"After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux." (Acts 28:11)
A philosophy known as "separation" is prevalent in certain fundamentalist circles. The idea is that the Christian must entirely separate himself from all sin and false worship. For example, not only ought one not attend the Roman Catholic mass, one ought have no Roman Catholic friends. The truly committed separated brethren will go the next step and refuse to associate with fellow fundamentalists who have failed to similarly separate themselves from Roman Catholicism.
Against all this stands Acts 28:11. When Paul's company left Malta, they did so in a ship whose figurehead represented religious worship and trust in Castor and Pollux, Greek gods who were thought to protect sailors. I think we can take for granted that the Apostle to the Gentiles did not share their idolatrous beliefs; nonetheless, he was willing to sail in a ship given over to idolatry.
Too bad Paul didn't have the advantage of sitting under fundamentalist teaching before he took up his missionary work.
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