GREECE

     Taking some time to jump from the story of how we got into this life to talk about life in the present…its just too good not to share! Don and I were able to take a vacation, just the two of us, to GREECE at the end of October. This was our first time spending even one night away from the kids together in NINE years. While I am beyond excited to get to travel the world soon with our kids, it was such a blessing to get to dive into the richness of ancient civilization with just my husband. I mean, the Acropolis would’ve still been amazing with kids, but there would have been a heck of a lot more complaints of tired legs, requests for snacks, and loud cries of sibling injustices thrown into the epic sight seeing 😂.

     I have to admit, when we picked Greece as a destination a few months ago, I wasn’t thinking about the biblical significance of the area at all, just that it would be a neat place to see. But we ended up walking the footsteps of St. Paul quite a bit during the trip, and learning about his life and preaching was such an unexpected highlight!

     After visiting the Acropolis and other incredible pagan monuments, we walked to the top of Areopagus Hill, which is mentioned in one of the books of the Bible (Acts 17:19-34). This hill is right below the Acropolis, and you get a beautiful view of the Parthenon from the top. It was from the top of this hill that St. Paul taught the Athenians about this new faith of Christianity. Of course, I had read the Book of Acts before, but goodness, how often do we read through these books without giving a millisecond of thought to the time, place, and atmosphere in which these words were spoken! The incomprehensible bravery of St. Paul’s words struck me so much more after standing in that place where he spoke.

     From Areopagus Hill, you can clearly see multiple huge temples to different pagan Gods, including Athena, Poseidon, Hephaestus, and Zeus. I guess I had always spent more time imagining the apostles preaching to the Jews, who already held belief in one God. It didn’t seem like such a stretch to think that Jews could believe in Jesus, as they had already been awaiting the promised Messiah. But here was Paul, proclaiming the truth of Christianity from a hilltop, to people who had worshipped multiple gods for CENTURIES, who had no concept of a Messiah and certainly were not waiting for one, and whose temples to these gods surrounded the very hill he was standing on! Did he really think that he, one man, had any chance at all of changing an entire civilization and culture? Especially the culture that spent decades erecting herculean monuments to their gods, such as the Temple of Zeus or the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, where they believed an oracle spoke prophecies? And yet, somehow, incredibly, by the grace of God, HE DID. There were several converts on Areopagus Hill that day, including Dionysios the Areopagite, who, according to tradition, became the first bishop of Athens. He is still the patron saint of Athens to this day.

     On our second day in Greece, we embarked on a biblical tour to Corinth (Korinthos), and it was just phenomenal from start to finish! We learned so much not just about St. Paul and his time there, but also about the geography of the area, the religious/social/political happenings of the time, and how that influenced St. Paul and the early Church.

     St. Paul stayed in Corinth for about 18 months, which was significantly longer than he stayed other places, including Athens and Thessalonica. Why? Because Corinth was perfectly situated geographically for the spread of the gospel, and Paul knew it. He knew that in order for Christianity to spread throughout the world, the conversion of the Corinthians was absolutely essential. Corinth is situated on a very narrow little isthmus connecting northern and southern Greece. On one side of the isthmus is the Ionian Sea, which leads to Italy. On the opposite side of the isthmus is the Aegean Sea, which leads to Turkey. This little narrow piece of land therefore connected not only northern and southern Greece, but also the East and West of the known world at that time. Pirates pillaged mercilessly along the southern coast of Greece, so if you wanted to pass safely from Western Europe to the East or vice versa, going through Corinth was an absolute must.

     Although many ancient civilizations attempted to dig a canal through this little isthmus for trade purposes, none were successful. Without the invention of dynamite (useful stuff!) for clearing the path for a canal, they were forced to rely instead on the construction of a limestone road, called the Diolkos. Built around 600 BC, the Diolkos was the trade highway through Corinth, connecting the ports on either side of the isthmus, Lechaion on the west and Kenchreae on the east. Slaves were forced to haul both the goods and the ships that transported them along the 4 mile road from one sea to the other, for a hefty price of course!

     Since the merchants all had to pay that hefty sum to avoid the pirates and cross the isthmus, the city of Corinth was rolling with money. Pair a steady stream of merchants, businessmen, and people just passing through from all over the known world with teeming wealth and you get…the Las Vegas of the ancient world. According to our tour guide, one of the two ports connected to Corinth had over 200 brothels!!!

     Apparently undeterred by these prolific unsavory establishments, and determined to minister to these souls desperately drowning in debauchery, St. Paul marched right down this limestone road, met Priscilla and Aquila (we drove past the area where he is believed to have met them!), and continued to boldly preach Christianity and the Gospel here.

     Our next stop after the Diolkos was the port of Kenchreae, the eastern seaport of Corinth. It is here that St. Paul took the Nazirite vow and shaved his head in accordance with the rules of that vow (Acts 18:18). He also boarded a ship here to sail to his next destination, Ephesus, following his time in Corinth. After a large earthquake in 375 AD, the level of the sea changed and much of the harbor sank. Following this event, a 5 aisle basilica was built here, where Christians worshipped for several centuries. We walked through the ruins of the basilica, and you could see the ruins extending way out into the sea under the water.

     From here we headed into the town of ancient Corinth, to the church of St. Paul (Greek orthodox). There was a beautiful mosaic there depicting scenes from Paul’s life, including his dramatic conversion from Saul to Paul.

     From there we headed to my favorite stop of the trip, an area in the ruins of ancient Corinth which was a sort of forum or venue for public ceremonies during St. Paul’s time. Here, the proconsul would address the people from the Bema, or elevated platform. The Jews of Corinth were angered by St. Paul’s teaching in their synagogue, teaching which they considered subversive against the Mosaic law. They therefore dragged St. Paul here to accuse him before the proconsul, Gallio. Gallio, however, not wanting to be an arbiter of religious matters, dismissed the case, and thankfully, Paul was allowed to go free.

     We got to stand on top of the Bema ourselves, what an experience! There is a stone there on which has been inscribed “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Standing on the spot where the man who wrote those words once endured his “momentary affliction”, knowing that he had endured till the end, and is now basking in that eternal weight of glory…there are no words to describe the profound beauty. Standing on that spot, I said a silent, but probably one of the most profound, prayers of my life. Lord, please grant me the grace to endure all my momentary afflictions, especially the ones that come as a result of spreading your Word. Grant me the bravery of St. Paul, to proclaim the Truth in places where the world does not know it. St. Paul, pray for me.

     The history of this area is fascinating for another reason as well…it speaks to the historical truth of Luke’s writings in the Acts of the Apostles. This is one of the events in the Bible for which there are sources outside of Scripture that verify its truth. In this case, we have writings (not scriptural) that speak of Gallio as the proconsul of this area, in the exact time that Paul was described as being in Corinth in the Bible. Archeologists have found an inscription at Delphi (where we also visited!) that mentions Claudius “being acclaimed emperor for the 26th time” and also references Gallio as being proconsul of Achaia (the area of Athens, Corinth, and Delphi) at the same time. We know that the reference to Claudius puts the date at 52 AD, which aligns with when Paul would have been in Corinth. When archeological findings from alternate sources having nothing to do with the Christian religion verify the historical truth of the events in the Bible…so incredible!

     These characters, like Paul, that we meet in the Bible…they really WERE, they truly walked the earth, stood at these places, fought these battles, sometimes victorious in their mission to bring others to Christ, sometimes failing miserably, but never ceasing to rise from the dirt to try again and again and again.

     Before Paul converted to Christianity, his name was Saul, and he was a vicious persecutor of Christians. Acts 7:58 and following describes how Saul was heartily in agreement with the stoning to death of Stephen, Christianity’s first martyr. Acts 9 describes how he sought to bring any Christians he could find bound to Jerusalem for punishment. We also know he was wealthy, as his father was able to buy Roman citizenship, which cost an exorbitant amount of money. So why would someone who had it all…power, wealth, status…why would he give that all up for a life of poverty, of homelessness, of physical suffering, ridicule, and persecution? Why would he give up persecuting others to willingly be persecuted himself?

There’s only one answer.

What Paul preached. It has to be true.

For no one would trade the heights of power for the depths of pain in the name of a lie.

“At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present, I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.” ~ St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:12

May we always seek the face of the One to which we are fully known.

Resources:

Windle, Bryan. “Gallio: An Archaeological Biography.” Bible Archaeology Report, 31 Oct. 2019, biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/10/31/gallio-an-archaeological-biography/. Accessed 5 November 2023.