Rome in chapters 21–28) (Oster 1989, 40–45).

As we look closer at these words and their use, we gain insight into: (1) the nature of the first disciples’ preaching, as seen in the meanings of the words; and (2) the content of their testimony, that is, what they testified to or about. We’ll explore those ideas in future articles.

Works Cited

Arnold, Clinton E. 2002. “Ephesians.” Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Vol. 3. Zondervan.

Ferguson, Everett. 1993. Backgrounds of Early Christianity. 2nd ed. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

Hurtado, Larry W. 2010. God in New Testament Theology. Library of Biblical Theology. ed. Leo Perdue. Abingdon Press.

McRay, John. 1991. Archaeology and the New Testament. Baker Academic.

Oster, Richard. 1989. “An Overview: Walking Through Acts, 1.” Acts, The Spreading Flame: An Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. Harding University’s 1989 Lectures. Harding University.

Rogers, Cleon L., Jr. 1979. “The Dionysian Background of Ephesians 5:18.” Bibliotheca Sacra. 146: 249–257.

All Scripture quotations not otherwise designated are from the CSB. Italics in biblical quotations are added by the author. Permission is granted to reprint original materials with the credit line, “Reprinted from David Anguish, ‘The Berea Page,’ January 6, 2026.”

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The Berea Page 2026 As a reminder, The Berea Page focuses mainly on the themes of the evidence for and teaching of Jesus and his way, faithful endurance of trials and sufferings, the relationship between faith and truth, and periodic studies of other texts or topics. In planning the twenty-two issues for 2026, I’ve identified several study areas, including (but not limited to): The early church’s witness/testimony as seen in Acts​ Presenting our message in a resistant culture Why we can trust the Gospels On Bible reading in church assemblies Back to the Bible: an ideal worth pursuing Lessons from Jesus' wilderness temptations "It Is Well with My Soul" — a personal reflection Given the detailed nature of the above themes and article word limits (750–825 words), I will likely not get to all I've listed for 2026. But each article will be written to encourage thoughtful reflection that hopefully deepens and strengthens understanding and faith. How can you help? Please keep reading Please offer periodic feedback; it stretches and deepens my thinking. Please encourage other Bible students to sign up for their free subscription (all new subscribers will receive a free epub copy of my book, Getting Acquainted with the Bible). May each of you receive God’s richest blessings in 2026. ​

Featured from davidanguish.com​

From the Articles for Teaching and Edification, Bulletin Articles page (here), “"Is It Really Possible?" (here) — Encouragement for Christians seeking to live faithfully in a resistant culture (Faith Meets Culture series)

Think about it …

​ “So long as a man confines his ideas of Christ to a rather misty hero figure of long ago who died a tragic death, and so long as his ideas of Christianity are bounded by what he calls the Sermon on the Mount (which he has almost certainly not read in its entirety since he became grown-up), then the living truth never has a chance to touch him. This is plainly what has happened to many otherwise intelligent people.… For it is not as though the evidence had been examined and found unconvincing: it had simply never been examined." ~ J. B. Phillips. 1967. Ring of Truth: A Translator’s Testimony. The Macmillan Company, 16 Image by Peggy & Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

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Blessings to all,

David

​www.davidanguish.com​