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Biblical Anatolia
Turkey is called the Other Holy Land as it has more biblical sites than any
other country in the Middle East. Unfortunately many Christians are unaware of
Turkey’s unique role in the Bible because Biblical references works usually
refer to this strategic peninsula, that bounded by the Mediterranean, Aegean,
and Black Seas, as Asia Minor or Anatolia. Turkey is very important in
understanding the background of the New Testament, because approximately
two-thirds of its books were written either to or from churches in Turkey where
the three major apostles—Peter, St. Paul, and St. John—either ministered or
lived in.
About St. Paul
St. Paul, the great Christian missionary, was born perhaps in 10 CE, in the
Cilician city of Tarsus. His family was Jewish and from them he inherited Roman
citizenship. St. Paul was privileged to have been born a Roman citizen at a time
when it was not yet a universal right for people in the empire. Initially
confined to freeborn natives of the city itself, as Roman control was extended
throughout Italy and then to the lands bordering the Mediterranean and beyond,
certain individuals and communities were given this right. At the time of St.
Paul's ancestors, one way of attaining to Roman citizenship was serving in the
Roman army for twenty-five years. However, because of sabbath and Mosaic food
prescriptions this profession would not have been normally possible for a Jew.
Seven Church of Revelation
...I was caught up in spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a voice as
loud as a trumpet, 'Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven
churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and
Laodicea.
About St. John
Knowledge of the life of St. John of Patmos (also known as the 'Theologian' or
the 'Divine'), the author of the Book of Revelation, which includes the letters
to the seven churches of Asia Minor, mostly comes from apocryphal stories
recorded after his death. Christian tradition identifies him with Other New
Testament figures of the same name, St. John the Evangelist, the traditional
author of the Fourth Gospel who is also claimed to be St. John the Apostle. The
accounts of the Gospels agree that the latter is the son of Zebedee; together
with his brother James (the Greater), he decided to follow Christ while fishing
in the lake Galilee. He became one of Christ's closest disciples and is said to
have been with him on various significant occasions such as the Transfiguration
and the Crucifixion. According to the Fourth Gospel...
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Cappadocia Tours
