Sermon Q&R: Acts 19 and Ephesians 3
Two questions were submitted in response to the sermons on Acts 19 and Ephesians 3.
Why is there a temple to Artemis in Ephesus when it's a Roman city now? Shouldn't it be a temple to Diana?
I absolutely love the history behind these questions, so I'll ask you to indulge me here (if you aren't interested in this kind of history, feel free to scroll to the second question!). There is a significant amount of cultural overlap between Greece and Rome, even though they were technically different empires, who ruled at different times through different governments and leaders. An extremely short summary of a very-complicated history is that Alexander the Great (who was Greek, from the kingdom of Macedonia) rose to power in the 300s BC, consolidated many people-groups into one Greek empire and led a profoundly successful military conquest around a major swath of the ancient world. (Just google "Alexander the Great's conquests" for a ton of maps that display how much of the ancient world he took over. It's impressive!) Part of Alexander's ambition was to spread and enforce Greek culture throughout the world (he was tutored by Aristotle, and seemed to genuinely believe Greek culture - philosophy, values, sport, language, religion, etc. - was the pinnacle of human culture) and so the cities he took over were basically forced to become "Greek." Ephesus was one of the cities within Alexander's empire, and thus became a Greek city, and this is how the temple became associated with Artemis, a Greek god. More broadly, this is also how Greek became a common language throughout much of the ancient world. Alexander lived a very short life, though, and upon his death, his empire essentially fractured and eventually crumbled. In its wake, the Roman empire grew to prominence.
The Roman empire took over much of the same area of the world that Alexander had previously consolidated under his reign. Rome was more interested in ruling and maintaining a large empire than in enforcing Roman culture upon cities (as compared to Alexander), and so they were largely pleased to keep Greek as the common language, though Romans primary language was Latin. They also essentially "copied" the Greek religion and cosmology, and just gave the same deities Latin/Roman names. Zeus was Jupiter, Hermes was Mercury, and Artemis was Diana. So, yes, the temple to Artemis was known in more strict-Roman circles as the "temple to Diana," because of its strong cultural prominence and pre-Roman history, it continued to be popularly known as the "temple to Artemis," even under Roman rule. And the Romans were OK with this, as long as Ephesus paid their taxes and restrained themselves from revolt.
I know that's a long answer to a short question, but aside from finding the history interesting, I also am passionate about helping people grasp the Greco-Roman cultural backdrop to the New Testament. Beyond historical trivia, I find that the New Testament writings "come alive" with a deeper understanding of the history of that region of the world. The confidence of Paul and the early Jesus-followers, to continue to proclaim faithfulness to Jesus as King and Lord in the face of these massive earthly empires, is inspiring!
Are the "rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" referenced in Ephesians 3 the same as the "rulers and authorities" in the armor of God passage?
This is an insightful question, and is referring to Ephesians 6.12: The warfare we’re engaged in, you see, isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s against the leaders, against the authorities, against the powers that rule the world in this dark age, against the wicked spiritual elements in the heavenly places. The Greek words are indeed the same (rulers = arche, authorities = exousia, heavenly places = epouranios), and given that this is all within the same letter, to the same community, originally meant to be read aloud in one sitting, it is virtually certain that Paul was referring to the same cosmological ideas. While my focus on Sunday (the 16th) was on our role as "witnessing" to these authorities, Paul adds another layer to our role as the church in chapter 6, in which we are called to "wage warfare" against these same authorities. It would take an entire sermon (or series of sermons) to explore what exactly this "warfare" means, and how we are to engage in it, but it does underline one point I was trying to emphasize last Sunday: that scripture consistently attests to the spiritual realm as a REAL place. The material world we can see and measure is not the sum total of the reality in which we find ourselves! The church has a real purpose in our world, right now, to witness against the authorities in the spiritual realm, and it's telling that the armor Paul exhorts us to use in this struggle includes: truth, justice, good news of peace, faith, salvation and spirit.
Why is there a temple to Artemis in Ephesus when it's a Roman city now? Shouldn't it be a temple to Diana?
I absolutely love the history behind these questions, so I'll ask you to indulge me here (if you aren't interested in this kind of history, feel free to scroll to the second question!). There is a significant amount of cultural overlap between Greece and Rome, even though they were technically different empires, who ruled at different times through different governments and leaders. An extremely short summary of a very-complicated history is that Alexander the Great (who was Greek, from the kingdom of Macedonia) rose to power in the 300s BC, consolidated many people-groups into one Greek empire and led a profoundly successful military conquest around a major swath of the ancient world. (Just google "Alexander the Great's conquests" for a ton of maps that display how much of the ancient world he took over. It's impressive!) Part of Alexander's ambition was to spread and enforce Greek culture throughout the world (he was tutored by Aristotle, and seemed to genuinely believe Greek culture - philosophy, values, sport, language, religion, etc. - was the pinnacle of human culture) and so the cities he took over were basically forced to become "Greek." Ephesus was one of the cities within Alexander's empire, and thus became a Greek city, and this is how the temple became associated with Artemis, a Greek god. More broadly, this is also how Greek became a common language throughout much of the ancient world. Alexander lived a very short life, though, and upon his death, his empire essentially fractured and eventually crumbled. In its wake, the Roman empire grew to prominence.
The Roman empire took over much of the same area of the world that Alexander had previously consolidated under his reign. Rome was more interested in ruling and maintaining a large empire than in enforcing Roman culture upon cities (as compared to Alexander), and so they were largely pleased to keep Greek as the common language, though Romans primary language was Latin. They also essentially "copied" the Greek religion and cosmology, and just gave the same deities Latin/Roman names. Zeus was Jupiter, Hermes was Mercury, and Artemis was Diana. So, yes, the temple to Artemis was known in more strict-Roman circles as the "temple to Diana," because of its strong cultural prominence and pre-Roman history, it continued to be popularly known as the "temple to Artemis," even under Roman rule. And the Romans were OK with this, as long as Ephesus paid their taxes and restrained themselves from revolt.
I know that's a long answer to a short question, but aside from finding the history interesting, I also am passionate about helping people grasp the Greco-Roman cultural backdrop to the New Testament. Beyond historical trivia, I find that the New Testament writings "come alive" with a deeper understanding of the history of that region of the world. The confidence of Paul and the early Jesus-followers, to continue to proclaim faithfulness to Jesus as King and Lord in the face of these massive earthly empires, is inspiring!
Are the "rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" referenced in Ephesians 3 the same as the "rulers and authorities" in the armor of God passage?
This is an insightful question, and is referring to Ephesians 6.12: The warfare we’re engaged in, you see, isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s against the leaders, against the authorities, against the powers that rule the world in this dark age, against the wicked spiritual elements in the heavenly places. The Greek words are indeed the same (rulers = arche, authorities = exousia, heavenly places = epouranios), and given that this is all within the same letter, to the same community, originally meant to be read aloud in one sitting, it is virtually certain that Paul was referring to the same cosmological ideas. While my focus on Sunday (the 16th) was on our role as "witnessing" to these authorities, Paul adds another layer to our role as the church in chapter 6, in which we are called to "wage warfare" against these same authorities. It would take an entire sermon (or series of sermons) to explore what exactly this "warfare" means, and how we are to engage in it, but it does underline one point I was trying to emphasize last Sunday: that scripture consistently attests to the spiritual realm as a REAL place. The material world we can see and measure is not the sum total of the reality in which we find ourselves! The church has a real purpose in our world, right now, to witness against the authorities in the spiritual realm, and it's telling that the armor Paul exhorts us to use in this struggle includes: truth, justice, good news of peace, faith, salvation and spirit.
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