The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. (Acts 17:10-12 ESV)
What is your impulse when you hear a view—theological, political, or social—that diverges from your own? Do you truly listen, considering what they have to say? Or do you shut down, in a sense…perhaps, mentally rebutting what you presume to know will be said?
We could learn from the Bereans in Acts 17. Luke, the author of Acts, commends them for a reason. If we pay close attention, we may be surprised at what we find. Among some, the phrase, “being a good Berean” carries the connotation of maintaining a posture of skepticism until one has confirmed a teaching as Scriptural. Some may imagine the Bereans as standing with arms folded, stone-faced, as they listened to Paul.
But is this the best way of understanding the Bereans and why Luke commended them? The passage above suggests that the Berean mindset would be best described as a Scripture-fortified open-mindedness, which we would do well to adopt.
The Bereans were commended for open-mindedness. Luke describes them as “more noble than those in Thessalonica.” Most Greek lexicons indicate that the word underlying “noble” is best defined as “open-minded” (which is why the CSB, NET, NKJ, and others translate it the way they do). Why compare the Bereans to the Thessalonians in this way? Earlier in the chapter, the Thessalonian Jews didn’t give Paul’s message a hearing at all: But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob… (Acts 17:5 ESV). That is, the Thessalonians were closed-minded (not to mention violent!)
Conversely, the Jews of Berea “received the word with all eagerness.” (Here, receiving the word is not synonymous with believing the word. We know because v12 indicates that only a subset of those who received the word believed it.) They received the word in the sense that they truly listened. They took Paul’s message in. There was not a mental rebuttal taking place. No, they “eagerly received” what he had to say. This is simply another way of saying they were open-minded. Again, Luke commends them for this. It is a good thing to maintain a posture of willingness to hear a view that we don’t currently hold.
This trait was unique enough in ancient times for Luke to comment on it and commend it. How much more unique is it today? How many of us dismiss a view out of hand the moment we can tell it is beginning to diverge from ours? Regarding theological issues…are we eager to hear other views? Is the baptist afraid to read about paedo-baptism? Is the paedo-baptist afraid to read about credo-baptism? Is the dispensationalist afraid to hear about post-millenialism and vice-versa? Are we afraid to listen regarding issues of lesser and greater importance than these?
But isn’t open-mindedness dangerous? Aren’t we opening ourselves up to false teaching? Not if we pay attention to Luke’s commendation of the Bereans.
The Bereans’ open-mindedness was Scripture-fortified. Their eagerness to hear what Paul had to say was qualified with this crucial clause, “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Apparently, the Bereans held that if Paul’s teaching that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 17:3) was to be believed it must cohere with the Scriptures. In other words, their open-mindedness was not an openness to believe anything. Rather, it was an eagerness to hear anything, believing only what coincided with Scripture. Upon examining the Scriptures to see if Paul’s teaching was true, the Bereans found it to be faithful. Many of them therefore believed… (Acts 17:12 ESV).
Imagine if they hadn’t been so “noble,” employing a Scripture-fortified open-mindedness. They may have been like those in Thessalonica, dismissing the message out of hand, rejecting the gospel, and dying in their sins. They would have missed the great “Yes” of God (2 Cor 1:20).
Certainly, there are two extremes to be avoided. One is an open-mindedness with no guardrails which accepts anything it might fancy. Indeed, some in the world—some even in the church—are open-minded in this sense. They are blown about by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14). The other danger is a mind closed to anything other than what one already knows or believes. This is the mind cut off from much-needed correction, and therefore, growth.
A mind fortified with Scripture, committed to believing only what coincides with Scripture, is free to eagerly hear anything, knowing that the Scriptures will protect from any error in the proposed view AND that the proposed view may expose a previously unknown error in one's own mind.
But why do I need to listen to other views if I have the Word? Can't I just let my thinking be guided by the Scriptures?
These other views often expose our own wrong handling of the Word. The view of the other person may be a more faithful representation of the truth than my own view. (As it was in the case of the Bereans.) If that is so, I should be eager to hear it.
May we all embrace the true Berean mindset. Indeed, the eagerness to hear other views, believing anything that coincides with Scripture, is what leads to the correction of one’s own errant views and leads to greater biblical fidelity.
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