Wednesday, December 29, 2021

AN UNDESIGNED COINCIDENCE Between Acts and Archaeology

 I recently learned a new undesigned coincidence while watching a documentary. The documentary ("The Last Apostle"--included with Amazon Prime) features a modern-day William Ramsay named Dr. Mark Fairchild. Fairchild is professor of New Testament at Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana. And the documentary follows Fairchild on a two-week trip through Turkey, following the footsteps of Paul. Very interesting and worth the two hours.

Anyways, in Acts 13:4ff, Paul and Barnabas meet the proconsul Sergius Paulus on the island of Cyprus and he becomes a believer. After they leave Cyprus, they sail to Perga and from there make the 3-4 week trek by foot to Pisidian Antioch. Towards the end of the documentary, Fairchild begins to talk about this event as they head towards Pisidian Antioch. And he says (in a rather matter-of-fact way) that after the proconsul Sergio Paulus is converted, he asks Paul and Barnabas to go to Pisidian Antioch to bring the Gospel to his friends and relatives. 

I didn't remember reading that, so I turned to Acts 13 and found that Acts says nothing about such a conversation--not even a hint. So I'm a little confused at this point. (Maybe I missed something Fairchild said, as I was doing something else as I was watching.) At any rate, after Fairchild reaches Pisidian Antioch, he heads to the local museum where they are housing a recently discovered inscription bearing the name Sergius Paulus! So Fairchild concludes rather confidently that Sergius Paulus is from Pisidian Antioch and that the reason that Paul and Barnabas travel to Pisidian Antioch is because Sergius Paulus pleads with them to do so. This makes good sense in light of the recent find of this inscription of Sergius Paulus at Pisidian Antioch--yet Luke does not even hint at it in Acts.

This is an interesting way in which archaeology fills in information that Acts does not give us but which makes perfect sense in light of what Acts does tell us. This does not happen with fiction. This happens with reliable eyewitness accounts. 

Check out this excellent article from Bible Archaeology Report that not only has a photo of the Sergio Paulus inscription featured in Fairchild's documentary but also another found near Pisidian Antioch and others from Cyprus (where Paul met Sergius Paulus in Acts 13).

Also, here is the link to The Last Apostle documentary where I first learned about this.

To learn more about what an "undesigned coincidence" is, why it is such a powerful evidence of reliable eyewitness testimony and to see many more examples....see my article here.

Elymas the sorcerer is struck blind before Sergius Paulus. Painting by Raphael. Public domain.