The Rand-McNally Bible Atlas Part 23

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF ANCIENT ANTIOCH.]

The most important events of this period may be arranged under five journeys, which are indicated upon the map.

I. =Philip's Journey.= (Acts 8:5-40.) Philip, one of the "seven" (Acts 6:3-5), was compelled to leave Jerusalem in the persecution that arose on account of Stephen. He went first to Samaria, the city known by the Greeks as Sebaste, now _Sebastiyeh_, 6 miles northwest of Shechem, or Sychar, and there began to preach the gospel. This was a step outside of narrow Judaism, as the Samaritans were considered at least semi-Gentile by the Jews. After planting a church here, he was sent by the Spirit southward "unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert" (Acts 8:26); that is, by the less frequented road. There he met a n.o.bleman from Ethiopia (the kingdom of Meroe, in Nubia), whom he instructed in the gospel, and baptized as a believer. Suddenly caught away by the Spirit, Philip next appeared at Azotus, the ancient Ashdod, now _Asdud_. He followed the line of the coast northward, preaching in the cities of the maritime plain. These cities were mostly inhabited by heathen, though in all of them there were many Jews. We find in the after-history the results of his preaching, in churches at Joppa, at Lydda, and at Caesarea, where he made his home for 20 years, and was met by the apostle Paul, who, long before, as Saul the persecutor, had driven him from Jerusalem. Philip's journey is indicated by a line of red color on the small map.

II. =Saul's Journey.= (Acts 9:1-30.) The destroyer of the Jerusalem church now began a journey for persecution, which was ended in his own flight, as a Christian, from persecutors. 1. He went to Damascus, expecting to bind others, but was himself bound by the cords of the gospel, and preached the truth he had sought to destroy. 2. From Damascus, as a disciple, he went into Arabia, a name which may refer to almost any region from the Euphrates to the Indian Ocean, but probably here indicating the desert lands on the border of Syria, and not necessarily distant from Damascus, to which he returned after a stay of from one to three years. (Gal. 1:17.) 3. Escaping from Damascus by being let down over the wall in a basket, he returned to Jerusalem, where he was introduced to the church by Barnabas, and received by the apostles Peter and James. 4. After a fortnight's visit at Jerusalem, he left the city by divine direction in a vision (Acts 22:17-21), and, aided by the disciples, descended to the seaport of Caesarea, where in after years he was destined to spend two years in imprisonment. 5. From Caesarea he sailed to his birthplace, Tarsus, in Cilicia, where he spent several years in retirement, preparing for the great work which was to open before him. This journey is shown by a red line on the large map.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DAMASCUS AND VICINITY.]

III. =Peter's Journey.= (Acts 9:32-11:18.) This was the journey in which 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 aeneas, a paralytic. (Acts 9:32, 33.) 2. From Lydda he was summoned to Joppa, the princ.i.p.al 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 Caesarea 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 G.o.d'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 indors.e.m.e.nt, 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 establis.h.i.+ng 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 Judaea, 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. _Caesarea._ 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, Caesarea.

II. _Saul's Journey._ Jerusalem, Damascus, Arabia, Damascus, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Tarsus.

III. _Peter's Journey._ Jerusalem, Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea, Jerusalem.

IV. _Barnabas' Journey._ Jerusalem, Antioch, Tarsus.

V. _Barnabas and Saul's Journey._ Tarsus, Antioch, Jerusalem, Antioch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOUNT ZION.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 t.i.tle 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, aegean, 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 aegean 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, Nicaea and Nicomedia, were prominent in the history of the Greek church.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ANTIOCH IN SYRIA.]

2. =The Provinces on the aegean 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 h.e.l.lespont 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 aegean Sea from Mysia to Caria, and eastward to Phrygia. Its princ.i.p.al 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.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.s 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 a.s.sistant, 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 pa.s.sed.

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 sh.o.r.e, on the river Pediaesus, 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 wors.h.i.+p, 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. Pa.s.sing 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 wors.h.i.+p of Diana: now in ruins, and called _Eski Kalessi_. Here their young a.s.sistant, 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 superst.i.tious people to offer wors.h.i.+p to the two apostles as the G.o.ds 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 ma.s.s of ruins in the _Kara Dagh_, or Black Mountain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 pa.s.s in Mount Taurus, known as the Cilician Gates, and could easily have reached Tarsus, and thence taken a short voyage home.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 establis.h.i.+ng 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 s.h.i.+p 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.