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THE RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE OF EPHESUS

appeared, the city was already famous as the shrine of a native naturegoddess, whose temple lay on the broad plain beside the Cayster to the northeast of the Græco-Roman Ephesus. Recent excavations have laid bare the foundations of this ancient sanctuary far below the huge platform of the great Greek temple of Artemis, which was built as early as the sixth century B.C. Out of the conflicts between the Greek colonists and the priestesses of the native temple grew the famous traditions of the Amazons who fought as men. In Paul's day the temple of Artemis stood seven feet above the plain on a great artificial platform, which had been built on the ruins of earlier temples. It is approached by ten steps, and covered an area of over eighty thousand square feet. Its huge columns rose more than sixty feet above the platform. Standing in solitary grandeur in the midst of the great plain, it appears to have well merited the signal honor of being reckoned as one of the seven wonders of the world. The oracles of the Greek goddess Artemis rivalled those even of Delphi, although they never appear to have exerted as wholesome a political or moral influence as did those of its more famous Hellenic rival. To the temple of Artemis came fugitives from all parts of Asia Minor, for within its sacred precincts they were immune from all pursuit or attack. It was also the great banking centre of that part of the Roman Empire, for kings as well as thousands of private individuals placed their wealth under the protection of the temple authorities, assured that it would be safely guarded. The gifts of thousands of pilgrims swelled the temple's income and supported the vast horde of virgin priestesses and celibate priests, of temple singers and hymn-writers, and of menial servants associated with this ancient shrine. The hierarchy of the temple and those whose income was dependent either directly or indirectly on the worship of the temple were always a powerful factor in the life of Ephesus. The city itself bore the coveted title of "Guardian (literally, Sweeper) of the temple."

III. Conditions that Confronted Paul at Ephesus. As early as 44 B.C. the Roman consul Dolabella had granted to the Jews of Ephesus the toleration of their religious rites, the privilege of Sabbath observance, and protection in making pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Jos., Ant., XIV, 1012, 25). Augustus had later confirmed these privileges. Paul, therefore, found a strong Jewish colony at this great commercial metropolis. As at Corinth, he also found them unwilling to accept a religion which was offered to Jew and Gentile alike and which set aside as obsolete many of the inherited laws of their race. Ephesus

was pre-eminently given up to magic and the religious quackeries inherited from the ancient religions. Many Jews were found in a cosmopolitan city like Ephesus who, for mercenary reasons, practised these magical arts. To this class belonged the strolling Jewish exorcists, the sons of Sceva, who figure in a popular tradition concerning Paul's work at Ephesus which the author of Acts has incorporated in his narrative. Ramsay is probably right in saying that "the writer is here rather a picker up of current gossip, like Herodotus, than a real historian" (St. Paul, p. 273). The story, however, records the indubitable fact that Paul here came into constant contact with this debased Judaism, in which popular demonology, angelology, and superstition were grotesquely commingled. Modern excavations have revealed hundreds of the magic papyri, or "Ephesian letters," as they are called because most of them were prepared in Ephesus. Although the prevailing religious life of Ephesus was shallow, the spirit of the city was on the whole tolerant. Here all religions of the East and West and of the North and South-Judaism, Gnosticism, the oriental mystery cults, Greek and Alexandrian philosophy, and nature-faiths— commingled; but the prevailing religious fashion was to single out and combine what was attractive in each. Hence, as long as Paul did not interfere with vested or financial interests, he was free to teach whatever and whenever and wherever he pleased and was sure of a liberal hearing.

IV. Paul's Method of Work at Ephesus. Again Paul's marvellous gift of adapting himself to any situation was well illustrated. The narrative in Acts states that he first went into the Jewish synagogue and endeavored by argument and persuasion to convince them that Jesus had inaugurated the Kingdom of God for which their race was longing, but that they rejected the way of thinking and living which he proclaimed. Then Paul adopted and followed a daily programme which evidently fitted the peculiar conditions of that ancient Ionian city in which the working hours for all classes began with sunrise and extended to eleven o'clock in the morning. The remainder of the day they spent in their homes or at public places. Paul apparently plied his trade of tent-maker during business hours. Then, when the lecture hours of the public philosophers and rhetoricians were over, he secured the lecture hall of one of them, a certain Tyrannus, and, as is recorded in the Beza text, argued publicly from eleven to four each day. In closely crowded Ephesus many were doubtless attracted to the lecture room of Paul the Christian philosopher. Jews

PAUL'S METHOD OF WORK

and Greeks, and many visiting strangers from the neighboring cities of Asia listened to his fervid appeals. In Ephesus Paul himself must have become intimately acquainted with the mystery-religions of Asia Minor from which are drawn many of the figures of speech that appear in his later letters. His epistle to the near-by church of Colossæ is an excellent illustration of the way in which he probably combated the prevalent gnostic doctrines.

At Ephesus Paul built on foundations already laid by his co-workers Priscilla and Aquila, if not by earlier Christian apostles. In thus building he departed from his general rule of action because he recognized the great strategic importance of Ephesus. Evidently he made it the base for missionary activity throughout Asia. Epaphras and probably Timothy were sent to establish a Christian community in Colossæ (Col. 11-7). Tychicus possibly did similar pioneer work in Laodicea (Eph. 62). The personal letter appended in chapter 16 to the Epistle to the Romans was evidently written to the Christians of Ephesus (cf., e. g., Rom. 165) from Corinth, after Paul had left the capital city of Asia. In it are found warm personal greetings addressed to his fellow workers in Asia. Twenty-four in all are mentioned in this short letter. It suggests how well and how broadly Paul's work at Ephesus was organized and that Ephesus was but the centre through which he sought to reach all the important cities in southwestern Asia Minor.

V. Paul's Conflict with the Pagan Cults. For a considerable period Paul's work seems to have met with little opposition. In his contest with the Jewish exorcists the sympathy of a majority of the Ephesian populace was with him, for the anti-Jewish feeling was evidently strong. He does not appear to have come into direct conflict with the authorities of the temple of Artemis. The Asiarchs, some of whom sympathized with Paul, were the official local representatives in the province of the worship of the emperor and of Rome. Their task at this period was apparently more political than religious, for the bitter conflict between Christianity and the Roman emperorworship still lay in the future. According to Acts, the first strong opposition to Paul's teaching came from organized labor and was due to the fact that his teachings had already gained a wide acceptance throughout the city. One of the favorite offerings of the pilgrims to the temple of Artemis was a votive image, which was presented to the goddess by the offerer and left within the temple precincts. These votive images represented the goddess seated on a throne. Those

offered by the poorer people were usually made of terra-cotta. The wealthy brought images of silver. The guild of the silversmiths, of which Demetrius was the spokesman, evidently manufactured these silver images. Contemporary inscriptions indicate that there were many guilds of manual workers in ancient Ephesus. Thus, for example, the guilds of the wool-workers, of the surveyors, and of the workmen before the gate are mentioned in the inscriptions. They constituted, therefore, an important class in this commercial metropolis and were able by the cry of class interest to stir the mob to action. While subject to the strict supervision of Rome, Ephesus still enjoyed the democratic organization of a typical Greek city. It had its senate and in addition its popular assembly. In the peculiar civic organization of the cities of Asia Minor, the recorder or clerk was the leading official, as appears in the narrative of Acts. This narrative is probably correct in stating that he opposed the class uprising, fearing Roman suspicion and possible interposition. Either through ignorance of facts or intentionally the author of Acts has failed to speak of the greater misfortunes which overtook Paul. In fact, the exact order of events is not entirely clear, although it is obvious that the scene in the theatre, at which Paul was not present, occurred during the latter part of his sojourn at Ephesus and was probably one of the causes of his ultimate departure. Paul himself declared that he fought with wild beasts at Ephesus and many are inclined to interpret these words literally. It is possible, however, that he had in mind the infuriated mob which sought his life and that of his associates. In a later letter, written to the Corinthian Christians from Ephesus, he states that he nearly lost his life there (II Cor. 1123). There can be little doubt that the closing months of his activity were marked by bitter opposition and persecution.

VI. The Results of Paul's Work at Ephesus. Paul spent more time and apparently suffered more bitter persecution at Ephesus than at any other city that he visited except Rome, where he at last gave his life for the cause he served. At Ephesus also he had to contend against a complex of false philosophies, as well as pagan superstitions. And yet it proved a most fruitful field. In writing from there to the Corinthians he declared: "A great door is opened to me" (I Cor. 169). There he was able to rally about him an exceedingly loyal band of helpers. In the Ephesian letter, appended to Romans, he speaks of "Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Jesus who for my life laid down their own necks" (Rom. 163, 4). Two others,

THE RESULTS OF PAUL'S WORK

Andronicus and Junius, shared a prison experience with him. Ephesus and the province of Asia in the succeeding centuries proved one of the great strongholds of Christianity, and yet the results of Paul's personal work there appear to have been far less permanent than elsewhere. We have no record that he ever again visited or wrote any other letter to the Ephesian Christians except the short personal note in Romans 16. Even in this he urges his fellow workers at Ephesus to keep their eye on "those who stir up dissensions and put hindrances in your way, contrary to the doctrine which you have been taught. Avoid them. Such creatures are no servants of Christ our Lord, they are slaves of their own base desires; with their plausible and pious talk they beguile the hearts of unsuspecting people." In Paul's later address to the Ephesian elders he is represented as warning them that "fierce wolves will get in among them, and they will not spare the flock"; also that "men of their own number will arise with perversions of the truth to draw the disciples after them" (Acts 2129, 30). These statements point to the many heretical and especially gnostic doctrines that sprang spontaneously from the already infected soil of Ephesus. In their earlier dealings with Rome the citizens of Ephesus had repeatedly shown themselves exceedingly fickle. The same impression regarding the Ephesian church is conveyed by the letter addressed to it in Revelation 24, 5. The two letters to Timothy, to whose care the Christian communities in Asia were intrusted, indicate that the loyalty to Paul which had characterized the other churches of his planting was lacking here. II Timothy 115 contains the sweeping statement: "You know that all who are in Asia have turned away from me." While their nominal allegiance appears to have been transferred from Paul to John the presbyter and other apostolic leaders, the pioneer work of Paul remained the foundation of the church in Asia, and the principles laid down by him reappear in the rich Johannine literature that later sprang from Ephesus (§ CLXIX).

(Rom.

§ CLX. PAUL'S INTERPRETATION OF JESUS' SAVING WORK Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, Greetset apart for the gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ ing our Lord, through whom I have received grace and a com- 1,5-7) mission to promote obedience to the faith for his name's sake among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all in Rome who

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