The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? – Acts 19:35

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 1, 2018): Acts 19

The Temple of Artemis just outside of the city of Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The first temple was ancient, so old that its origins are lost in antiquity. According to one myth, the Temple of Artemis was initially built by the Amazons, in Greek mythology, a tribe made up entirely of women, to their matron goddess, Artemis, whose image had been placed in their hearts. But the first Temple was destroyed by a flood.

And so the Ephesians endeavored to recreate the work of the mythical Amazons, recreating their Temple of Artemis on an even grander scale. This Second Temple of Artemis fell to human designs. In this case, a man named Herostratus wanted to make himself famous by any way possible. And so he burned down the second Temple of Artemis to advance his fame. According to tradition, Herostratus burned the Temple around July 20 or 21, 356 B.C.E., the very night that Alexander the Great was born. As the story is told, Artemis was too busy with the birth of Alexander to defend her own Temple from the flames. Herostratus was condemned to death for his crime, and his name was forbidden to be spoken in Greek society, hoping to deprive him of the fame that he desired. Later, Alexander would offer to pay for the rebuilding of the Temple of Artemis, but that offer would be turned down graciously by the Ephesians.

After Alexander’s death, the Temple was rebuilt one more time, on an even grander scale than the Second Temple. It is this third Temple that is considered to be one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. And it is this third Temple that Paul would have known. And maybe, with the history of the Temple, we can be a little sympathetic to the Ephesians reaction against a threat to their Temple, which was of both economic, spiritual and historical significance to the people.

But part of the difference with Paul was that he had no designs to destroy the Temple building itself. He did not want to tear it down or even repurpose the building to another use. What Paul was doing was even more dangerous; he was questioning the mythology itself. The city clerk quietly reminded the people of the history of the building, beginning with its mythical construction by the Amazons, but Paul was worried about the souls of the people and the real God who wished, not to dwell in the Temple of Artemis, but rather in the hearts of men. Yet, part of Luke’s purpose here is to show that the Greek world had nothing to fear from the Christian message. They were not going to start pulling down the holy sites, they just wanted to point to the God of all creation and the Savior of the World, and invite the world to welcome him into their lives.

Eventually, the third Temple of Artemis was destroyed. This destruction came at the hand of the Goths in the third century C.E. And at this point, we lose sight of the Great Temple of Artemis. But the name of Paul’s Savior is still on our lips, as we proclaim Jesus to the nations – Immanuel (God with us).  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 1