A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs; To Which Are Appended a Brief Consideration of the Geography and History of Palestine, and a Chapter on Churches of Christ in Great BritainJanes, Don Carlos
Religion
A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs; To Which Are Appended a Brief Consideration of the Geography and History of Palestine, and a Chapter on Churches of Christ in Great Britain
Janes, Don Carlos
Churches of Christ -- Great Britain; Palestine -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
I visited the site of Ephesus without the services of a guide, walking
along the road which passes at some distance on the right. I continued
my walk beyond the ruins, seeing some men plowing, and others caring for
flocks of goats, which are very numerous in the East. When I turned back
from the road, I passed a well, obtaining a drink by means of the rope
and bucket that were there, and then I climbed a hill to the remains of
a strong stone building of four rooms. The thick walls are several feet
high, but all the upper part of the structure has been thrown down, and,
strange to say, a good portion of the fallen rocks are in three of the
rooms, which are almost filled. It is supposed that Paul made a journey
after the close of his history in the book of Acts; that he passed
through Troas, where he left a cloak and some books (2 Tim. 4:13); was
arrested there, and probably sent to Ephesus for trial before the
proconsul. Tradition has it that this ruined stone building is the place
where he was lodged, and it is called St. Paul's Prison. From the top of
its walls I could look away to the ruins of the city proper, about a
mile distant, the theater being the most conspicuous object.
There are several attractions in Ephesus, where there was once a church
of God--one of the "seven churches in Asia"--but the theater was the
chief point of interest to me. It was cut out of the side of the hill,
and its marble seats rested on the sloping sides of the excavation,
while a building of some kind, a portion of which yet remains, was built
across the open side at the front. I entered the inclosure, the outlines
of which are still plainly discernible, and sat down on one of the old
seats and ate my noonday meal. As I sat there, I thought of the scene
that would greet my eyes if the centuries that have intervened since
Paul was in Ephesus could be turned back. I thought I might see the
seats filled with people looking down upon the apostle as he fought for
his life; and while there I read his question: "If after the manner of
men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me" if the dead
are not raised up? (I Cor. 15:32). I also read the letter which Jesus
caused the aged Apostle John to write to the church at this place (Rev.
2:1-7), and Paul's epistle to the congregation that once existed in
this idolatrous city of wealth and splendor. As I was leaving this spot,
where I was so deeply impressed with thoughts of the great apostle to
the Gentiles, I stopped and turned back to take a final look, when I
thought of his language to Timothy, recorded in the first eight verses
of the second epistle, and then I turned and read it. Perhaps I was not
so deeply impressed at any other point on the whole journey as I was
here. The grand old hero, who dared to enter the city which was
"temple-keeper of the great Diana," this temple being one of the "Seven
Wonders of the World," and boldly preach the gospel of Christ,
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