Is it possible this is the Centurion named Cornelius in Acts? It says how strong his faith is, and Jesus noted how strong the faith of the Centurion was compared to Israel. Has there ever been any discussion of that?
Posted Nov 27, 2019, 7:44 AM UTC
No clue but I'm interested in what others with better Biblical and historical knowledge have to say.
Outstanding question and thoughtful answer also.
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The Centurion was at Capernaum (Mat 8:5). Cornelius is from Caesarea. These two places are about 38 miles (60 Kms) away. So its highly unlikely both are the same..
Doesn’t appear to be the same Cornelius, Jesus addressed the centurion as already being a believer when He says “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
The centurion in acts was converted to christianity by Peter, according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon.
Good question 👍🏻
And a good answer. Well said.
Cornelius was a devout man who feared God even before Peter came though according to acts: "a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God."
Could it not be the case that this is the faith Jesus talked about in Mattew and that Cornelius did already believe, but hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet?
What is the Holy Spirit? Is it not the Truth, the Spirit of God the Father, Christ is the Truth... so what I’m getting at is it’s impossible to have Faith (the gift of God and the to Believe something other than Self) and not also have been baptized with the Holy (Mark 1:8, Acts 1:5, 11:16, Luke 3:16) Spirit.
It is possible, but not probable to have been the same person, but if it is; he would have had to moved Caesarea, the account in Matthew takes place in Capernaum.