The Bible NETWork ~ Impacting the World for Christ one post at a time!

I'd like to encourage bloggers to select specific ancient cities and describe whatever historical or apocryphal literature reports about the timing and nature of the beginnings of the Church (on a city by city basis). I do not suggest repeating what Paul has written in his letters, but rather I suggest additional, non-biblical info for those cities, and others. Certainly Acts, Paul, John and other letters are fine starting points, but obviously we all have that info. At our church we have members from India, and their stories about the travels and acts of the Apostle Thomas in India are fascinating (I think), even if they cannot be absolutely be proved. Some scholars believe he was probably martyred at Mylapore, India. I'll look for more info if anyone seems interested.

yes i wld love some more info for 7 churches that described in revelations!

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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G-d, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

My intent is to write about Ephesus, but I must admit that I have more enthusiasm than time for this proposal, and no scholarly credentials. Nevertheless, I really do intend to start entering what I can find about this ancient city, and I hope others will pick this or another city and encourage me by starting to enter what you can find. I presume there won't be many people who see this blog who know everything there is to know about even just one city, and if anyone did they could hardly put it all down here anyway.
I think it is fascinating to try to think through and imagine the life of the early Christians, and I am very curious what I can dig up and what others might provide. Last year we were able to pilgrimmage to Rome and several other Italian cities, and I'm a bit distracted in trying to write a separate blog about that.
But let's get started. Ephesus, of course, is the first of the cities addressed by St John in the Book of Revelation, the site of perhaps several visits by St Paul, and the church there was addressed by Paul in his New Testament letter and at least one previous letter which was not considered canonical. It was reported that St Timothy served the city as Bishop, and many believe St John the Evangelist resided there with St Mary the Mother of Jesus, and it may be she died there, or was assumed into Heaven. In Paul's day Ephesus was considered the greatest Roman metropolis in the province of Asia, but in 242 it was almost completely destroyed by the Goths and never recovered its importance.
Three early church councils were held in Ephesus, the first in 190 by Bishop Polycrates in an effort to settle on a date for Easter, although the action was repudiated by the Pope.
Like so much of life, even what we think is most certain can be widely disputed. The Acts reported visits by St Paul to Ephesus in his second and third missions. St Justin Martyr was reported converted in Ephesus. The Martyr and Bishop St Ignatius dc 107 referred to Ephesus in his letter fron Smyrna, and he was believed by some to be a disciple of St John. I have a good deal more to write, and hope to continue soon.

Ephesus History-#2
I regret that neither my schedule nor my friends are helping me find much new on history of the Early church in Ephesus.
For many Americans it is impossible to imagine the chaos, violence, and cruelty of the world before America came to power. Consider the history of Ephesus, the founding of which is wrapped in myth, but there is evidence that a substantial city, purportedly the site of the delphi oracle, was destroyed in c650BC by the Cimmerians.
Lydians next conquered the area in c560BC, but were themselves conquered by Persians in 547BC. Next Ionians conquered the city in 479BC, then Alexander the Great in 334BC.
Flooding and malaria caused the city to be abandoned and rebuilt several miles away in 292BC, and it was conquered by Seleucids in 281BC, then by Attalids in 190BC, and Romans in c100BC, who estimated the population at about 250 000. The city was conquered by the King of Pontus in 88BC and Roman records indicate 80 000 Roman citizens were all slaughtered after capture. The city was soon retaken by the Romans, and at 100AD the population was cited as more than 400 000, which was reported the second largest city in the world, after Rome, with civil structures, temples, stadiums, theatres and aqueducts rivaling those of Rome. In 203AD the city was virtually destroyed by the Goths, but substantially rebuilt by Constantine and controlled by Byzantium until it was overrun and sacked by Arabs in 654, 700, and 716. Turks conquered the city in 1090, and Byzantium recaptured it c1100. It was conquered by Arabs in c1304, then by Crusaders in 1308, Ottomans in 1390, Tammerlane in 1402, Turks in c1410, and reconquered by Ottomans in 1425, who gradually abandoned the city during the 15th century, largely because silt gradually filled the harbor and the low land became marshy and generally inhabitable.
The land is still unused, and only about 15% has been released to archeologists. Continuing excavation may provide currently unknown information about early Christian life. A small house discovered on nearby Mt Koressos is revered as the home St John acquired for the Virgin Mother Mary, and now serves as a chaple.

Hint:

Go back farther, to the ancient Greeks and Persian despots...

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Sorry, my last went out in process and my edit was denied. This is what should have gone out:

Go back to the ancient Greeks and the Persian (Iranian) despots. Yes, an interesting area of the world with a long history.
At the time of Rev., it was an important part of the Roman postal/trade route, I believe. The mystery of John the apostle generally centers on the nearby isle of Patmos. Was he a slave there? Working in the mines? I don't the answers but this is great stuff to read about.

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Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Here's a reference:

http://www.fbccs.org/resources/messages ... church.asp

_________________
Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,"
behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION" --
The apostle Paul, NASB

Off topic, I know, but is the world really so very devoid of chaos, violence and cruelty nowadays?

I honor the famous injunction by Winston Churchill, "never, never...never give up," but obviously have trouble with my priorities. Nevertheless, I maintain high hopes of finding Church histories of the major cities.
@serendipity, many thanks for comments, I hope to find and encourage discussion of history of the Church, rather than prior periods, except for basic context.
@andy, I encourage you to tell us any period you think was better. Where-ever did you read "devoid of chaos," certainly not here.

Back to the question, I have had an interest in Antioch of Syria where the believers were first called Christians. Based on the book of Acts, this was a very large and strong church. In addition, we have many manuscripts that are Syrian; it is my hypothesis that it was due to this church that we have so many Syrian manuscripts.

"Antioch played a major part in the propagation of Christianity. Soon after the crucifixion of Jesus, St. Peter and St. Paul visited the city. In spite of much persecution (including the martyrdom of St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch in 107 and the destruction of the churches by Diocletian), Christianity became and remained extremely strong." quote by Michael Grant, "A Guide to the Ancient World," p. 41

Antioch is mentioned in the Bible 21 times, 19 in Acts and once in Galatians and once in 2 Timothy.

I have not yet thoroughly researched this in the older historians such as Josephus, Tacitus, etc. but I have noticed some references in Eusebius' ecclesiastical history.

Funny thing. Our Bible study was just reading Acts 11 last night. The pastor read a note that said that Seleusus (sp?) son of Antiochus founded some 25 cities that all had "Antioch" as part of the name. More than one is referenced in the book of Acts.

According to the Pastor's notes, the population in the first century was over a million, but it's only about 3,500 now. If it's useful, I'll ask the pastor for web links on this information.

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Not all those who wander are lost.

Thanks, Garym, links would be much appreciated, especially where history of Christianity is related, which unfortunately has not usually been among best selling literature, but I hope we can someday change that. From my old (1980) Enc Brit, I find the following:
Antoich, Turkish Antakya, was the headquarters of St Paul c 47-55, and the church is considered by some to have been founded by Ss Peter and Paul, although as early as c40 AD the term Christian was first applied to the church here, and first founders appear unknown.
The city founding was reported as by Seleucus I Nicator in 300BC, a former general under Alexander the Great. Rome annexed the city in 64 BC and expanded it as a major city of the empire until c 260 AD when it was captured by a Susanian King and soon after by Palmyrians, until Rome recaptured it in 272. The Emporer Julian the Apostate used Antioch as headquarters during his efforts to eradicate Christianity (361-363). St John Chrystosom (c347-407) was born here, and pagan writings of Libanius survive describing the city in this period. Fire in 525, and earthquakes in 526 and 528 devastated the city, as did temporary invasions and capture by Persians in 540 and 611, and the Arab Caliphate in 637. Byzantines conquered the city in 969, Seluq Turks in 1084, Crusaders in 1098, Mamluks in 1268, Ottoman Turks in 1517.
In 5th cent the monophysite heresy gained control of most churches in the Syrian region, and riots and bloodshed were widespread when imperial officials from Constantinople attempted to regain orthodox control of churches.
The "Chalice of Antioch" found here in 1910 and supposed by some to be the lost chalice from the Last Supper, is dated by art historians as 4-5th cent.