And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”
Festus admits Paul's words rest on good reason, yet calls them madness anyway, not from any absurdity he can point to, but because his pride refuses what he does not grasp. Satan has blinded his mind, so the Gospel remains hidden from him, and he counts the man who speaks it a frenzied fool. Many do the same today, fleeing the word of God as if it would drown them in confusion.
AI summary
Paul had scarcely touched the power of Christ's death and resurrection, the very heartbeat of his cause, when Festus cuts him off, calling him mad. But this is the expedient of a coward: by declaring Paul insane, Festus avoids both condemning him as a criminal and believing him as a preacher. A convenient escape, but a contemptible one.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 26:24-32
I speak the words of truth and soberness, not my own imaginings, but what Christ Himself spoke, what the Spirit of truth leads into and blesses. The Gospel and all its doctrines are solid truth, not fictions or shadows; they are words faithful and sure, grounded in Scripture itself.
AI summary