Topical Bible: Idolatry: People of Lystra

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The city of Lystra, located in the region of Lycaonia in Asia Minor, is notably mentioned in the New Testament as a place where the Apostle Paul and Barnabas encountered significant challenges related to idolatry. The account of their visit to Lystra is recorded in Acts 14:8-20, where the cultural and religious context of the city is vividly illustrated.

Lystra was a pagan city, steeped in the worship of the Greek pantheon. The people of Lystra, like many in the Greco-Roman world, practiced idolatry, which involved the veneration of various deities represented by idols. This practice was deeply ingrained in their daily lives and religious observances.

During their missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas arrived in Lystra and began preaching the Gospel. A significant event occurred when Paul healed a man who had been lame from birth. Witnessing this miracle, the people of Lystra reacted with great excitement and exclaimed, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" (Acts 14:11). They identified Barnabas as Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods, and Paul as Hermes, the messenger god, because he was the chief speaker.

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was located just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. This reaction underscores the depth of idolatrous practices in Lystra, where the miraculous was immediately interpreted through the lens of their polytheistic beliefs.

Paul and Barnabas, horrified by the prospect of being worshiped as gods, tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, crying out, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them" (Acts 14:15). Their response highlights the Christian message of turning away from idolatry to worship the one true God, the Creator of all.

Despite their efforts to redirect the people's worship, the apostles faced significant opposition. Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived in Lystra and persuaded the crowd to turn against Paul, leading to his stoning and subsequent expulsion from the city. This incident illustrates the volatile nature of idolatrous societies when confronted with the transformative message of the Gospel.

The account of Paul and Barnabas in Lystra serves as a poignant example of the challenges faced by early Christians in spreading the Gospel in a world dominated by idolatry. It also reflects the broader biblical theme of idolatry as a fundamental departure from the worship of the true God, a theme consistently addressed throughout Scripture.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Acts 14:11,12
And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

Paul and Barnabas in Lystra.
... however, with difficulty, that they prevailed upon the people to abstain from offering
sacrifice to them. The men of Lystra were addicted to idolatry, in which ...
/.../dick/lectures on the acts of the apostles/lecture xv paul and barnabas.htm

Deified and Stoned
... or Roman's was 'sorcery'; these simple people's, like many ... the cry of the multitudes
at Lystra gets nearer ... The horror of idolatry, which was their inheritance ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/deified and stoned.htm

Berea and Athens
... with an ignorant, credulous populace, as at Lystra, but with a ... The senses of the
people were entranced by the ... saw the city wholly given to idolatry, his spirit ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 23 berea and athens.htm

Acts XIV
... given him the inferior place in their idolatry, gave him ... to Iconium, and from Iconium
to Lystra, wading into ... had suffered, to excite the contempt of the people? ...
/.../mcgarvey/a commentary on acts of the apostles/acts xiv.htm

A Divine Saviour.
... Many people have not found out that Christ has risen from ... in the flesh we are guilty
of idolatry in worshiping ... Acts we are told the heathen at Lystra came with ...
/.../moody/the way to god and how to find it/chapter v a divine saviour.htm

Acts xiv. 14, 15
... should needs be thought gods, and introduce idolatry, the very ... Among a people that
had so honored the Apostles ... Derbe, and then comes back to Lystra and Iconium ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on acts and romans/homily xxxi acts xiv 14.htm

1 Cor. 15:3-4. Foundation Truths.
... of the heathen, for luxury, immorality, and idolatry. ... He addressed very different
hearers, and people of very ... in Pisidia, or Iconium, or Lystra, or Philippi ...
/.../the upper room being a few truths for the times/chapter iv 1 cor 15 3-4.htm

Hebrews xi. 20-22
... Lystra] the men were falling into greater idolatry, but in ... And there it was the entire
people: here the King ... But those others [at Lystra] did not act thus, but ...
/.../homilies on the gospel of st john and hebrews/homily xxvi hebrews xi 20-22.htm

The Ordination of Paul and Barnabas; their Missionary Tour in Asia ...
... unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I ... status, as one of
the "chosen people," by the ... to give a species of sanction to idolatry, as well ...
/.../killen/the ancient church/chapter v the ordination of.htm

Acts xix. 21, 23
... See how, wherever there is idolatry, in every case we find ... by saying, "This Paul
hath turned away much people, saying, that ... 982] There (at Lystra) they brought ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on acts and romans/homily xlii acts xix 21.htm