Acts 19:23

Christianity, the Way (cf. Acts 19:9; Acts 9:2; Acts 16:17; Acts 18:25-26; Acts 22:4; Acts 24:14; Acts 24:22), had such an influence in Ephesian society that the local pagan worship suffered.

"Cassidy has rightly pointed out that the use of the phrase ’the Way’ ’identifies the disciples as constituting a socially cohesive movement, a movement arising out of and grounded in their shared faith in Jesus.’ [Note: Footnote 106: R. Cassidy, Society and Politics in the Acts of the Apostles, p. 95.] What is interesting about Luke’s use of this terminology is that we find it chiefly in connection with the church in Jerusalem and its environs (see Acts 9:2; Acts 22:4) and with the church in Ephesus and its environs (see Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23). This emphasizes that the movement is heading west, is translocal, and can incarnate itself both at the heart of Jewish culture and at the heart of the somewhat Romanized Hellenistic culture found in Ephesus." [Note: Witherington, p. 584.]

The antagonism that Luke proceeded to record was not opposition to Paul personally; it was a reaction to the effect of the gospel in Ephesus.

". . . this is the major unit in Acts showing how the transfomation of a community affects the culture at large, making it so nervous that it reacts to stop the progress." [Note: Bock, Acts, p. 614.]