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  COMMENTARY ON ACTS 9
  by Chuck Smith
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DESCRIPTION
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CONTENT
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When Alexander the Great conquered the world, he left pockets of Greek
culture throughout the world. So these pockets of Greek culture became
very influential. And even though the Roman Empire conquered the Grecian
Empire, yet the Grecian culture remained as a dominant characteristic
throughout the world. So the world was under the Roman Empire, but it
was dominated by Grecian culture.

Now the Grecian culture was more towards the arts, and in contrast, the
Hebrew culture was very legalistic. The Pharisees were representatives
of the Hebrew culture, very strict, very legalistic. They tended towards
the legal side, whereas the Grecian was more cultural, more interested
in the various forms of art and all. Thus, there was a real conflict in
these cultures.

Now during this time, Israel was divided. The Jews were divided into the
Hellenists and into the Hebrews. All Jews but the Sadducees were of the
Hellenists culture. They were the materialists, whereas the Pharisees
were followers of the Hebrew culture. Thus, for a man to effectively
reach the Jewish people, he had to have an understanding of the Grecian
culture, but he also needed a keen understanding of the Hebrew culture.
So God chose Paul as that instrument.

Paul was born in the city of Tarsus, which was one of the centers of the
Grecian culture. And up until the age of fourteen, though he was Hebrew
of the Hebrews, that is his parents were of the Hebrew culture, very
strong Pharisees, Paul\

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/chuck-smith/commentary-on-acts-9/
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