About Ephesus
Ephesus was a luxurious and
splendid eastern city but it was given up to the magic arts and idolatrous
superstitions of the Orient. Ephesus could well be called "superstition city"
Its people lived in a superstitious atmosphere. The Ephesians worshipped the
Asiatic goddess Diana and its supreme glory was the temple of Diana, one of
the Seven Wonders of the World, which made the city famous. Not only at
Ephesus, but throughout all Asia and the world was the goddess Diana, the
great mother, worshipped. She was worshipped as the goddess of virginity and
motherhood from primitive times and pictured with many breasts. The veneration
of Mary blended and
replaced her as a religious force.
Ephesus was the capital of proconsular Asia, about 40 miles SE of
Smyrna. Ephesus being
located about halfway between Jerusalem and Rome was the
approximate center of the Roman Empire. The most famous city of Ionia;
colonists from Athens had founded it about 1000 BC. It was an opulent city
with an ample harbor, colonized by the Athenian Androclus. Ephesus was a
wealthy metropolis and in Paul's day the
population was about some 250,000. The word Ephesus means "desirable". Ephesus
was a proud, rich, busy port, the market of Asia Minor and called "The
Treasure House of Asia." In those days trade followed the river valleys and
Ephesus stood at the mouth of the Cayster commanding the richest hinterland in
Asia Minor. the commercial rival This great city, closely connected with
Alexandria and
considered a commercial rival of Alexandria and Syrian Antioch.
Ephesus was a meeting place of many currents of Hellenistic thought.
Under the shadow of the temple of Artemis (Diana), ghostly priests and
miracle workers abounded. Between the occult worship of Artemis and the
widespread practice of magic, the city was preoccupied with the black arts.
The worship of Artemis included shameless and vile practices such as
prostitution and mutilation in the rituals. This made the residents easy prey
to false magicians and vulnerable to demonic penetration. She was the home of
criminals and the temple possessed the right of asylum. There were the famous
charms and spells called "Ephesian Letters" that guaranteed to bring
protection on journeys, children to childless, success in love or business,
from all over the world people came to buy these magic parchments, which they
wore as amulets and charms. Into the Ephesus of darkness God brought Paul.
The letter of Paul to the Ephesians was written at the same time as
Colossians, during Paul's imprisonment at Rome, carried by Tychicus on the
journey to Asia. The believers in Ephesus worked themselves to the state of
exhaustion for the sake of Jesus. Their labor cost
them something... You cannot bear them who are evil... Many Christians are more
interested in peace than in purity of doctrine. Tradition and ceremony are the
conditions under which the Holy alone existed and was accessible. Obedience,
respect, reverence, were the most important religious feelings.
The church at Ephesus is the first of the Seven
Candlesticks of
the apocalypse. Traditionalism and the ritualism so closely connected with it
are prominent characteristics of the Greek Church, but this is just what shows
how far it has departed from the gospel in the value which it attaches to
orthodoxy, to sound doctrine but without the vital spirituality of Jesus. They
had lost their first love to the point that the candlestick is threatened to
be taken from its place.
Ephesus in the first century was a dying city, given to parasite pursuits,
living like Athens on a reputation, a curious meeting place of old and new
religions, of East and West. The Ephesian epistle was addressed to the church
in Ephesus, but intended also as a circular letter to neighboring churches.
Paul wrote Ephesians epistle in 61 or 62 from prison in Rome. Paul had done
some of his most successful work from around 54 to 57 and there was such a
multitude of converts, almost overnight Ephesian Christianity became one of
the most powerful influences in the city, and, soon, one of the most famous
churches in the world. There were many Jews of the city who were more or less
influenced by Christianity, not to mention the many Gentiles. At Ephesus Paul
had found a door for effective work wide open and the ones that opposed him
did so because he was so successful that trade in silver shrines were
effected. Pliney wrote back to Trajan that Christians had become so numerous
that Heathen Temples were almost deserted. Christian churches included large
and influential elements of the population.
According to Eusebius, John spent his last
years in Ephesus. Ephesus became the home of Saint John and Mary. the mother of
Jesus had gone to live there also, under John's care.
It was before the days of
church buildings, they had to meet in halls or homes or wherever they
could. There was not one great central temple, but many perhaps hundreds,
of small congregations, each under its own pastor, yet the letter is addressed
to "The Church at Ephesus". Hundreds of congregations: yet One Church. John
opposed the doctrines of Nestorius, Paul the idolatry.
Paul's mission was so successful that the temple priests noted a steep
decline in the number of pilgrims, and merchants and innkeepers complained of
a loss of business.
Timothy
was bishop of the church founded by St. Paul. In 262, Ephesus was destroyed by
the Goths and never rose to its former glory.
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those who abuse and misuse the internet and other technologies as nothing more
than a form of "domestic terrorism" - - - - and, it would seem to appear that
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technologies are no different than those who
attempt to use coercive measures, and in some instance,
even blackmail for the same idea is
involved... to cause havoc and wreckage, to destroy the spirit and activity of
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Yes, our Metropolitan Archbishop, +Joseph Thaddeus, SSJt., Ph.D. strongly defends the Seals of the Confessional for such leads to
true Repentance in thought, word and deed whereby the penitent is required to
make amends, where possible, to seek forgiveness of those harmed by his actions
whether real or imagined, and to give his forgiveness to those who have harmed
him before taking the Holy Body and Blood in the Eucharist. The reality of
this understanding is bound in and with the findings for which cause he,
himself, had been character assassinated by his detractors who claim the courts
prevented him from breaking the Seals of the Confessional which is not the truth
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Click here to see what another bishop's findings are...
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following link as regards the computer - internet problem:
http://msn.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,116258,00.asp
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