[Greek] ἀναπείθω (anapeithō), [Latin] persuadere: to persuade, to incite, to stir up, to induce; Acts 18:13
The Apostle Paul: painting by Rembrandt (1657). The Jews are incited by Paul’s teaching that Jesus is the Messiah in the synagogue.
Background information:
Greek Hellenism: This term means to persuade, to convince, to move to do something, to seduce, to mislead, and to bribe. Xenophon’s Memorabilia 1.2.52 states “Thus by leading the young to think that he excelled in wisdom and in the ability to make others wise, he had such an effect on his companions that no one counted for anything in their estimation in comparison to him.” Herodotus’ The Histories 1.124 states “Son of Cambyses, persuade the Persians to rebel, and lead their armies against the Meded, then you have your wish whether I am to command the army against or some other man.” Aristophanes’ Peace 622 states “They hatched a thousand plots to pay you no more dues and gained over the chief citizens of Sparta.”
Mythology: The Greek goddess of persuasion is Peitho. The Roman goddess of persuasion is Suada.
Old Testament: This term means to lead astray, to delude, to seduce, and to deceive. If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath, he comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this house (1Kgs.8:31). You are exacting usury each from his brother (Neh.5:7). The enemy will not deceive him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him (Psa.89:22).
New Testament: This term means to persuade and to incite. In Corinth, Paul stayed with Aquila and Priscilla, who were fellow tent-makers. Every Sabbath Paul entered into discussions in the synagogue attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks. In his preaching Paul testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. Not surprisingly, this provoked the ire of the Jews. As a result, Paul left to focus his efforts on evangelizing the Gentiles. Paul moved elsewhere. In a vision, Jesus gives Paul further encouragement to continue his ministry. The Jews later rose up together against Paul and brought him to the Roman tribunal and claimed that Paul was inducing people to worship God contrary to the law. But the Roman tribunal ordered the Jews to take care of this Jewish doctrinal matter among themselves.
Scripture:
“This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the Law.” Acts 18:13
The Jews rose up in anger against Paul for his teachings. The Jews attempted to point out Paul was preaching Christianity, a religion not recognized by the Roman state. However, the Roman tribunal did not accept this argument. The tribunal ordered the Jews to settle this doctrinal matter among themselves.
Etymology: In this Greek term anapeitho, the ana- prefix indicates intensity or an evil sense. Suasion, derived from the Latin verb suadere, means advocacy and support. In the Latin verb persuadere, the per- prefix also indicates intensity and the successful sense of persuasion.
Conclusion:
Persuade, persuasion, persuasive, suasion, suasive
To be honest, I was not exactly sure if I was going to be able to use this term for one of my posts. I knew that this term means to persuade. Essentially, I was persuaded to further investigate this term. Xenophon points out that a charismatic leader can often inspire and motivate others to follow him. Herodotus points out that persuasion is one component of military strategy.
In the Old Testament, this term takes on a more negative sense in deceiving, seducing, and leading astray.
In the New Testament, Paul was evidently very effective in evangelizing and converting the Jews. As a result, the Jews rose up hoping that the Roman authorities would help them put a stop to this. The Roman tribunal did not want to get involved with this Jewish doctrinal matter.
Donald Trump, a business man and outsider, was able to get elected President. Even as a non-political outsider, he has been effective in his accomplishments. Now the President has quite often been accused of inciting riots, division, and racism in this country. Now the President’s opponents (and critics) now accuse him for accomplishing this. (Yet what about the personal responsibility on the part of these criminals!)
As with any election, politics and faith come to the forefront. Fr. James Altman has certainly become a sensation in the matters of how should a faithful Catholic (and Christian) vote in this election. In a sense, he is “inciting” us into reflecting about how our faith must come into play when voting for a candidate. Fr. Altman makes a very compelling message in his Youtube video “You cannot be a Catholic and a Democrat”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-7eoTN2vNM He has both provoked criticism and yet received an outpouring of support from many others.
I hope this post also provokes your thoughts in reflecting on this.