Ancient history from the monuments: Greek cities & islands of Asia Minor

by W. S. W. Vaux

We have, already, shown that there is some doubt as to the position of these two towns, but that Mr. Falkener has probably found Lystra on the side of a mountain called Karadagh, at a place called by the Turks Bin-bir-Kalessi, or, the Thousand Churches. So, too, the site of Derbe has, certainly, not been yet made out completely; but, from the similarity of name, it may be at Divle, as suggested by Hamilton.

The narrative of what took place at Lystra is very interesting. At first, we may presume that St. Paul preached to any chance groups that collected around him: after some time, however, he saw a poor cripple “who had never walked,” and “perceiving that he had faith to be healed,” at once cured him, saying to him with a loud voice, “Stand upright on thy feet.” Need we wonder that the astonishment of the people vented itself in the natural exclamation that “the gods had come to us in the likeness of men.” The narrative implies the existence, before the walls of the city, of a temple of Jupiter (Acts xiv. 13), some traces of which may, perhaps, still remain, and, if so, will serve, hereafter, for the identification of the site. Messrs. Conybeare and Howson have pointed out that the beautiful legend of the visit of Jupiter and Mercury to the earth, in Ovid’s story of Baucis and Philemon, belongs to this part of Asia Minor: the people of Lystra would, therefore, have been prepared to recognize in Barnabas and Paul the Jupiter and Mercury of their own fables. What was the “speech of Lycaonia” we have no means of telling, no undoubted words of this dialect having, so far as we are aware, been preserved.

But the Lycaonians, though, at first, so readily convinced of the divinity of the Apostles, soon showed themselves as fickle as the “foolish Galatians.” St. Luke adding, “and there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing that he was dead,” so little lasting was the impression produced, even by the cure of one born a cripple. It is, doubtless, to this attack upon him that St. Paul, subsequently, alludes in the words, “Once was I stoned” (2 Cor. xi. 25). That he was not killed, like St. Stephen, as Barnabas and his friends feared and the Jews hoped, is a miracle in itself. Any how, he recovered at once as “he rose up and came into the city,” and departed next day “with Barnabas to Derbe.” It was at Lystra that St. Paul made the acquaintance of Timotheus (or Timothy) his future constant and steadfast companion. With Derbe ends all that has been recorded of St. Paul’s First journey. On the return, however, of Paul and Barnabas, we learn that they fearlessly visited again all the places where they had previously preached, “confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith.” At the same time, too, they ordained “elders in every church,” praying with fasting, and commending “them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”

The course of the Second missionary journey of St. Paul, most of which falls within the limits of this volume, was probably determined on when the Council of the Apostles at Jerusalem sent letters “unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch, in Syria, and in Cilicia” (xv. 23): it was manifestly, also, St. Paul’s own desire, for he says, “Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city, where we have announced the word of the Lord, and see how they do.” It was, on the proposal of this second journey, that the famous dispute took place between St. Paul and Barnabas, the former refusing to take with him Barnabas’s kinsman Mark, because he had turned back before. For this journey (at Attalia), therefore, “Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God; and he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the Churches” (ver. 40). We cannot discuss here the circumstances of this quarrel between the two “servants of the Lord,” but one good result from it was, clearly, a far wider preaching of the Gospel than might otherwise have occurred; as, by this separation, two distinct streams of missionary labour were provided instead of one; Barnabas taking the insular, while St. Paul took the continental line.

We do not know which way St. Paul went on leaving Antioch, but it is most likely he passed into Cilicia by the “Syrian Gates,” now called the pass of Beilan, the character of which may be fully learnt from Mr. Ainsworth and other travellers. For some unknown reason, Sacred history does not give the name of a single place visited during this confirmatory tour, till the Apostles reached Derbe and Lystra; though we may feel sure, especially as the “Gentiles of Cilicia” are mentioned in the letter of the Apostles, that St. Paul did not fail to visit his native town, Tarsus, the “no mean city” of his address to the Roman governor. At Tarsus, if anywhere in Cilicia, Christians would be surely found who would be glad of the Apostle’s “confirming” words. From Tarsus, St. Paul must have passed from S.E. to N.W., through the great mountain barrier which separates the central table-land of Asia Minor from the plain country in which Tarsus was situated. There are several passes; the nearest to Tarsus and most direct, being that of the “Cilician Gates,” a remarkable cleft, about eighty miles in length. Ascending, probably, by this pass, St. Paul would reach the plains of Lycaonia, at an altitude of about 4,000 feet above the sea, in four or five days. At Lystra (probably) he met again the young disciple Timotheus, “who was well reported of at Lystra and Iconium,” and who, at St. Paul’s request, at once joined him: thence, “as they went through the cities they delivered them the decrees for to keep that were ordained by the Apostles and Elders that were at Jerusalem; and so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.” We are not told that, on this occasion, St. Paul met with any serious opposition.

The brevity of the account of this journey is most disappointing, as we do not know whether St. Paul visited even Antioch in Pisidia: all we learn is that he was ordered to “go through Phrygia and the region of Galatia,” altogether new ground, and representing districts that could not have been evangelized before. Yet even here the names of no towns are recorded till he gets to Mysia: on the other hand, he was not permitted to preach the “word” in Asia; that is, within Roman “Asia,” nor to enter Bithynia. Most likely, as suggested by Messrs. Conybeare and Howson, he followed the great Roman lines of communication, and passed by Laodicea, Philomelium, and Synnada.

It has been inferred from his use of the plural, “to the churches of Galatia,” as the heading of his Epistle to that people, that there was no one great church there, as at Ephesus or Corinth; but this seems to us refining too much. We may, however, suppose that no special miracles marked this journey, or, at all events, none which St. Luke thought it necessary to notice. We learn from St. Paul himself (Galat. iv. 13) that it was owing to bodily sickness that he preached to the Galatians in the first instance, it may be, as has been suggested, on his way to Pontus, from which distant province we know that some Jewish proselytes had come to Jerusalem, and were present on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 11): moreover, it is certain, from his Epistle to the Galatians, that he had been well received by this inconstant people, a large and mixed multitude having embraced Christianity.

As, in so many other instances, no clue is given us as to the further route actually taken by the Apostles to Troas, but, by the Divine prohibition to them of preaching in “Asia,” we may conjecture that the time was not ripe for spreading the Gospel among the great cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, or Pergamus. It will be noticed that the Apostles are not forbidden to enter Asia, as was the case with Bithynia, but only not to preach there. Indeed, they could not, easily, have got to Troas without passing through “Asia.”

The first seaport St. Paul reached must have been Adramyttium, which is not, however, noticed here by name, though it is subsequently, when on the voyage to Rome. Of this place we have, already, given some account: and hence, it would seem, that the Apostle passed onwards to Assos and Alexandria Troas, where the remarkable vision appeared to him which is thus described:—

“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And, after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the Gospel unto them. Therefore, loosing from Troas we came with a straight course to Samothrace....” (Acts xvi. 9, 10, 11).