The Footsteps of Paul By Kathleen Rolenz December 5, 2011

Seeing the restored ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus was certainly a highlight of our sabbatical journey, and a familiar highlight for the many tourists who come here from cruise ships or day tours from Istanbul. It's among the oldest and most complete Roman cities to be excavated and partially restored. It's also a city of great interest to Christians because it is often mentioned, especially in the Book of Acts' stories about the journeys of St. Paul.



While in Ephesus, our feet walked on the actual stones that were underneath the feet of the apostle Paul during his stay in Ephesus. It was a profound feeling, to walk in his footsteps; and to see and touch some of the stones that he certainly would have touched. For many liberals, Christians or not, Paul is a controversial figure. He was certainly the main reason that so many early Christian communities were created; his travels alone extend from modern day Syria, to Turkey, Greece and Italy. He was a prolific writer, preacher, and church organizer. His theological positions are still being debated today, including the ones that our modern day sensibilities don't like very much.

However, while visiting some of the places where he either visited or wrote about, it's impossible not to have some admiration for this bandy-legged, balding, short-of-stature man who was so passionate about Jesus' message that he would risk prison, torture, exile or death to preach about it. The fact that Paul was nearly kicked out of Ephesus for his preaching The Word really impressed me.



At least that's what I thought until I read the story about Paul in Ephesus in the book of Acts 19: 23-41. In that story, charges are brought against Paul by a silversmith named Demetrius. His chief complaint was not about Paul's theology--but simply that Paul was preaching against the worship of the goddess Artemis, and because this silversmith had a lucrative business of creating statues of Artemis and other devotional objects, Paul's preaching was having an effect on his business! Demetrius' objections were so fierce that he roused a mob to bring Paul to the very stadium where we also stood to either imprison him or run him out of town. Lucky for Paul that he was a Roman citizen because according to Roman law, no citizen may be persecuted without a fair trial. Furthermore, the leader of the townspeople of Ephesus said that he would fault the mob for an unlawful gathering, so Paul was allowed to stay in Ephesus unmolested. I doubt if he would have many friends there after all that !


As we left Ephesus, there was the usual array of souvenir shops selling by-now familiar trinkets; glass keychains, bracelets and baubles to ward off the "evil eye" ; mounds of pashimas and purses; rosaries and crosses, and consumer goods like "genuine fake" watches and sunglasses. I couldn't help but to think of what the Apostle Paul would do upon seeing all this stuff that no one really needs, but so many people buy anyway. "earthly things will pass away, but my words will surely not pass away." He would echo Jesus' words that reminds us that what truly brings happiness is not the trinkets from a souvenir stand or even finely crafted statues of Artemis, but living and walking in the footsteps of Jesus or other great spiritual masters.

Location:Ephesus, Turkey