In the Footsteps of Paul: Day 8, Sunday, March 1st

Antioch of Pisidia

Being Sunday, and the Feast of St. David to boot, we began our day with a Eucharist.  Since we were visiting Antioch of Pisidia later in the day, I decided to preach St. Paul's longest recorded sermon found in Acts 13:16-41.  This was given by Paul in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, and was the first sermon he ever preached with a large number of Gentiles in the congregation.  It is a classic model of Apostolic preaching, focusing entirely on the biblical narrative of salvation culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Preaching Paul's sermon.

It was also our first Eucharist on the pilgrimage.

We then drove northwest to Antioch of Pisidia.  Historically the Pisidians were a fierce, independent people.  Although many powerful nations attempted to force their submission, they remained free in spite of efforts by the Hittites, Assyrians, Persians and Seleucids (successors of Alexander the Great).   The Romans also had a difficult time subduing them, until the Emperor Augustus decided to make Antioch the Roman military center of Anatolia.   He settled thousands of retired Roman soldiers in the area, giving each a small farm.  This functionally made Pisidia a Roman colony, and by the middle of 1st century AD, Antioch had become a thriving Roman city with a population of nearly 70,000.  It has been excavated for over a century, and now is one of the greatest of all archeological sites in the world. Although it was very cold and damp, it was thrilling to see.  

Walking up the 1st century Roman road, where Paul himself had walked.

For Christians the most significant place in the site is the excavated Church of St. Paul, which was built over the ruins of the synagogue where Paul gave his famous sermon.  

Antioch was in the Roman province of Galatia, and years later Paul wrote his Letter to the Galatians, addressing problems that had developed in the churches of the region.  The key issue was that Judaizers, Jewish Christians, had come to Galatia following Paul and insisted the Gentile believers had to become Jews--be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses--to enter salvation.  Paul's letter is a powerful rebuke to the Judaizers, declaring unequivocally that the only means of salvation was faith: faith in Jesus, faith in the Atonement, faith that Jesus' death and resurrection provided the only necessary means of salvation.  Paul's powerful declaration in his Epistle to the Galatians of salvation by faith alone became the clarion call for the Protestant Reformation.  We had a teaching on Galatians on the very spot where Paul first declared the Gospel to gathered Gentiles.

We then drove from Antioch of Pisidia to Antalya, which is located on the Mediterranean coast.  This route is one of the most spectacular drives in the world along the coast of Lake Egirdir with the soaring snow-capped Taurus Mountains all around us.  It rivals any vista in Switzerland or the Canadian Rockies.  

Lake Egirdir.