AI Summary
5 min readIn the first-century Greco-Roman world, when a god spoke through a human, the human was expected to go offline—to become a passive instrument, a ventriloquist dummy, a channel whose own mind was vacant. The most famous example was the Oracle at Delphi, where priestesses inhaled vapors from a crack in the earth and then, according to the historian Plutarch, the god "entered into the body of these prophets and prompted their utterances, employing their mouths and voices like a musical instrument." This episode of BibleProject argues that the New Testament presents a fundamentally different model of prophecy—one in which the human and the divine do not compete but unite, and the prophet does not lose their mind but becomes more fully themselves.
Two competing visions of divine speech
The hosts, Tim Mackie and John Collins, lay out two cultural conceptions of how a god speaks through a person. The Greek model, epitomized by Delphi, treats the human as a disposable vessel. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, writing in the first century, adapted this view to interpret biblical stories: when God put Abraham into a "deep sleep" in Genesis 15, Philo called it ekstasis (ecstasy), a trance in which the mortal mind is forcibly removed to make room for the divine. Philo stated plainly that "it is contrary to holy law for what is mortal to dwell with what is immortal."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:05) **Introduction: The Gift of Prophecy** - The hosts set up the episode's focus on prophecy as a key manifestation of the Holy Spirit in early Christian communities, contrasting it with the Greco-Roman model of divine inspiration.
- 2 (02:47) **Recap: Spirit 1.0 and Spirit 2.0** - Tim and John review the podcast series' framework of the Spirit, distinguishing between the life-sustaining spirit (1.0) and the empowering spirit (2.0) that creates a bridge between heaven and earth.
- 3 (09:25) **The Culture of Early Jesus Communities** - The hosts describe the vibrant, Spirit-filled environment of the early church, where prophecy was a natural and valued expression of their shared life.
- 4 (14:12) **Pentecost: A New Model of Spirit-Filled Speech** - Luke's account of Pentecost is analyzed as a deliberate balancing act between ecstatic experience and coherent, meaningful communication.
- 5 (17:26) **The Oracle at Delphi: The Greco-Roman Counterpoint** - Tim introduces the Oracle at Delphi as the dominant cultural model of prophecy in the first century, which the New Testament authors were consciously reinterpreting.
- 6 (23:03) **Philo of Alexandria: A Jewish Reinterpretation** - The Jewish philosopher Philo is presented as an example of someone who reinterpreted the Hebrew Bible through the lens of this Greek, ecstatic model of inspiration.
- 7 (29:36) **Paul's Teaching on Prophecy and Tongues in 1 Corinthians** - The hosts turn to Paul's letters, showing how he navigates the chaotic Corinthian church by distinguishing between prophecy and speaking in tongues, while emphasizing love and order.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Spirit of God E12 — In early communities of Jesus’ disciples, prophecy was a significant manifestation of the Spirit, one which continued for centuries to follow. But this wasn’t the only kind of prophecy happening in the first-century Greco-Roman world. So how was prophecy in the New Testament Church different from the surrounding culture? In this episode, Jon and Tim explore the Apostle Paul’s teaching on prophecy in local churches and its ultimate aim of love.
CHAPTERS
- Recap and Setup for New Testament Prophecy (0:00-9:25)
- Prophecy at Pentecost and in the Greco-Roman World (9:25-30:32)
- Tongues and Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14 (30:32-45:22)
- Prophecy as Divine Perspective and Loving Discernment (45:22-1:01:21)
OFFICIAL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
View this episode’s official transcript.
REFERENCED RESOURCES
- Tim mentions our series on the theme of the Chaos Dragon.
- Filled with the Spirit by John R. Levison
- The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist
- The First Epistle to the Corinthians (The New International Greek Testament Commentary) by Anthony C. Thiselton
- Tim references a C.S. Lewis essay, which can be found in his book, The Weight of Glory
- Check out Tim's extensive collection of recommended books here.
SHOW MUSIC
- “Faithful” by Lofi Sunday feat. Marc Vanparla
- “The Kingdom” by Lofi Sunday feat. Marc Vanparla
- “Pleasant Places” by Lofi Sunday feat. Yoni Charis
- BibleProject theme song by TENTS
SHOW CREDITS
Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Tyler Bailey and Aaron Olsen edited today’s episode and provided the sound design and mix. JB Witty writes the show notes. Our host and creative director is Jon Collins, and our lead scholar is Tim Mackie.
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