I must admit that Paul is growing on me a little bit here - but it's probably because he's beginning to speak my language. I like the arena of people who sit around and talk about philosophy all day - wondering why and seeking truth.
The problem with this approach - with my most comfortable approach - is highlighted in v. 21..."Now [they] would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new." At the end of Paul's wonderful arguments, some scoffed and some said "we will hear you again about this". Almost as a postscript we learn that a few people became believers.
Discussion and philosophy will only get you so far. Faith is meant to be lived. And it is shared by experience and by others seeing how we live. Faith cannot be argued. Which is a bummer, because I find it much easier to argue faith issues than to live them. It's easier to talk about mercy than to show it, to discuss the ramifications of forgiving each other than to do it. Even on those rare occasions when the necessary scriptures for a situation come to me - they do not have the power that lived examples of faith have.
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