“The City of Ephesus” by Sandra Glahn

Today, the city of Ephesus may be mostly ruins investigated by archaeologists and tourists. But at one time, it was the chief city of what we call Asia Minor. Rome made it the capital of the province of Asia, and it was an important center of religious worship of the goddess Diana or Artemis.  

Ephesus was also a significant setting for the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys. In the Book of Acts, it’s known for a riot caused by silversmiths angered by Paul’s healing of a possessed slave girl, for Paul’s letter to the church there, and his farewell discussion with the Ephesian elders, the one in which he warned about the wolves devouring the lambs. Timothy ministered there.

 

Dr. Sandra Glahn, who’s written more than 20 books and aims to make research accessible, has written The City of Ephesus: A Short History, a concise, well-written account of the story of Ephesus, focusing on the period from 100 B.C. to 100 A.D. 

 

Glahn details the importance of the temple of Artemis. The goddess was believed to protect the city, women in childbirth, and even a protector of wealth, serving as something like a depository. People came, she writes, from Europe, Asia, and Egypt to pay homage. When Paul cast the demon from the slave girl, it didn’t take much for the girl’s owner, resenting the loss of income, to transfer his anxiety to the silversmiths who profited from the Artemis cult.

 

She details the social, political, and religious contexts for the city during the 200 years between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D. And then she briefly describes what happened to Ephesus after the time of Paul. 

Sandra Glahn

 

Glahn has published a number of Bible studies on the books of Jonah, Ruth, Judges, Esther, Song of Solomon, Malachi, Luke, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians; the letters to the seven churches in Revelation and the Sermon on the Mount; several books on women’s issues; and even novels. She had a column on Substack and her own blog. Her podcast on Youtube is called The Chick Report with Dr. Sandra Glahn. She also conducts student tours or workshops in Italy, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Calvin College’s Festival of Faith and Writing.

 

The City of Ephesus isn’t an exhaustive study of the city and the times in which it flourished. But succeeds, and succeeds well, in its aim to provide a detailed overview. 

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Murders for June – Jeremy Black at The Critic Magazine.

 

Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House: A Redemptive, Modern Novel – Daniel Sundahl at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

The 120^th Anniversary of Vauxhall Bridge – A London Inheritance.

 

The Stamp Act and the American Revolution – Kyler Burd at Journal of the American Revolution.

“In This Way We Came to Rome: With Paul on the Appian Way”

Start with two verses – Acts 28:12-13. The apostle Paul, after the shipwreck and three-month stay on Malta, lands at Syracuse, and then sails to the seaport of Puteoli, about 150 miles south of Rome. His party stays with Christians in Puteoli for a week, “and in this way we came to Rome.”  

Luke, the writer of Acts and by implication part of Paul’s group, goes on to explain what happened to Paul in Rome – up to a point. The account ends without knowing if Paul’s appeal to Caesar was heard and acted upon, if Paul was then executed or released, presumably undertaking another missionary journey (some say to Spain), before returning to Rome at some point in the future and then executed by beheading (Roman citizens weren’t crucified). 

 

Glen Thompson, professor emeritus of New Testament and Historical Theology at Asia Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong, and Mark Wilson, founder and director of the Asia Minor Research Center in Turkey and a research fellow in biblical studies at the University of South Africa, were intrigued with that summary line, “and in this way we came to Rome.” It encapsulates about 150 miles, or about a week at a normal walking pace for Paul and his party. What would that have been like? What would they have seen? What can non-Biblical studies in history, geography, and social customs tell us about this journey?

 

The result is In This Way We Came to Rome: With Paul on the Appian Way. Using modern resources and historically contemporary sources (like the letters of Cicero), the co-authors reconstruct Paul’s 150-mile journey into something like a contemporary travelogue. It’s a fascinating story based on extensive research.

 

After an introduction, the book is divided into seven chapters, each explaining a day’s travel by foot along the Appian Way and the towns, buildings, monuments, roads, and geography that would be experienced. They then add a conclusion, speculating where, exactly, Paul might have stayed (or been required to stay) in Rome itself. 

 

The book is profusely illustrated with maps, diagrams, charts, and photographs. The surprise is not how little of that 2000-year-old journey is left, but how much. The Appian Way is still visible in many places, and many of the tombs, monuments, and even a few buildings still stand. And, of course, the mountains, hills, and inclines are still there, allowing the co-authors (and the readers) to easily imagine what it might have been like in roughly 60-62 A.D. 

 

If you’ve read any of the works by British archaeologist Sir William Ramsey, then you will have an idea of what In This Way We Came to Rome offers. It’s an impressive feat of scholarship.

Top photograph: The Appian Way, where Paul and his companions would have walked. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. 

 

Some Monday Readings

 

Ten reasons why we love Van Gogh – Martin Bailey at The Art Newspaper.

 

Charts – poem and artwork by Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

Bookish Diversions: Do Audiobooks Count? – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

On Marshall McLuhan – Benjamin Carlson at The Free Press.

 

Rembrandt & the Prodigal Son – Rod Dreher.

The table story

After Galatians 2:11-14 

We come together at the table,

the common table, shared

by all, the table where

diversity becomes unity,

sharing bread and wine

together in oneness.

 

And yet, even then.

 

They arrive to join

the meal, and they see

the inherent contradiction,

the uncleanness, of their

unity, because tradition

and old religious laws

refute this sharing,

deny this togetherness,

reject this unity.

 

Those who know better,

know the old has been

set aside, separate 

themselves as of old,

fearful of the condemnation

of men, fearful of losing

their reputation and

position. Even though

they know they are free,

they shackle themselves,

once again.

 

Photograph by Mona Masoumi via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Even the best among us

After Galatians 2:11-14 

An age-old story,

this surrender to temptation,

and yet not the most obvious

sin, but the one to which 

even the best among us

are susceptible, the sin

of hypocrisy. Because

we need, and often crave,

the approval of others,

their acceptance, or

because of what we

consider to our place

or position to be, we

deny the truth. We want

that acceptance, or we

fear the consequences

of confessing and 

upholding what we know

is true, even when we

have the experience

of recognition of our sins,

we stumble into the same

again. And each of us

hears our own rooster

crow three times.

 

Photograph by Jehyun Sung via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A ministry obvious

After Galatians 2:1-10 

It was dicey, this idea

of taking the word

to the Greeks, those

gentiles uncircumcised,

the people from whom

they’d been called out

and separated from.

This idea of the word

dying and rising even

for them took getting

used to. They all knew

gentiles who’d embraced

the old faith, or lived

according to the tradition;

some even accepted

circumcision. But this

was a new step, a step

into something unknown,

outreach without requiring

strict adherence to the old,

outreach to Greeks,

foreigners, gentiles, unclean.

And yet the course was

clear, and cleared,

the former persecutor

blessed to proceed. And

everything would change.

 

Photograph by Giorgio Encinas via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Companions on the journey

After Galatians 2:1-10 

After fourteen years,

two accompany him,

him the apostle called,

two who carried

their own reputations,

their own callings,

one a Jew, one a Gentile.

To meet with elders

accompanied by a Jew

never was, would be

an issue. It was

the gentile, both

a demonstration

of the word spreading

beyond its original

confines and a symbol

of the apostle’s calling

and ministry to come.

Some grumble and mutter:

surely circumcision, even

of a Gentile, demonstrates

faithfulness to tradition

and commands, a sign

of separation and

selection, being chosen

and set apart. But 

the grumbling is stopped,

the muttering subsides,

the ministry is approved

and blessed.

 

Photograph by Luke Ellis-Craven via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Fourteen years

After Galatians 2:1-10 

Fourteen years,

a time to prepare.

Fourteen years,

a time to reflect.

Fourteen years,

a time to study

and pray and be

taught.

The time passed,

the time arrived,

the time to begin

what one is called

to do, a new life,

a ministry, a purpose

anticipating change,

movement, travel,

hardship, misunderstanding

and persecution,

and accepting it

because it was a call

to be answered.

The man had learned

much after fourteen

years.

 

Photograph by S Migaj via Unsplash. Use with permission.

I tell my story

After Galatians 1:11-24 

I was the zealot,

the persecutor,

the destroyer, aiming

not to control or limit

but to eliminate and

obliterate forever

this aberration,

this heresy, what

I knew was the enemy.

I was zealous, zealous

for what I’d been taught,

the traditions handed

down, the tradition that

had saved us. And then,

a moment of light,

a blinding light, a voice

calling me, summoning

me from my wilderness.

My zeal vanished,

replaced and transformed.

An old man dies.

A new man is born.

 

Photograph by Universal Eye via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Grace and peace

After Galatians 1:1-5 

His authority set

and stated, he

pronounces grace

and peace to those

reading and listening.

It’s something he 

usually does,

this pronouncement,

but this time he

includes a reminder

of the source of grace

and peace, what was 

done to provide

grace and peace, and

thanksgiving for both

the act and the result.

 

Photograph by Kirill Pershin via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Greeting in authority

After Galatians 1:1-15 

A letter, a theme

begins with a statement

of authority and, also, 

a little history, a reminder,

rather pointed, not so much

of who he was or his training

and education, but what 

he was, a man called to do

what he was doing, not by 

the authority of friends or

institutions but called

by God. It is a letter

from the man, but it also

on behalf of those with him.

In other words, he’s not 

a lone voice, he has

the calling of God and 

the backing of those

in authority. He speaks

with the authority he’s

been granted. And it’s time

to fasten your seatbelts.

 

Photograph by Illiya Vjestica via Unsplash. Used with permission.

I am a steward

After Ephesians 3:1-13

I am a steward, 

a minister entrusted

with a gift, chosen

to bring the gift,

to bring the light,

to those previously

cut off, walled off.

I am a minister,

not through education

or training or merit

of my own, but only

through the gift

of grace given me.

The task set before me:

to preach those those

previously unreachable,

to bring the gift

into the light for all.

And if I suffer,

it is by grace.

And if I suffer,

do not lose heart.

And if I suffer,

rejoice in the gift

that is yours.

Photograph by Markus Spiske via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The right moment

After Ephesians 3:1-13

Perfectly timed,

the revelation

was unveiled,

the curtain opened,

the word explained

to include all 

who heard it, all

who listened, all

who heeded its call.

A new day, 

a day of wonder,

a frightened day,

dawned.

A new day,

bringing light,

bringing grace.

The mystery that was

is no longer.

Photograph by Eric Muhr via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The prisoner

After Ephesians 3:1-13

In chains behind bars,

clarity can grow

from a  small pinpoint

of light in the darkness

to a blinding sun.

So, too, can love, oddly

enough, love given

as a gift to share

to those considered

beyond the pale,

untouchable, tolerated

only because of numbers

but previously despised,

nonetheless. The gift was

revelation into a mystery,

that all are now equal,

favoritism leveled,

distinctions destroyed.

All are now chosen,

all are now heirs,

all are now people

of the promise.

Photograph by Schesco Nyarwaya via Unsplash. Used with permission.

In a cell, daily

After Ephesians 1:15-23

What is it to sit in a cell,

day after day, waiting

for some movement,

some progress, some

anything on your case,

but hearing only 

the silence of the night,

the scurrying of the rats,

the groaning and nearby

whimpering, punctuated

only by occasional 

shouts of guards and

slamming of doors?

It is endless waiting,

an existence of gray, 

until news is heard,

news from a thousand

miles away, news that

serves to remind that

a work once done

bears fruit and returns

as many more works

still being done, that

a visit years ago has

left growth and

flourishing behind it,

tangible expressions

of faith and love,

and you’re sitting

in that cell, desolation

crowding your soul,

and you hear of that

good thing, that life,

and you know that

your life is not in vain,

that this waiting, too, 

has its purpose and is

itself another good work.

Photograph by Michael Jasmund via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Logical progression

After Ephesians 1:15-22

He was nothing if not

logical, speaking and

arguing with that razor

sharp mind of his, and

the logic continues,

even though it’s not

an argument or

discussion, but a report,

some welcome news,

so he gives thanks,

he prays for them,

he prays very generally

and very specifically,

for them to receive

a spirit of wisdom 

and revelation, so that

hearts are enlightened,

hearts know the hope,

the hope that is calling,

the riches of inheritance,

the power extended,

the power of a death and

resurrection extending

above all other power

and authority for all time,

and all that in one breathless

this-follows-that sentence.

Photograph by Jeff Frenette via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The plan

After Ephesians 1:1-14

It was a plan,

it is a plan

for the fullness

of time. Envisioned

and created before

time, it had an aim,

a purpose, a means

and an end: unity,

oneness, union

of all things,

things in heaven,

things on earth.

It’s all rather

stunning, when

you consider it:

a plan for all time,

created before time

began, a plan 

to unify all things.

Photograph by Eleventh Wave via Unsplash. Used with permission.