Bishops' Blog

ASPACTS 4 – ANTIOCH: THE CITY

A word about the title of this series: AspACTS is not a misspelling but a play on words. This blog aims to examine different aspects of the Book of Acts, and what we can learn about being Christians in our own time.

Antioch was a first major step in the spread of the Christian faith, and an experiment that turned out to be amazingly successful. In previous installments, we have looked at the first Christians who evangelized both Jews and non-Jews in this city, and their message. Here, we will look at the City itself and why the Christian message proved to be attractive to its inhabitants.

The City of Antioch was the third most important city in the Roman Empire, behind Rome and Alexandria. It was called “Queen of the East.” As the first century advanced, Antioch gained in importance over Alexandria.

The City, like Alexandria, was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s generals, Seleucus I, following the conqueror’s death. It was named for his father, Antiochus. It was built on the Orontes River about three hundred years before Christ.

The Romans favored this city over Alexandria. It became the capital of the Province of Syria. Octavian built a huge Temple to Jupiter here. A Roman Forum was also built, then enlarged by Tiberius. The City also featured a great theatre. Cicero extolled the city for its art and its literature. Juvenal, however, said it had a reputation for immorality – he coined the saying, “The Orontes pours pollution into the Tiber.”

Antioch lay about 300 miles north of Jerusalem, and some 20 plus miles inland (East) from the Mediterranean coast. Through the city passed highways that were significant trade routes to Palestine and Egypt to the south, east toward Persia, and west to the territory of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).

The original city was laid out on ground about 1 mile square. The population at the end of the first century was about 150,000, not counting suburbs, over 2 square miles. (2 mi² = 1280 acres)

The population density was about 117/acre. Compare that to modern NYC, 37/acre; Chicago, 21/acre. Manhattan has a density of 100/acre. As if that were not bad enough, it is estimated that about 40 percent of the land was occupied by large public structures: Temples, palaces, forums, theatre, hippodrome, etc. The baths of a Roman City were large, too. (Although called “public baths,” they probably were restricted to the upper echelons of society – not the common man.) Such circumstances would push population density even higher!

Typically, buildings could not rise very high – about 6 stories due to construction techniques. (In Rome, a height limit of 65.6 feet was imposed.) Upper floors were inhabited by the poor, who often subdivided their tenements. These “apartments” were overcrowded. Ground level floors were reserved for shops and manufacturing. Inner courtyards were used for butchering, cloth dying, blacksmithing and other forms of work. Construction techniques were fairly light, mostly of wood-framed buildings with plastered exteriors. This led to constant collapsing of buildings and fires – and loss of life. Roman cities were tightly packed with narrow streets occupied by people and animals alike. Large carts were drawn through these streets by oxen and horse, making them noisy and filthy. There was little sanitation: even at Rome, sewers served only the rich who could afford them. It is said that ancient cities could be smelled long before they could be seen!

The typical family lived in a single room. Cooking was done on a charcoal brazier – furnaces and fireplaces were unknown (except perhaps for the rich). Windows were covered with a skin or cloth. Apartments were hot in summers, and cold and smoky in the colder months, and drafty due to their construction. Chamber pots and garbage were simply dumped on the streets below.

Water was brought to cities by aqueducts but stored in cisterns. Most people did not enjoy ready access to fresh water. Water had to be brought to the apartments in large jugs, up many floors. The water tended to be stagnant and unpalatable. Pliny suggested that people always boil their water!

Given the poor state of sanitation, the cities were breeding grounds for insects and vermin. Diseases were frequent and quickly passed from person to person. The mortality rates were higher in cities than in rural areas. It is estimated that the life expectancy in the large cities was about 30 years! Children born to city families were lucky to have one parent survive their growth to adulthood, and orphans (untended) were a constant feature of ancient city-life.

All this led, in turn, to a constant need for what is called “in-migration,” bringing new residents to the cities to keep them going. This in-migration tended to make the cities a gathering of strangers – the in-flux of people who came from various areas, were of different racial stock, spoke different languages and held different customs. It is estimated that in Roman times there were as many as 18 different identifiable ethnic enclaves at Antioch. But this probably understates the true conditions, for many who came to live in Antioch– especially retired military men and administrative officials – brought with them their slaves and servants from widely different places. Such diversity resulted in suspicion, competition for meager resources, misunderstanding, crime and riots. The cities were not safe.

These conditions may well have applied to the wealthy as well as to the lower classes. It is well known that some famous Romans lived in what would otherwise be considered questionable residences in Rome rather than their own enclaves in order to be close to the action (Senate, forum) at important times, and the same was probably true in other major cities.  This would not, of course, preclude the wealthy and prominent from having villas in the country or near the sea – refuges to get away to in times of difficulty or for relaxation. Certainly, the wealthy could afford larger living spaces and may have had luxuries indoors that were not available to the poorer folk. But outdoors, they needed to be prepared for crime and concerned for safety just like anyone else.

Living conditions were complicated by numerous disasters, some of human origin and many more “of nature.” According to sociologist Rodney Stark,

Any accurate portrait of Antioch in New Testament times must depict a city filled with misery, fear, despair, and hatred. A city where the average family lived a squalid life in filthy and cramped quarters, where at least half of the children died at birth or during infancy, and where most of the children who lived lost at least one parent before reaching maturity. A city filled with hatred and fear rooted in intense ethnic antagonism and exacerbated by a constant stream of strangers. A city so lacking in stable networks of attachments that petty incidents could prompt mob violence. A city where crime flourished, and the streets were dangerous at night. And, perhaps above all, a city repeatedly smashed by cataclysmic catastrophes: where a resident could expect literally to be homeless from time to time, providing that he or she was among the survivors. (Stark, The Rise of Christianity, 1997, p. 160 f.)

With all this as background, we can begin to understand what was so attractive about the message of the Christians:

1. They were filled with boldness and joy. The followers of Jesus drew attention at the first Pentecost in Jerusalem precisely because they were joyful and boldly proclaimed the resurrection. (Acts 2.5-15) This must have been a feature of the Christians in Antioch as well: they didn’t fear standing out from the crowd, and their joy about life was the direct outcome of their Easter faith.
   
   
2. They cared for the needy. Again, the followers of Jesus at Jerusalem very soon after Pentecost took steps to provide for the poor, the widows, and for children in their midst. (Acts 4.32-34) People were set apart for this service, people we call deacons. (acts 6.1-6) At Antioch, this care for those in desperate situations must have continued. As we shall see, when the call came to them to help famine victims they quickly responded. (Acts 11.27-29)
   
   
3. They welcomed everyone. As we know, at Pentecost in Jerusalem people of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds came into the Christian movement. The Christians at Antioch similarly welcomed all sorts of people into their fellowship. Rich and poor, slave and free, young and old found a new home among them. In a basically hostile environment such as we have seen was the case at Antioch, this must have been a very attractive element.
   
   
4. The very fact that the Christians at Antioch were reaching out to share their faith and their lives with others showed something else: in the ancient world, the worship of the gods was intended to get them to do something for you, or to get them off your back. For the Christians, worship was offered to praise God and to thank Him for His blessings in Christ. Such worship was confident, forward looking, optimistic and inspiring. It offered a breath of fresh air!

In the next installment, we will see how the Christians at Antioch put their faith to work.

(For those interested in reading more deeply in the spread of early Christianity, I commend Rodney Stark’s Rise of Christianity (1997) and Cities of God (2006).)

AspACTS 3: The Message and its Meaning

[A word about the title of this series: AspACTS is not a misspelling but a play on words. This blog aims to examine different aspects of the Book of Acts, and what we can learn about being Christians in our own time.]

We have been reflecting on the first Christian mission to Antioch. (Acts 11.19-27) . As Luke tells this story, it is the first mission outside what we call the Holy Land. And as we have seen, it was not only successful but profoundly important for the future of Christianity. In the first blog in this series, we looked at why the study of the mission in Antioch is important. In the second, we looked at how St. Barnabas was dispatched to Antioch and why.

In this reflection, we will look at the message the followers of Jesus brought to Antioch. This will prepare us in the next installment to consider why this message was so well received by non-Jews in that city. In other words, in this blog we will ask what were the seeds that were sown in this place? In the next, why did they take root?

The Men (and Women)

We recall that the folks who first began to witness to Jesus in Antioch had fled Jerusalem because of the persecution that resulted in the martyrdom of Stephen. This tells us quite a lot about them:

1. Though scattered because of persecution, these folks didn’t hide out. As so often happens in the history of the Church, when destruction looms, faith excels. As one of the ancient Christians said who lived through later persecutions, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” (Tertullian) The stoning of Stephen not only sent folks fleeing in all directions, but it also opened doors for witness. These men and women were not afraid!
   
   
2. Those who were scattered were Jews – Jews from other places. When they returned to their former homes, they turned to their fellow Jews and shared their experience of faith. That in itself says something about their character and about what had happened to them in a fairly short period of time. Somehow, they knew that they were supposed to share their stories! Silence for Christians is not an option!
   
   
3. A few of these, however, went well beyond what these others did: these Jews who had become followers of Jesus now took the dramatic step of telling of Jesus to non-Jews – to Gentiles! This was most significant. And it discloses something tremendously important about their understanding of the mission of Jesus.
   
   
4. There was a universal meaning to Jesus’ ministry! That is, Jesus did not come just to recall and restore Israel to its special place as God’s people. Jesus was not just a Jewish reformer. The whole purpose of Jesus was to extend God’s grace and sovereignty – God’s love and fellowship to all human beings!

It is remarkable that these disciples took the initiative in reaching out to non-Jews. They did not ask permission of anyone to do this, and don’t seem, in fact, to have thought that their action was such as needed any outside permission. In short, they thought that speaking to Greeks – or Gentiles – about Jesus was an entirely appropriate and necessary thing to do.

The Message

Luke says that those who spoke to non-Jews were simply “preaching the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 11.20 RSV) Actually, the verb indicates that they were sharing “the good news of the Lord Jesus,” and several translations make that clear.

The fact that these followers were speaking of Jesus as Lord is very significant. The word “Lord” denoted the exalted status of Jesus following his resurrection. Peter had spoken of all this at Pentecost in Jerusalem a few years before, and summed up his message by saying that this Jesus was “exalted to the right hand of God,” and “God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2.32, 36)

The “preaching” of Jesus as Lord is a shorthand expression for proclaiming the basic story of Jesus – the Gospel. The title, “Christ” would have spoken to Jews because it was the assertion that Jesus was the long-expected Messiah. This would not have been so apparent to non-Jews, however. The title, “Lord,” on the other hand, spoke quite clearly to them. The word meant “master,” or “owner.” In other words, these followers of Jesus were claiming that in his resurrection, God had raised Jesus to be the master of all – the ultimate authority over creation, life and destiny.

Such a message was also somewhat dangerous. The Roman emperors, always concerned with the unity of the empire, laid exclusive claim to the title “Lord.” Some even went further, flirting with the idea that they were in some sense divine, god-like. Nero, the emperor who reigned at the time Luke likely wrote his book, thought of himself as Apollo incarnate! So the message that any other person was or could be “Lord” could result in a charge of treason.

This last sense – that “Lord” refers to the Emperor – takes on added meaning in the phrase, “Jesus is Lord.” Here, Jesus would have replaced the Emperor in the common mind:

• Jesus is the ultimate power.
• Jesus is the new king.
• Jesus is the one who saves us from hostile powers and makes our lives secure.
• Jesus is the one to whom we can look for sustenance, for justice, for peace.
• Jesus is the true ruler of world.

The message that Jesus was Lord would, at the very least, have invited great interest. It opened a door for people to ask what this message was all about? That, in turn, led to many teaching opportunities. Simple curiosity would have presented the followers of Jesus with the chance to identify who Jesus was. They would tell his story, emphasizing his wondrous works and his wonderful teaching. They would tell of how he had been unjustly tried and convicted and put to death. But above all, they would tell of the thing that stunned them all – that Jesus, who had been buried, had suddenly appeared to them bodily and was very much alive!

This teaching was far more than the presentation of a program, or the recitation of a “tradition.” Some, perhaps many of those who were “preaching the Lord Jesus” had actually seen and heard Jesus and knew those who were his closest associates. Their own lives had been changed by the resurrection of Jesus. It was well-known that a very large number of people – over 500 – had seen and heard the risen Jesus! (1 Cor 15.6) It may be that some of our preachers in Antioch had been among them! The point is that these preachers conveyed more than so many facts or traditions about Jesus: they spoke from the heart, with the power of those whose lives had been transformed, and with a living joy and courage that came from the risen Jesus himself. That is what Luke means when in the very next verse he says, “The hand of the Lord was with them.” (Acts 11.21)

The Meaning

I need to say one more thing about what those first missionaries proclaimed. As we will see shortly, the City of Antioch was a magnet that attracted all sorts and conditions of men and women from all corners of the earth. It was less a melting pot than a chunky stew of different nationalities, races, classes and above all religions.

When the followers of Jesus came proclaiming him, some of the hearers would likely have misunderstood them. When they called Jesus “Christ,” for example, their hearers likely thought that was his name. We saw that they turned that name into an epithet, or a put down. These first hearers may well have thought that the Christians were just adding another god to the mix of gods that were to be found in any ancient city.

But the Christians were different. There was and could be only one God. That is what was meant by saying that Jesus is Lord: Jesus was Lord of All. (Acts 10.36) No other power could be greater and no other loyalty could be entertained.

The first Christian missionaries offered something that was entirely unique and completely demanding. They were proclaiming a message that was at one and the same time both inclusive and exclusive: Inclusive, because they saw Jesus as the power and presence of God, the creator, who had made all human beings and all the world and was now restoring or reconciling the whole world to Himself. It was exclusive, however, because it demanded complete trust, complete surrender, full understanding and full obedience.

In other words, these first missionaries were eager to reach out to their neighbors, but they were neither so eager nor timid as to water down their own message. What some detractors said of Paul and his mission efforts sometime later could as easily have been said about the first missionaries at Antioch: these men and women were doing nothing less than “turning the world upside down!” (Acts 17.6)

So let me summarize what we know about these missionaries to this point:

1. They were courageous, taking the initiative to share their faith in Jesus with others;
2. They were bold, taking the sting of an epithet and making it the standard by which to measure themselves: they would be “little Christs”;
3. They stood out from their neighbors – but were at the same time concerned for them;
4. They were clear about their message: Jesus is Lord – indeed, Lord of All;
5. They were clear about their mission: Jesus embraces us all, but each must decide to follow him.

Next time, we will take a closer look at the City of Antioch itself and consider why this message drew new people to the Lord Jesus.