CAPPADOCIA in the First Century /DAVIDROGERS(5/17/9) ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO /DAVIDROGERS(32/21/7) FARLEFT: ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO Sprintg 2007 2007 Spring Sprintg BI FAR LEFT
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62 62 BI SpringSprintg 2007 2007 CAPPADOCIA in the First Century By Alan Ray Buescher FAR LEFT: ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/DAVIDROGERS(32/21/7) FARLEFT:ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/DAVIDROGERS(5/17/9) ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO/DRLOUISEKOHLSMITH(32/20/10) HE BEGINNING of of Cappadocia. Jerome sug- Cappadocia; reverse has an Christianity in Cappadocia gested that Peter preached image of a club. Tappeared as a slow train in Cappadocia, but the approaching from the distant hori- accuracy of this claim Far left: Urgup, 1 about 12 miles zon. Some Cappadocian Jews expe- remains vague. east of Nevsehir, rienced the miracle of Pentecost, History indicates Jews is one of the most hearing in their own language inhabited Cappadocia important centers in Cappadocia. Galilean believers proclaiming the by at least 139 B.C. (see The erosion by AND OF ART ROGERS/MUSEUM /DAVID magnificent acts of God (Acts 2:9). 1 Maccabees 15:16-22). water and wind Above: Coin dat- produced these Peter provided the other reference to Cappadocia was part of the Roman ing A.D. 81-96 formations, the / DR. LOUISE KOHL SMITH (32/20/10) LOUISE KOHL / DR. Cappadocians in the New Testament Empire at this point. According to from Caesarea, “Fairy Chimneys.” PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR ARCHAEOLOGY/UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI/COLUMBIA (403/25A) in his first epistle, writing his let- Lucius, who was a Roman official, ter to Christians “in the provinces Jews living in the region had an that “A venomous viper bit a 4 ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, agreement with Roman authori- Cappadocian . the viper died.” Asia, and Bithynia,” believers he ties. The agreement gave the Jews Brutal Cappadocian winters enter- addressed as “temporary residents a level of security and protection. tained blizzards—sometimes mak- of the Dispersion” (1 Pet. 1:1). Quite likely, the first Christians ing roads impassable until spring. Even though Cappadocians in Cappadocia came from such Heavy snows could confine persons were among the first to believe in Jewish communities. inside their homes for as long as Jesus Christ at the beginning of Despite this apparently slow two months. When the snows melt- the Christian church in Jerusalem, beginning, near the end of the ed and farming season had begun, Christianity apparently did not pen- fourth century, the Cappadocian swarms of beetles always posed a etrate central and eastern Asia Minor fathers, specifically Basil of potential threat to grain crops.5 (Pontus, Cappadocia, and northern Caesarea, his brother Gregory of The names Cappadocia (Greek, Galatia) to any great extent until the Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus, Kappadokia), Cilicia, and Crete all mid-third century and later. History directed the growth of the church begin with the Greek letter kappa. and archaeology barely provide a in central and eastern Asia Minor These three regions developed the sketch of Christian communities in through their writings and actions. reputation as the three most loath- first-century A.D. Cappadocia. The All three of these men helped some and contemptible regions begin- New Testament provides no direct define the doctrine of the Trinity as ning with the letter kappa. No one indication that Christian churches declared orthodox at the Council of had many kind words to say about began in Cappadocia in the first cen- Constantinople in A.D. 381.2 Thus Cappadocians. Worthless, deceitful, LEFT: COREL PHOTO LEFT: / DAVID ROGERS (5/17/9) ROGERS / DAVID tury A.D. One of the Cappadocian the influence of early Christians in selfish, brutish—these describe how fathers of the fourth century A.D., Cappadocia ended up giving direc- many viewed them.6 Perhaps their Gregory of Nyssa, perpetuated a tion to Christians and Christian harsh environment and living condi- legend that the Roman centurion theology through the centuries. tions contributed to their character ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR who verbally glorified God at the and reputation. In any case, being FAR LEFT: crucifixion of Jesus founded the first The Viper Died Cappadocian was not easy. church in Cappadocia. Others later The geography and climate of As a result of its geography and added to this urban legend by nam- Cappadocia, located in the high- climate, throughout ancient his- ing the centurion Longinus, a native lands of central/eastern Asia Minor tory Cappadocia remained on (in present-day eastern Turkey, see the outskirts of great civilizations Facing page, First inhabited map, p. 66), may partially explain and cultures that thrived along clockwise from about 3000 B.C., the slow growth of Christianity the Mediterranean coast and low- lower right: in the fifth cen- Christian fres- tury Nevsehir in this region. To the south, the lands. Greek culture and Roman coes from the and the surround- Taurus Mountains hampered easy rule struggled to impact this rug- 11th cent. in the ing region came Dark Church at under Lydian rule. access to the region of Cilicia on the ged region, and Christianity was no / DAVID ROGERS (5/17/8) ROGERS / DAVID Goreme. The / DAVID ROGERS (32/21/7) ROGERS / DAVID northeastern Mediterranean coast. exception. Indeed, the Apostle Paul frescoes include A wide-angle Traveling west toward Galatia, the never ventured to Cappadocia with images of Christ view of the apse, enthroned; His central nave and elevated steppe seemed never end- the gospel, acknowledging that he betrayal by Judas, flanking aisles of ing. The regions most accessible to received his itinerary from the Holy ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR ILLUSTRATOR PHOTO ILLUSTRATOR and shown, the the Dark Church Cappadocia existed to the north Spirit to move westward.7 2007 Spring LEFT: LEFT: Lord’s Supper. at Goreme, BI FAR LEFT: Cappadocia (Pontus and northeastern Galatia) Nevsehir is and east (Armenia).3 LESSON REFERENCE the capital of Anchorite A rugged terrain chisels a rugged the region of dwellings in ETB: 1 Peter 1:1-12 63 Cappadocia. Cappadocia. people. An early adage remarked It’s All About the Money PONTUS, GALATIA, ASIA, AND BITHYNIA Money motivates governments and moves armies—always has, always he Roman provinces of the Roman Empire. The temple to will. Cappadocia, while not lacking in Pontus and Bithynia lay the Greek goddess Artemis (the natural resources, became significant Tto the north and north- Roman Diana) made the list as to the Romans not only as another west of Cappadocia respectively, one of the Seven Wonders of the source of income to fuel its expan- although the Romans had actu- Ancient World.4 sion, but also as a frontier border ally united the two into one prov- History is silent on the begin- from which to defend its empire from ince for administrative purposes ning of Christianity in Bithynia. outside attack and to protect its inter- approximately 63 B.C. Aquila Not until the correspondence in ests in the Near East. stands unique as the only native approximately A.D. 110 between Archelaus, appointed by Marcus of Pontus mentioned in the New Pliny, the governor of Bithynia, Antonius as the last king of Cappadocia Testament (Acts 18:2). The other and Trajan, the emperor, does before Cappadocia became a Roman two provinces listed in 1 Peter 1:1, information surface concerning province, ruled from 36 B.C. until Galatia and Asia, lay to the west. the status of churches in this prov- his death in A.D. 17. Archelaus As with Cappadocia, Paul never ince. The gospel affected Bithynia understood and sought political alli- visited Bithynia-Pontus, being enormously, reaching persons of ances. His daughter, Glaphyra, mar- prevented by the Holy Spirit from all ages and social ranking. The ried Alexander, son of Herod, and he going to Bithynia (16:7), and evan- changed lives of so many persons maintained influential connections in gelized only in southern Galatia, adversely affected pagan temple Rome. However, approximately three in the cities of Antioch (Pisidia), attendance and caused a reduc- years before his death, the authori- Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. He tion in the sale of sacrificial meat ties summoned Archelaus to Rome, experienced great success in west- for pagan worship, resulting in charging him with treason. The results ern Asia on his third missionary persecution of Christians at least of this trial remain unknown. Upon journey, with a three-year minis- by the early second century.5 i Archelaus’s death, the Romans try in Ephesus (20:31).1 immediately incorporated 1. Philip A. Harland, “Bithynia” in Eerdmans These four provinces, together Dictionary of the Bible, David Noel Freedman, ed. in Cappadocia into its empire as with Cappadocia, Lycia and Cilicia, chief (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing a province—with little objec- Company, 2000), 190; Jack Finegan, The Archeology comprised the peninsula that of the New Testament (Boulder: Westview Press, tion from the Cappadocians. extends westward from the main- 1981), 84. Their agreeing was perhaps largely 2. Finegan, 79-80. 8 land of Asia between the Black 3. Emil G. Kraeling, “Asia” in Dictionary of the aided by a reduction in taxes. Bible, James Hastings, ed., Frederick C. Grant and Sea and Mediterranean, known H. H. Rowley, eds., rev. ed. (New York: Charles Roman procurators of equestrian also as Asia Minor or Anatolia Scribner’s Sons, 1963), 64. rank replaced the Cappadocian mon- 4. Barry J. Beitzel, Moody Atlas of Bible Land, (constituting most of present-day (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 182. archy from A.D. 17 until A.D. 72. Turkey).2 Asia, established as a 5. Pliny, Letters Books VIII-X and Panegyricus, The Cappadocia, with only two significant Loeb Classical Library, G. P. Goold, ed. (Cambridge: Roman province when Rome con- Harvard University Press, 1969), 10.95-97 (pp. cities (Tyana and Mazaca) at the time quered the kingdom of Pergamum 285-293). of its incorporation into the Roman in 133 B.C., boasted one of the Empire, posed a unique situation richest economies in the Roman Alan Ray Buescher is a free- for Rome.