Overview
Nolle prosequi—the decision to abandon legal proceedings—appears in Acts 18 when the Roman proconsul Gallio refused to hear charges brought against the apostle Paul by Corinthian Jews. Rather than entertaining their complaint, Gallio dismissed the case, demonstrating judicial authority and impartiality in religious matters.
Key Scriptures
"But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat" (Acts 18:12, ESV). "When Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, 'If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to bear with you; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things'" (Acts 18:14-15, ESV). "And he drove them from the judgment seat" (Acts 18:16, ESV).
Application
Believers can take confidence that God's providence sometimes works through civil authorities who decline to persecute the church, even when religious opposition is fierce.