the door of faith was finally opened to the Gentiles. During the "rest"
which the churches enjoyed after Saul's conversion, and while the Jewish
leaders were too busy with the alarming state of their relations with
Rome to disturb the disciples, Peter went forth to visit the churches.
1. He came down to Lydda, now _Ludd_, on the border of the Shefelah, and
restored to health Æneas, a paralytic. (Acts 9:32, 33.) 2. From Lydda he
was summoned to Joppa, the principal seaport of Palestine, where
Tabitha, or Dorcas, "the gazelle," had died. She was restored to the
weeping church, and Peter remained in Joppa "many days." (Acts 9:43.)
3. He was called to Cæsarea by the Roman centurion, Cornelius, who,
under Peter's ministry, accepted Christ, received the endowment of the
Holy Spirit, and was baptized into the church by the apostle, without
reference to Jewish requirements (Acts 10); thus marking an era in the
history of the church. 4. Peter returned to Jerusalem, and there met the
complaints of the Judaistic element in the church, by showing that God's
hand had led in the conversion of Cornelius and the reception of
Gentiles into the church. (Acts 11:1-18.) This journey is indicated by a
red line on the small map, lower right-hand corner.
IV. =Barnabas' Journey.= (Acts 11:19-30.) After the death of Stephen,
certain disciples, driven from Jerusalem, traveled along the coast past
Tyre and Sidon, as far as Antioch, and at the latter place began
preaching the gospel, at first to the Jews only, but after a while to
the Gentiles also. As a result, a church arose at Antioch (on the
Orontes, near its mouth, now _Antakia_), the first where Jews and
Gentiles became one, the first to receive the name Christian, and the
first to send out missionaries to the heathen world. When the news of
this work came to Jerusalem, there was some alarm lest it might cause a
division in the church. Barnabas was dispatched by the apostles to visit
Antioch. He came, gave the work his hearty indorsement, and remained to
direct it. Soon feeling the need of a co-worker, he went to Tarsus, a
short voyage across the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Here
he found Saul, and thenceforward the two were united in labors for many
years, until parted forever by an unhappy difference. This journey of
Barnabas is shown on the map by a broken red line.
V. =Barnabas and Saul's Journey.= (Acts 11:26-30; 12:25.) 1. Starting
from Tarsus the two gospel workers sailed across the narrow sea to
Seleucia, the seaport, and thence journeyed up the river Orontes to
Antioch. Here they labored together for a year, and aided in
establishing a church, which became one of the most important in the
early age of Christianity. 2. Learning by revelation of coming famine,
the church at Antioch prepared a contribution for the poorer disciples
in Judæa, and sent it by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. 3. About the
time of the death of Herod Agrippa, the two evangelists returned, from
their charitable errand, to Antioch, where they remained until the next
great event, the first missionary journey.
OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.
Let the teacher draw on the blackboard the outline of the map, including
the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, and the two provinces of Palestine
and Syria. Then locate the seven important places. 1. _Jerusalem._ 2.
_Samaria._ 3. _Cæsarea._ 4. _Joppa._ 5. _Damascus._ 6. _Antioch._ 7.
_Tarsus._ Next draw the five lines representing the journeys, relating
the events connected with them. If the journeys can be given in chalk of
different colors, it will make them more distinct.
I. _Philip's Journey._ Jerusalem, Samaria, Azotus, Lydda, Joppa,
Cæsarea.
II. _Saul's Journey._ Jerusalem, Damascus, Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem,
Cæsarea, Tarsus.
III. _Peter's Journey._ Jerusalem, Lydda, Joppa, Cæsarea, Jerusalem.
IV. _Barnabas' Journey._ Jerusalem, Antioch, Tarsus.
V. _Barnabas and Saul's Journey._ Tarsus, Antioch, Jerusalem, Antioch.
[Illustration: MOUNT ZION.]
[Illustration: PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY.]
JOURNEYS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL.
DURING the twenty years between A.D. 45 and 65, of which the events of
church history are recorded in Acts 13-28, the most important personage
is the apostle Paul. While the work of the original Twelve is scarcely
referred to, the journeys of the last apostle are related with
considerable detail. The probable reason for this is, that Paul was the
leader in the great movement by which the church of Christ was broadened
from an inconsiderable Jewish sect, scarcely known out of Jerusalem, to
a religion for all the world. This distinction from the other apostles
is considered of so much importance that he is called, almost
universally, by the descriptive title he gave himself--the Apostle of
the Gentiles. The localities and events of this period are represented
upon four maps, three of Paul's Missionary Journeys, and the last of his
Voyage to Rome.
THE PROVINCES OF ASIA MINOR.
As the first missionary journey was mainly in Asia Minor, a brief
description of that peninsula is necessary. It embraces about 156,000
square miles, or about two-thirds the size of Texas, and was located
between the Black, Ægean, and Mediterranean Seas on the north, west and
south, and bounded on the east by the provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia
and Syria. The provinces which it contained at the New Testament epoch
may be variously stated, since in their political, racial and
geographical relations they were different. The map of the Roman Empire,
on page 98, gives them according to their political arrangement, which
united two or more under one government, and gave to some new names.
Thus there were four districts united under the name ASIA, which in the
New Testament never denotes the whole continent, nor yet the whole
peninsula, but the seaboard provinces of Caria, Lydia, Mysia, and the
interior land of Phrygia. So, too, Bithynia and Pontus formed one
government, Lycaonia was included in Galatia, and Lycia and Pisidia in
Pamphylia. We can best arrange these provinces of Asia Minor, according
to territorial relations, in four groups. 1. The three northern
provinces, on the Black Sea: Pontus, Paphlagonia, Bithynia. 2. The three
western provinces, on the Ægean Sea: Mysia, Lydia, Caria. 3. The three
southern provinces, on the Mediterranean Sea: Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia.
4. The five interior provinces: on the north, Galatia; on the east,
Cappadocia; on the south, Lycaonia and Pisidia; and on the west,
Phrygia. All of these fourteen provinces, except four, are named in the
New Testament.
1. =The Provinces on the Black Sea.= (1.) _Pontus_ (Acts 2:9; 18:2; 1
Pet. 1:1) was the northeastern province, between Paphlagonia and
Armenia, and having Cappadocia on the south; now represented by
_Trebizond_ in the Turkish empire. Some of its Jewish inhabitants were
present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost; Aquila, a helper of Paul,
was a native of this region; and its Christian Jews were among those
addressed in Peter's first Epistle. (2.) _Paphlagonia_, not mentioned in
the New Testament, lay between Pontus and Bithynia, and north of
Galatia. (3.) _Bithynia_ (Acts 16:7; 1 Pet. 1:1) was the northwestern
province, having the Propontis (now called the _Sea of Marmora_) on the
west, and Mysia and Phrygia on the south, from which it was separated by
Mount Olympus. Though the region is only incidentally named in the New
Testament, two of its cities, Nicæa and Nicomedia, were prominent in the
history of the Greek church.
[Illustration: ANTIOCH IN SYRIA.]
2. =The Provinces on the Ægean Sea.= These are all included under the
name Asia, by which the western portion of the peninsula was known to
the Romans. (1.) _Mysia_ (Acts 16:7, 8) was separated from Europe by
the Hellespont and the Propontis, and had Bithynia on the north, Phrygia
on the east, and Mysia on the west. It contained Troas, on the ruins of
ancient Troy, whence Paul could dimly see the hills of Europe on the
west, and where the vision of "the man of Macedonia" led to the voyage
for the evangelization of Europe. (2.) _Lydia_, once the centre of the
great empire of Croesus, extended along the Ægean Sea from Mysia to
Caria, and eastward to Phrygia. Its principal city was Ephesus, the
metropolis of Asia Minor, and one of Paul's most important fields of
labor; and Sardis, Thyatira and Philadelphia were also large places and
seats of churches addressed in the Apocalypse. (3.) _Caria_ was the
southwestern province, not named in the New Testament, though its
cities, Cnidus and Miletus, are referred to; the latter as the place
where Paul parted from the Ephesian elders. (Acts 20:15.)
[Illustration: MAP GIVING COMPARATIVE SIZE OF ASIA MINOR AND TEXAS,
U. S.]
3. =The Provinces on the Mediterranean.= (1.) _Lycia_ (Acts 27:5) lay
south of Mount Taurus, and opposite to the island of Rhodes. Two of its
cities, Patara and Myra, were visited by the apostle Paul. (Acts 21:1;
27:5.) (2.) _Pamphylia_ (Acts 13:13) was a small province between Lycia
and Cilicia, and also between Mount Taurus and the sea. Its capital,
Perga, was the first city in Asia Minor visited by Paul on his first
missionary journey. On his return, he preached in its seaport, Attalia.
(Acts 13:13; 14:24, 25.) (3.) _Cilicia_ (Acts 6:9) is a long and narrow
province, also lying between Mount Taurus and the sea, and separated
from Syria by the Syrian Gates, a pass in the mountains. Its capital,
Tarsus, was one of the leading cities of the Roman empire, and the
birthplace of Paul.
4. =The Provinces in the Interior.= (1.) On the north was _Galatia_, a
land of uncertain and varying boundaries, but located between Bithynia,
Cappadocia, Lycaonia and Phrygia. It received its name from a race of
Gauls, who conquered it about 300 B.C., was twice visited by Paul, and
its Christian population was addressed in the Epistle to the Galatians.
(Acts 16:6; 18:23; Gal. 1:2.) (2.) _Cappadocia_ lay on the southeast of
Galatia, and south of Pontus. It was the largest province in Asia Minor.
Some of its people were in Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost (Acts
2:9); and its churches were among those addressed in 1 Peter. (3.)
_Lycaonia_ (Acts 14:1-23) was not a political division, but a district
in southern Galatia. It was west of Cappadocia and east of Phrygia, and
separated by the Taurus range from Cilicia. Its principal places were
Iconium, Derbe and Lystra, in all of which Paul preached the gospel and
suffered persecution. (4.) _Pisidia_ was politically connected with
Pamphylia, but lay north of the Taurus, between Lycaonia and Phrygia.
Its principal city was Antioch (to be distinguished from Antioch in
Syria), twice, at least, visited by the apostle Paul. (Acts 13:14;
14:21.) (5.) _Phrygia_ varied greatly at different periods, and in
Paul's time had no separate existence as a province. In the earlier
days, when Galatia was a part of it, it was said to touch in some way
every other land in Asia Minor. In its southern section lay the three
cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colosse, all named in Paul's letters.
THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY.
1. Paul and Barnabas, with John Mark as their assistant, set forth upon
the first missionary journey from _Antioch_, the metropolis of Syria
(Acts 13:1), already described on page 107.
2. They descended the mountains to _Seleucia_ (Acts 13:4), the seaport
of Antioch, 16 miles from the city, named from its founder, Seleucus
Nicator, B.C. 280. It is now a small village known as _el Kalusi_,
having among its ruins an ancient gateway, still standing, through which
Paul and Barnabas may have passed.
3. Setting sail, they crossed over the arm of the Mediterranean to the
island of _Cyprus_ (Acts 13:4-13), the early home of Barnabas, 60 miles
west of Syria, and 40 miles south of Asia Minor; of irregular shape, 140
miles long and 50 wide; then thickly inhabited, and governed by a Roman
proconsul, now under the rule of Great Britain.
4. Their first stopping place was at _Salamis_ (Acts 13:5), on its
eastern shore, on the river Pediæsus, where they found a Jewish
synagogue. The city is now desolate, and its unoccupied site is known as
_Old Famagousta_.
5. They crossed the island from east to west, preaching on their way,
and came to _Paphos_ (Acts 13:6), the capital, and residence of the
proconsul. This city contained a famous shrine of Venus, to whose
worship, with all its immoralities, its people were devoted. There was
an old and a new city, of which the former was the one visited by Paul
and Barnabas. It is now called _Baffa_.
6. Sailing in a northwesterly direction a distance of 170 miles, they
reached Asia Minor, in the province of Pamphylia. Passing by Attalia for
the present, they ascended the river Cestrus, and landed at _Perga_
(Acts 13:13), 7-1/2 miles from the sea. This was a Greek city, devoted
to the worship of Diana: now in ruins, and called _Eski Kalessi_. Here
their young assistant, Mark, left the two missionaries to prosecute the
hardest part of the journey without his help.
7. Their next field of labor was _Antioch in Pisidia_, a city east of
Ephesus, and northwest of Tarsus, now known as _Yalobatch_. Here Paul
preached in the synagogue a discourse reported more at length than any
other in his ministry, and here a church was founded. (Acts 13:14-52.)
8. Driven out of Antioch by the persecution of the Jews, they went on 60
miles eastward to _Iconium_, a large city, still in existence as
_Konieh_, and in the Middle Ages the capital of a powerful Mohammedan
kingdom. This region, in the apostle's time, was independent of the
Roman empire. (Acts 14:1-5.)
9. Again compelled to endure persecution, they traveled to _Lystra_, a
heathen city in the district of Lycaonia, where a miracle wrought by
Paul led the superstitious people to offer worship to the two apostles
as the gods Jupiter and Mercury (in Greek, Zeus and Hermes). There is
reason to suppose that Lystra was at the place now known as _Bin bir
Kilisseh_, "the thousand and one churches," a mass of ruins in the _Kara
Dagh_, or Black Mountain.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.]
10. Paul having been stoned at Lystra, the apostles went on to _Derbe_,
20 miles distant, but in the same province, where they were suffered to
labor in peace. It is supposed to be represented by the modern village
of _Divle_. This marked the furthest place reached by the evangelists.
They were now quite near the pass in Mount Taurus, known as the Cilician
Gates, and could easily have reached Tarsus, and thence taken a short
voyage home.
[Illustration: REVIEW CHART OF PAUL'S FIRST JOURNEY.]
11. But they preferred to return by the same route, perilous as the
journey was from the enmities excited by their preaching; and revisited
Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, confirming the churches which they had
planted, and establishing new ones in other neighboring places in
Pisidia and Pamphylia, as in _Attalia_, a seaport on the river
Katarrhaktes, 16 miles from Perga, now known as _Adalia_, where they
took ship once more, and thence sailed over the Cilician section of the
Mediterranean, north of Cyprus, to Antioch in Syria, where they were
gladly received by the church which had sent them forth.
OUTLINE FOR TEACHING AND REVIEW.
1. Draw on the blackboard the subjoined Review Chart of Asia Minor, and
let the class also draw the same on slates or paper, in a rough sketch.
Then insert the provinces, and drill the class upon their names,
reviewing from the beginning after each group is given.
_Black Sea._ Pontus, Paphlagonia, Bithynia.
_Ægean Sea._ Mysia, Lydia, Caria.
_Mediterranean Sea._ Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia.
_Interior._ Galatia, Cappadocia, Lycaonia, Pisidia, Phrygia.
2. Draw in colored chalk the line representing _Paul's travel_, calling
attention to the places and events; and frequently review the list, as a
new name is presented. (1.) Antioch in Syria. (2.) Seleucia. (3.) Island
of Cyprus. (4.) Salamis. (5.) Paphos. (6.) Perga. (7.) Antioch in
Pisidia. (8.) Iconium. (9.) Lystra. (10.) Derbe. (11.) Return, and
Attalia.
THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY.
The map presents the field of the apostle Paul's labor during four of
the most active years of his life, according to Alford's chronology,
from A.D. 50 to 54. To this period belong two journeys: a journey from
Antioch to Jerusalem and return, and the second missionary journey,
through Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece.
[Illustration: PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY.]
The journey to Jerusalem, not indicated upon the map, was Paul's third
visit to that city after his conversion. His first visit was in A.D. 40,
when Barnabas introduced him to Peter and James (Acts 9:26-30); his
second was in A.D. 45, when with Barnabas he brought the gifts of the
church at Antioch (Acts 11:30); his third was in A.D. 50, when, again
accompanied by Barnabas, he attended the council in Jerusalem, called to
establish the principle upon which Gentiles were to be received into the
Christian church. (Acts 15:1-30.)
The second missionary journey began with an unfortunate disagreement
between Paul and Barnabas, which resulted in their separation, Barnabas
going to the island of Cyprus, and Paul to the mainland. (Acts
15:36-40.) The apostle chose as his companion Silas, or Silvanus, and
was afterward joined by Timothy, and Luke, the author of the third
Gospel and the Acts. We may subdivide this journey into three sections,
as follows:
I. The Stations in Asia, seven in number.
II. The Stations in Europe, eight in number.
III. The Stations of the Return, four in number.
I. =The Asiatic Stations.= These are mostly the names of provinces in
Asia Minor already described in connection with a previous map.
1. Starting from Antioch, Paul first traveled through _Syria_, visiting
the churches. (Acts 15:41.) This tour was probably through northern
Syria only, in the region around Antioch; and the general direction was
toward Asia Minor, which he probably entered through the Syrian Gates,
now the Beilan Pass in Mount Amanus. No cities are named in this region
as visited by the apostle; but the principal places were Issus and
Alexandria, both of which lay along the route of his journey.
2. The next province visited was _Cilicia_ (Acts 15:41), the land of
Paul's birth. As everywhere he made the chief cities his stations of
labor, we may suppose that he passed through Mopsuestia and Adana, on
his way to Tarsus, the metropolis of the province. From Tarsus he
journeyed westward toward Mount Taurus, the northern boundary of the
province, and crossed the range through the Cilician Gates, from which
he emerged upon the great Lycaonian plain.
3. We read of a station at _Derbe_, where he had planted a church on the
first journey, and which was now strengthened by his second visit. (Acts
16:1.)
4. Next, at _Lystra_, where in other days he had been first worshiped
and then stoned. Here he found a church, the result of his early labors,
and was joined by his life-long companion, Timothy. (Acts 16:1-4.)
5. We read of Paul and Silas as having next "gone throughout _Phrygia_."
Probably this refers to a tour among the churches at Iconium and Antioch
in Pisidia, the fields of former labors. There is no indication in the
Acts or Epistles that he preached in any new places in this district.
6. From Antioch he turned northward and entered for the first time the
province of _Galatia_. (Acts 16:6.) But W. M. Ramsay has shown that
Lycaonia itself was only a district in the political province of
Galatia, and that the Galatian journey (and also the Galatian epistle)
may refer to the region of Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, not to the entire
province. In that case the dotted red line on the map may indicate
Paul's journey, and the line through Pessinus, Ancyra, and Tavium should
be omitted.
These conclusions are not, as yet, generally accepted.
7. Paul's desire was to preach the word throughout the Roman proconsular
province of Asia, which comprised Phrygia, and the maritime districts of
Mysia, Lydia and Caria. But divine influences closed up his path, both
in this direction and northward toward Bithynia; so he journeyed
westward across Phrygia and Mysia, and at last reached the shore of the
Ægean Sea at _Troas_. (Acts 16:6-8.) This was the site of ancient Troy,
the scene of Homer's Iliad, and has been the place of great discoveries
in modern times. There was a city near the ancient site in Paul's time;
and it is probable that in it he founded a church, for there he was
joined by Luke, the historian of the Acts and author of the third
Gospel, and in a later journey met "the disciples" of the place. (Acts
20:7.) Here the vision of the "man of Macedonia" summoned Paul from Asia
to Europe (Acts 16:9, 10), and opened a new chapter in the history of
Christianity.
[Illustration: THE ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS. (AREOPAGUS ON THE LEFT.)]
II. =The European Stations.= All the places named as visited by the
apostle in this journey were included in the two provinces of Macedonia
and Greece, of which the Roman name was Achaia.
_Macedonia_ was the province north of Greece, and famous in history from
its conquering kings, Philip, and his greater son, Alexander. Its
boundaries were: on the north, the Hæmus or Balkan Mountains; on the
east, Thrace and the Ægean Sea; on the south, Achaia (Greece); on the
west, the Pindus Mountains, separating it from Epirus and Illyricum. It
consists of two great plains, watered respectively by the Axius, near
Thessalonica, and the Strymon, near Apollonia. Between these two rivers
projects a peninsula, having three points, like a hand of three fingers,
across the palm of which, in Paul's time, ran the great Roman road known
as the Ignatian Way. It was divided by the Romans into four districts,
of which the capitals were Amphipolis, Thessalonica (the residence of
the provincial proconsul), Pella (the birthplace of Alexander the
Great), and Pelagonia. Of these, Amphipolis had become less important
than the rival city of Philippi, in the same district.
_Achaia_ was the Roman name of the little land of Greece, whose fame has
filled all history. In the later period of its independence, its ruling
state had been Achaia, which gave its name to the entire province when
annexed to the Roman empire. In the apostolic age, Corinth was its
metropolis and political capital, though Athens still retained its fame
as a centre of art and literature.
The apostle Paul and his companions sailed across the Ægean Sea from
Troas, in a northwesterly direction, passing the storied isles of
Tenedos and Imbros; anchored for the first night off Samothracia, "the
Thracian Samos," a rocky island near the coast of Thrace; and the next
day passed northward of Thasos, and anchored in the harbor of Neapolis,
on the border of Thrace. They did not remain at the seaport, but pressed
inland to the larger city, which was to be memorable as the first
foothold of the gospel in Europe. In the European part of the second
missionary journey we notice eight places visited by the apostle.
1. _Philippi_ (Acts 16:12-40). This was an ancient town, enlarged and
renamed by Philip, the father of Alexander the Great. Near it was fought
the great battle between Augustus and Antony on one side, and Brutus and
Cassius on the other, in which the hope of a Roman republic perished,
and the empire was ushered in. It had been made a _colony_; that is, a
branch of Rome itself, and enjoyed certain privileges of
self-government, so that its magistrates bore Roman titles, as noticed
by Luke. Here Lydia, the first convert in Europe, was baptized, and a
church was planted; Paul and Silas were scourged and imprisoned, and set
free by divine power; the jailer was brought to Christ; and the
officials of the city were made to tremble at having inflicted violence
upon citizens of Rome.
2. _Amphipolis_ was 33 miles southwest of Philippi, and 3 miles from the
Ægean Sea. It was a town of ancient fame; but, in Paul's time, decayed
in population; and, having no synagogue or Jewish population, was not
yet made a field of his labors. After a delay of only a day, he
journeyed on still further westward. (Acts 17:1.)
3. _Apollonia_ was 30 miles from Amphipolis, and an important city; but
for some reason Paul did not choose to labor in its vicinity, and
remained there but a day. (Acts 17:1.)