Paul and the Greek Poets

You never know what lesson you are learning today will mean for you tomorrow. A classic example involved one of my favorite Bible characters, Rabban Gamaliel I., a prestigious scholar and member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Historians record that as a teacher he insisted that his students study the Greek poets. Imagine a young student thinking, “What’s with this? Why should I a Jewish boy with Roman citizenship have to study Greek poetry?” From his perspective that would have been good logic.

Recently I stood on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece where that lesson proved to be very valuable for that young student named Paul. In Israel Paul could quote Old Testament passages and the people understood where he was coming from.

Later he went to the cultural center, Athens. The people there knew nothing of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Near the base of the Parthenon crowned Acropolis is the small hill known as Mars Hill. Here on the occasion of the meeting of the Areopagus Paul addressed a crowd described as, “All the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking and listening to the latest ideas?”

Along the pathway leading up Mars Hill were statues to various gods and goddesses. All were well identified. Just incase they had overlooked one, they had a statue dedicated to “the unknown God.”

The Greeks were devotees of their poets. Seizing the moment Paul addressed the crown saying, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” Lock on. They knew Paul was quoting from two of their favorite poets, Aratus and Epimenides. Gamaliel had saved the day. Paul got his audience and the gospel spread.In that day as in this people have different opinions regarding the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was one who spread the news broadly. Recently sailing the Aegean Isles locals share another means of the discrimination. On most of the islands were Jewish colonies expectantly looking for Messiah.

Many Jews were made Roman slaves and forced to be oarsmen on slave ships. They had been in Jerusalem and knew the promise of peace and hope offered by Jesus. Their pain and drudgery was made easier by the hope they had of a better heavenly home as a result. They believed in Him as Messiah.

As they forcefully were made to power the ships around the sea, they encountered Jewish communities expecting the Messiah. Many in these colonies joined in sharing their belief and thus through persecution the word spread.

By academic and enslaved spokesmen the word spread. Rome intended it for evil, but God intended it for good.

There are still persons on both sides of this vital issue. This is merely a historical perspective of how many came to believe.

Troy: The Trojan Horse is Still There

While cruising the Greek Islands and surrounding area we visited sights of two great battles, one historical and the other mythological. Each has lessons to teach us.

Our port of call was Canakkale, Turkey near the Dardanelle coast which has territory in both Europe and Asia. It is the city nearest the sight of ancient Troy. The “wooden horse” from the 2004 movie “Troy” is exhibited in Canakkale.

Troy is the sight of much of Homer’s epic “Illiad.” This classical work is considered by many to be a splendid embellishment of deeds of piracy and war carried out by Greek ships on the Anatolian coast in the 13th century B.C.

In the narrative Paris kidnaped Helen, the wife of Menelaus, and carried her to Troy and married her. The Greek Menelaus brought a coalescent army to avenge the honor of Helen. After an unsuccessful siege of Troy Menelaus devised a clever strategy. He had build a large wooden horse which was placed outside the city gates during the night. When the citizens awoke and noted the Greek fleet had gone away they assumed victory and brought the horse in the city as a symbol of victory.

The wooden horse was filled with Greek warriors. After a day of celebrating their assumed victory the drunken city of Troy slept well while the warriors came out of the horse and opened the city gates. The Greek fleet under the command of Agamemnon returned from just over th horizon to invade the city.

Perhaps if we had come as did Alexander the Great did later with a copy of Homer’s “Iliad” in hand we might have heard the battle cry of Agamemnon’s fleet of warriors roll across the plain.

That which seemed so appealing proved to be the downfall of Troy. The application to us today is too clear to make the illustration have to crawl.

The second battle scene was that of a more contemporary true battle. It is known as the Battle of the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915 – 1916.

The initial campaign was largely between the British Royal Navy and the entrenched Ottoman forces. The two sides hammered each other with heavy cannon fire. As we sailed by the sight I could see at least thirty major gun emplacements along the shore at a narrow point in the waterway.

The battle gave the appearance of being a standoff. The British fleet withdrew and sailed away. A land assault ensured involving mostly British and Australian forces. The Australian forces suffered numerous casualties. Each year April 25 is commemorated in Australia as the day of these great casualties. Many Australians still make pilgrimages to the area.

There is a lesson to be learned from the sea/land battle. The British withdrew not knowing the Turks has less than one minute of ammunition left. A bit more staying power could have turned the course of the battle and saved many lives.

Had they had the will power of a later war tempered Sir Winston Churchill who said at Harrow School in 1941, of the World War II battle against the Nazi forces, “Never given in– never, never, never, never, in nothing great of small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force, never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

Ephesus: The Arena in Which Paul Preached

No visit to the historical islands and area around the Aegean Sea would be complete without a visit to Kusadasi and more importantly nearby Ephesus. A focal feature is the facade of the impressive Celsus Library named for Emperor Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus and completed around 117 A.D. Once the third largest library in the world it housed over 30,000 volumes.The imposing front is designed to look even more impressive. Upward it recedes at two degrees giving the upper floor the appearance of being further away and hence the building being larger than it was. The style gives us the word “mirage.” The facility itself is a liberal education. The facade features four female figures representing what the ancients considered the basis of learning. A person having the qualities represented by the statues would indeed be well educated. They are: Sophia, wisdom, which is scholarly learning or knowledge; and understanding of what is right or true coupled with just judgment or action.

Arete, virtue, the fulfillment of function or purpose, the act of living up to one’s potential. When translated “virtue” it means “to be the best you can be.” I have always found it comforting to know God never asked us to be “the” best at anything, but rather to be “our” best at everything we do. Such a person would indeed be virtuous.

Eunoia, thinking, is an exhortation to contemplating, meditating, that is, well thought or reasoned opinions. It is the ability to compute using logic and reason.

Episteme, knowledge, is a sort of science. It is the art of demonstrating as proof, that is, the ability to repeat a fact.

On our recent trip we visited Ephesus during the day and evening. The stadium was dated by an inscription to Nero, 54 – 68 A.D. The long Arcadian Way leads to the Great Theater seating 20,000. Here the Apostle Paul preached and for doing so was basically run out of town. The truths he proclaimed eventually became the primary faith of the region.

Nearby is the traditional sight where it is believed the Virgin Mary spent her last years and is buried. Also close by is the Basilica of the Apostle John built by Emperor Justinian over the spot where John is reputedly buried.

We visited the city by day viewing all the points of interest. By night the city has an ethereal ambiance. The Seabourn Cruise Company, with which we were traveling, reserved the historical sight for an evening performance of classical music by the Kusadasi String Ensemble just for cruise members. Tables and chairs were set up on the Arcadian Way with the attractively lighted theater as a background. Down this street walked such historical figures as Cleopatra, Mark Anthony, Hadrian, Caligula, Trajan, and the Apostles John and Paul.

Ephesus was a port city with lessons to teach us. The Romans cut the timber off the surrounding hills and did not practice reforestation. The port that once was six miles wide and seven miles long filled in by soil eroded from the hills and is now a fertile agricultural area. When the port filled in the city died.

Still carved in the large stone pavements are circles dissected by eight straight lines. It is a design formed by overlaying the Greek letters for Ichthus, meaning fish: iota, chi, theta, gamma, and zeta. Overlaid they form the dissected circle interpreted to mean “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.”

In this way the faith once decried in the city is noted by those who came to embrace it.

Milos: What Happened to the Arms of Venus DeMilo?

What happened to the arms of Venus de Milo?

Standing six feet eight inches, she is believed to have represented Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty, love and sexual rapture. She is thought to have been created between 130 and 100 A.D. on the Island of Crete.

Last week while I was standing in the field on the Island of Milos, one of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, I learned from an islander their account of her discovery and condition. While digging among other ruins in that field a peasant named Yorgos Kentotoas unearthed her on April 8, 1820. It is not known if she was intended to adorn the nearby Roman amphitheater on Milos or the gymnasium in which she was found buried. In that day a gymnasium was often simply an open field in which athletes trained.

Originally she was painted and adorned with accents, such as ear rings and a bracelet, intended to give her a more life like appearance. In her left hand she held an apple, the symbol of Milos, and her right arm was across her torso as though the hand was tugging at the folds draped on her bent knee. The golden apple is also the symbol of her being “the fairest of the goddesses.”

When Yorgos found her among other ruins her body and legs were in separate pieces and her two arms were nearby. He took her home and housed her for some time. When visitors would visit the house and ask to talk with Yorgos, they were often told he was in the basement with his beautiful statue.

There was no Greek government at the time – only people who spoke Greek. The large French contingency on the island desired her. Yorgos and islanders wanted her to go to the Sultan to help gain tax relief. A conflict over her destiny resulted. The French eventually drug her to one of their ships anchored near the shore in the nearby harbor. Significant scratches resulting from the dragging can be seen on her back by a close observe. In a small boat they loaded her onto their ship. The arms were too heavy so they were in the process of being taken to another French ship anchored further off shore when the boat in which they were being transported sank and the arms were lost.

Several years ago a small exploration submarine was used in an unsuccessful attempt to find the arms. They are still buried at sea.

Her story is a classic example of how things come apart when individuals or governments are interested in different parts rather than the whole. In our own lives things are more harmonious when all the parts are put together properly.

Legends abound in Greek mythology. One of the most famous ones related to Aphrodite is her competition with goddesses, Hear and Athena to determine the most beautiful goddess. Zeus would not choose the fairest so the responsibility befell to Paris, Prince of Troy. Each of the goddesses offered him a bribe. He would not turn down the bribe of Aphrodite which was to give him the most beautiful woman in the world as a bride, Helen of Troy. Unfortunately for Paris, Helen was the wife of the Greek King Menelaus. Paris abducted Helen and that started the Trojan War.

Muslim Riots

So there was a short Internet depiction of Mohammad in a way Muslims consider offensive and that gave the right to riot, sack, pillage, burn, and kill. There is a disconnect there some place.

First, a couple of disclaimers. Yes, there are some Muslims who oppose such reaction. They are a minority and I think even they will admit they are not as outspoken as are radical members of their faith.

Second, there is almost no reason to believe all the rioting started in the middle East on 9/11 was as a result of a film released a month ago.

The riots are a result of a large radical Muslim element who believe everyone who does not espouse their belief is an infidel to be killed in the name of their god. For many in this school of thought that includes other Muslims who do not believe as they. Those peace loving Muslims are in a vice between the suspicion of the west and the fear of the east.

Now back to the concept that the video caused the riots. If the video was offensive, did that give the right for such violent response toward innocent people and a government that has in many instances supported them?

Our response to the riots has been to give our troops more sensitivity training. Don’t show the soul of your foot in the presence of a Muslim, don’t accept anything with your left hand, don’t blow your nose in the presence of a Muslim, and don’t handle the Koran without sanitary gloves has been stressed among our military since the riots began.

Now consider the response of other faiths to affronts shown them.

Consider the “art” of Andres Serrano who depicted a crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist’s urine. It was displayed in a museum and called “Piss Christ.” The exhibit was sponsored by the National Endowment of the Arts, an agency of the American government.

Couple that with the “art” work by Chris Ofili showing the virgin Mary smeared with elephant dung amid a collage of pornographic messages. Still no riots.

Did Christians and Jews revolt when the Bible was taken from schools? Did those highly offensive acts give license to become marauders?

After World War II, during which Germans killed over 6,000,000 Jews, did mobs of Jews burn German government buildings? When the Ten Commandments given Moses were taken from public places did they riot?

With appropriate homage for the peace loving Muslims, America must wake up and admit there is a peace loving community among Muslims, but there is a vast aggressive element that not only desires to wipe Israel off the map, but to destroy the country which they call “the great Satan.”