EPHESUS THE CENTER OF CHRISTIANITY DURING 50sAD

Ephesus 
Ἔφεσος  Efes

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For homonyms of the Turkish word Efes, see Efes.

THE EARLY START, DEVELOPMENT AND SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL.

COMPARATIVELY  SPEAKING much is written, in the Bible about the Ephesian Church. 

The ministry in Ephesus, as a number of others was an urban ministry in a city of 200,000+

    In Ephesus, the Christian church met in houses or other convenient places.

For example, Aquilla and Priscilla had a church in their house.  (1Corinthians 16:19, Paul wrote Corinthians from Ephesus)

Ephesus was an important center for Christianity in the latter part of the first century, from 50AD into the first century.  

From AD 52–54, the apostle Paul lived in Ephesus, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands.^[43]

 Initially, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul attended the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus, but after three months he became frustrated with the stubbornness or hardness of heart of some of the Jews, and 

He moved his base to the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9). Here Paul ministered successfully through the work of the Holy Spirit for at least 2 years. 

 The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary reminds readers that the unbelief of "some" (Greek: τινες) implies that "others, probably a large number, believed"^[44] and therefore there must have been a community of Jewish Christians in Ephesus.

Paul introduced about twelve men to the 'baptism with the Holy Spirit' who had previously only experienced the baptism of John the Baptist (Acts 19:1-7), and later became embroiled in a dispute with some artisans whose livelihood depended on selling statuettes of Artemis (Latin: Diana) in the Temple of Artemis (Acts 19:23–41).

Between 53 and 57 AD Paul wrote the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the 'Paul tower' near the harbor, where he was imprisoned for a short time). Later, Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 AD).

Roman Asia was associated with John,^[45]

 one of the chief apostles, and the Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus, c 90–100.^[46] Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in the Book of Revelation, indicating that the church at Ephesus was strong.

The church at Ephesus

Two decades later, the church at Ephesus was still important enough to be addressed by a letter written by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch to the 
Ephesians (Church) in the early 2nd century AD, that begins with, "Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory" (Letter to the Ephesians). The church at Ephesus had given their support for Ignatius, who was taken to Rome for execution.

House of the JESUS' MOTHER, Mary

A legend, which was first mentioned by Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century AD, purported that Mary may have spent the last years of her life in Ephesus. The Ephesians derived the argument from John's presence in the city, and Jesus’ instructions to John to take care of Mary after his death. 
Epiphanius, however, was keen to point out that, while the Bible says John was leaving for Asia, it does not say specifically that Mary went with him. He later stated that she was buried in Jerusalem.^[47] 

Since the 19th century, The House of the Virgin Mary, about 7 km (4 mi) from Selçuk, has been considered to have been the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus in the Roman Catholic tradition, based on the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich. It is a popular place of Catholic pilgrimage which has been visited by three recent popes.

The Church of Mary near the harbour of Ephesus was the setting for the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which resulted in the condemnation of Nestorius. A Second Council of Ephesus was held in 449, but its controversial acts were never approved by the Catholics. It came to be called the Robber Council of Ephesus or Robber Synod of Latrocinium by its opponents.

Main sites[edit]

The Gate of Augustus in Ephesus was built to honor the Emperor Augustus and his family.

Tomb of JOHN THE APOSTLE at the Basilica of St. John.

Ephesus is one of the largest Roman archaeological sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The visible ruins still give some idea of the city's original splendour, and the names associated with the ruins are evocative of its former life. The theatre dominates the view down Harbour Street, which leads to the silted-up harbour.