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Turning From Idols
GRANT
Graeco-RomanAntiquities & the New Testament
There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it. Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help. The same is true when investigating the world of the New Testament. You can learn something even from one ancient document, though the explorer of the ancient world would like to have as many documents as possible.
I hope once a week to present a small sample of information that mirrors some aspect of the ancient world surrounding nascent Christianity.
Sometimes it is difficult for modern, western believers to appreciate the difficulties involved in the early Christians’ attack upon idolatry. The writings of Paul (1 Cor. 8-10), the book of Acts (Acts 19:18-19), and the Revelation of John highlight the reality that even those who were already believers had to be warned to stay away from idolatry. In the book of Revelation John brings up this issue of idolatry within congregations both in the letters to the 7 churches (Rev. 2:14, 20) and in his description of who will be excluded from heaven (Rev. 21:8, 15).
Of course, the opposition to idols expressed by early Christian writers was built upon longstanding Jewish teachings against idolatry, expressed early on in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5). Even later in Israel’s Scriptures, a strong polemic against idolatry can be seen in the book of Isaiah (chapter 44) and in the Psalter, the song book of Israel (Pss. 115:4-8; 135:15-18).
It is helpful to think about the reasons that so many people, including believers, felt the attraction of idolatry. The evidence from the city of Ephesus can furnish some insight into this issue. The dominant deity in this capital city of Roman Asia was the Ephesian Artemis. This goddess’s influence was, of course, known through the magnificence of her temple. In the first place it was a physically powerful piece of architecture, being much larger than the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis. This temple would not have made it into the prestigious list of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” had it not been a marvel and a source of civic loyalty and pride. It certainly was a building of international renown, since we know of pilgrims who came from all over the Mediterranean to worship the goddess there.
If a person considered pulling away from the worship of the Ephesian Artemis, it would require being willing to “swim against the tide” of religious reputation and prestige on an international scale. The goddess and her religion were also deeply embedded in the economic structures of the Roman provence of Asia. More than one pagan author comments on the wealth of the Temple of Artemis as well as her involvement in the economy of Roman Asia. It was not only the silversmiths mentioned in Acts 19 who were concerned about the economic impact of questioning the reality of the Ephesian goddess. It would require a deep Christian conviction for someone to support anti-idolatry preaching that actually devalued the local economy and possibly threatened the employment of friends and family.
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| Cult statue of the Ephesian Artemis, with the signs of the zodiac arranged as a necklace above the breast-shaped objects on her statue. |
The cult statue of the Ephesian Artemis is well known, and has been studied by many scholars. Rather than talking about the “breast-shaped” objects on the front, top part of the idols of the goddess [which may not have been associated with fertility], I would prefer to point out the zodiacal necklace that adorns many of the cult statues of the goddess. This religious necklace contains the various signs of the zodiac. By having this zodiacal necklace the religion of the Ephesian Artemis was promising her followers and worshippers that she controlled destiny, especially their astrological fate. Astrology in the Roman period was not a marginal religious belief. At that time astrology was widely believed, was supported by many of the popular philosophies, and was interwoven with the science of astronomy. Astrology was often relied upon by both religious and leading political figures.
This means, then, that to abandon the worship of the Ephesian Artemis required the strength of conviction to reject the comfort and consolation that this wealthy, internationally acclaimed goddess offered to her followers. Was one willing to align himself with this peculiar Christian sect at the expense of rejecting the promises of the Ephesian goddess, who promised to guide and guarantee the destiny of her worshippers by means of astrological fate and horoscope?
When John demands that believers reject idolatry, he is requiring a total repudiation of many important cultural and spiritual values of the contemporary culture. Some believers could not/would not hold tight to the Judeo-Christian convictions about the futility of idols and their worship. It is little wonder than in the context of John’s description of the New Heaven and New Earth he writes, “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Rev. 22:15).
Non-Christian Missionaries in Antiquity
GRANT
Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
At least as early as the writings of John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, interpreters of Acts 19:1-7 have thought that the “disciples” mentioned in 19:1 were “Baptists” who remained loyal to their eponymous prophetic founder, John the Baptist. If Chrysostom and later interpreters have been correct, then naturally one wonders why this group was located so far removed from its Judean origin. Without this Lukan reference, one might have imagined that followers of John would have remained clustered in Judea, or at least in the Holy Land.
The deeper one looks into the historical resources of the Graeco-Roman world, the more the mobility of the ancients becomes apparent. The Samaritans, for example, provide another illustration of a branch of ancient Judaism that was not content to remain at home, but moved into the Diaspora. From the Cycladic island of Delos comes a Greek inscription containing a dedication given by the Samaritans. Once again, had this archaeological evidence not come to light, scholars would likely not have imagined that this Samaritan branch of Judaism would have had worshippers on Delos.
We do not know whether the Ephesian Baptists or the Delian Samaritans saw themselves as missionaries, but when we come to the early Buddhists, it is clear that they saw themselves involved in “proselytism,” disseminating both Buddhist teachings and lifestyle.
This archaeological record provides some of the earliest documentation of Buddhism and comes from a corpus of 3rd century BC inscriptions. The author is a regal convert to Buddhism. Ashoka the Great was one of India’s greatest rulers. After the King witnessed firsthand the savage killing of over 100,000 people in his conquest of the small, neighboring state of Kalinga, he became disgusted and devoted himself to Buddhism and pacifism.
Based upon his new devotion to Buddhism, Ashoka [Beloved-of-the-gods] sends “missionaries,” not only to Greek communities in the region of Afghanistan left from the days of Alexander the Great and Seleucid control, but also “missionaries” to the Mediterranean Basis. These ambassadors of Buddhism were sent about 4,000 miles to Greece, the Middle East, and Egypt.
When the modern student of the New Testament reads of the travels of the Magi in Matthew or imagines the journeys of Paul or other apostles, it is important to keep in mind the amazing amount and extent of travel in the ancient world and how itinerant most religions in the Graeco-Roman era were.
Who’s Who Among Ephesian Women
GRANT
Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament
There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it. Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help. The same is true when investigating the world of the New Testament. You can learn something even from one ancient document, though the explorer of the ancient world would like to have as many documents as possible.
I hope once a week to present a small sample of information that mirrors some aspect of the ancient world surrounding nascent Christianity.
Who’s Who Among Ephesian Women
For many generations men and women in the pews have been misled by preachers in the pulpits, who were misled by their seminary professors, who were misled by historians and archaeologists, who were themselves especially misled by their own prejudices. In spite of the growing body of evidence, they just could not believe that there were influential women in the Hellenistic-Roman cities of the Aegean region.
I refer to this misinformation about the status and role of women in the world of the apostle Paul because ignorance on this subject makes one vulnerable in areas of exegesis, interpretation, and theology. Much has been written in the past 30 years to make it clearer that the women in the cities of Paul’s first, second, and third missionary journeys were not living in the same kind of world portrayed by the (male) classical Greek authors of ancient Athens, much less a world dominated by some Taliban-like rulers of remote Afghanistan.
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Antoninus Pius, Rome mint, AD 138.
Used with the kind permission of
Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.,
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Accordingly there is no reason to doubt the historical accuracy of Luke when he alludes to “women of prominence/women of high standing” (NASB/NIV) in Acts 13:50 or “prominent Greek women/women of influence” (NIV/The Message) in Acts 17:12. When Paul tells an unnamed co-worker at Philippi to “help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers” (Phil. 4), we can assume that women in Paul’s world were able to get about and participate in many, though certainly not all, of the city’s activities.
Turning to the artifacts of Roman Ephesus, we encounter one such participating woman from the middle of the second century AD, a little-known woman named Cominia Junia. Part of her life was lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (AD 86-161). Unlike the extant ancient literature that was basically controlled by the males of that world, the excavated inscriptions and statues of that world often tell a fuller story than the literature. Like Lydia (Acts 16) and like the unnamed influential women of Luke’s narrative, this Cominia Junia is also a very religious woman. Traces from Roman Ephesus reveal a woman with both public presence and piety to the gods.
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| Round altar displayed in the Museum at Selçuk, Turkey. |
The first inscription is not like the many thousands of small, private votive religious texts that were dedicated to some god or goddess for help in the past. In this inscription discovered by John Turtle Wood in the 1860s, Cominia Junia publicly dedicated a now lost statue and altar of the Egyptian goddess Isis (in the harbor area), to those who manage the fishery toll office near the harbor, to the Emperor, and to the city of Ephesus, “First and Greatest Metropolis of Asia” (Inscriptions from Ephesus, # 1503).
A second testimony to this pious Ephesian woman was discovered nearly a century after her name first came to light (Inscriptions from Ephesus, # 1266). The iconography of this monument also testifies to the religious orientation of Cominia Junia’s altar. Cominia was honoring a vow made to the Ephesian goddess Artemis (cf. Acts 19:23-41) and from her own personal financial resources she had set up this base, with its now missing statue of the goddess, and dedicated an altar.
The visual remains show a praying woman, a sacrificial fire, and a single musician to accompany the worship. Since she has her head covered for the sake of the religious setting (cf. 1 Cor. 11:5-6) she is worshipping according to “Roman liturgical style.” Both inscriptions mention that the respective monument was financed by Cominia Junia herself, using her own resources, and they both mention religious altars, with the second monument depicting a solemn scene of worship and devotion to the great goddess Artemis. If this pious woman continued in her worship of the Ephesian goddess, then she would have become deeply troubled when she learned of Christians who taught that pagan deities were made with hands and were not really gods after all (Acts 19:26). Or, perhaps she was a “seeker” and her religious proclivities eventually led to the worship of the one, true God.
