Re: The Great Offense of Paul: Rejecting the Divinity of Christ

Apostle Paul’s Missionary Journeys

By Admin on March 4th, 2011

Here is an account of Apostle Paul’s Missionary Journeys, taken from Holman Bible Atlas.  Click on the images to zoom in.

First Missionary Journey (Acts 13–14). The church at Antioch set apart Paul and Barnabas to do missionary work in the West. In the company of John Mark, the pair set forth on their first journey, leaving from Seleucia Pieria, port city of Antioch. Their destination was the island of Cyprus, home of Barnabas (Acts 4:36) and a large Jewish community.

Cyprus. Cyprus was a senatorial province located on a vital sealink in the eastern Mediterranean. Landing at Salamis, the trio proclaimed the gospel across the island on their way to Paphos, the capital of Cyprus and well known for a temple dedicated to Aphrodite. The Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus, resided there. Acts 11:19 informs us that believers fleeing Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen had planted the gospel in Cyprus. Barnabas and Paul evangelized the island by preaching in synagogues, but their crowning success was the conversion of Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:12).

Asia Minor. From Cyprus the three travelers set out for Asia Minor, arriving at Perga on the Pamphylian coast. The region was known for its unhealthy climate and marshes, and the trio did not tarry long. John Mark unexpectedly returned home to Jerusalem, while Barnabas and Paul pressed northward into the Pisidian highlands to Antioch. These uplands beyond the western edge of the Taurus Mountains presented considerable challenges to travelers; peaks and valleys harbored brigands, while the rough terrain required careful attention to the pathways.

Perhaps Paul had in mind segments of this journey when he wrote of personal perils he fought while traveling (for example, 2 Cor. 11:26, “danger from rivers, danger from robbers, … danger in the wilderness”). It is also possible that Paul detoured eastward to take advantage of better roads to reach Antioch. Despite initial success preaching in the synagogue in Antioch, Paul found such intense Jewish opposition to the gospel that he determined to turn his message toward the Gentiles (Acts 13:46).

Apostle Paul's First Missionary Journey

Leaving Antioch, Paul and Barnabas ventured southeast into Lycaonia. Augustus formed the province of Galatia in 25 b.c., which included Lycaonia, and established several Roman colonies—Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—connected by the Via Sebaste. These cities were isolated and therefore less influenced by Graeco-Roman culture than the cities of the western coast. Native populations retained their customs and languages more readily in the more isolated villages and towns typical of the region. Many of the inhabitants were descendants of Gauls who invaded the region after 300 b.c. By Paul’s day the province of Galatia had been expanded, stretching from Pamphylia northward to Pontius. (see map above)

At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas again found opposition from both Jews and Gentiles, escaping a plot to kill them by fleeing to Lystra in the district of Lycaonia. Here, after healing a lame man, the two were mistaken for gods. Their fortunes changed quickly when Jews from Antioch and Iconium led a mob that stoned Paul and left him for dead. Undeterred, Paul went to Derbe, where he and Barnabas were received more warmly. After a brief stay, Paul retraced his steps through Lystra, Iconium, Antioch in Pisidia, and Perga, strengthening the believers along the way before returning by sea from the port of Attalia to Antioch in Syria.

The Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15). Reports of Paul and Barnabas’ successes among the Gentiles reached Jerusalem and stirred a controversy: Must a Gentile convert submit to circumcision to be a Christian? The question was crucial since the issue of salvation was at stake. Paul and Barnabas led a delegation sent from Antioch to a conference convened in Jerusalem to discuss the matter. At the Jerusalem conference, Peter championed salvation by grace apart from any human works, leading the Jerusalem apostles and elders to commend the ministry to the Gentiles unfettered by Jewish legal observance. They requested only that Gentile believers be sensitive to certain Jewish customs (Acts 15:1–29).

Apostle Paul's Second Missionary Journey

Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36–18:22). Rejoicing in this victory for the gospel, Paul returned to Antioch and planned a new venture with Barnabas. Unfortunately, Paul and Barnabas quarreled over whether or not John Mark should accompany them. Barnabas took John Mark with him to Cyprus, continuing the work there, while Paul selected Silas to accompany him back to Asia Minor.

Traveling through the Amanus Mountains into the Cilician Plain and then up on the Anatolian Plateau by way of the Cilician Gates, Paul again headed into Galatia, encouraging the churches established on his previous journey. At Lystra, Paul asked Timothy to join him in his work. A son of a believing Jewish woman and a Gentile father, Timothy became one of Paul’s most steadfast and trusted companions (1 Cor. 4:17; Acts 19:22; 2 Tim. 1:1–8).

Paul’s initial objective for this trip was to evangelize the populous province of Asia on the west coast of Asia Minor, but the Spirit dictated a more northwesterly direction through Phrygia, south of Bithynia, into Mysia. In the port city of Troas, Paul received a vision of a Macedonian imploring him to cross over into Europe with his message (Acts 16:6–10). Acts 16:10 introduces the famous “we” passages of Acts, thought by many scholars to reflect the eyewitness account of one of Paul’s companions—Luke—who joined the apostle at this point. Boarding a ship at Troas, Paul and his companions overnighted on the island of Samothrace before arriving at Neapolis, the chief port of Macedonia.

From Neapolis, Paul followed the Via Egnatia inland into the heart of Macedonia. This important military highway carried commercial goods across Macedonia to the Adriatic Sea, a distance of over five hundred miles. Along its length lay important cities of Macedonia: Philippi, Apollonia, Amphipolis, and Thessalonica. Rome annexed Macedonia as a province in 148 b.c. Later, Augustus refounded several cities as Roman colonies (Philippi, Pella, and Dion), where he settled Roman veterans as a reward for their service to Rome. Thessalonica and Amphipolis were free cities. At the time of Paul’s visit, Macedonia was a senatorial province.

In his first visit to Macedonia, Paul established churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. His first convert on European soil was Lydia, a dealer of purple-dyed cloth from Thyatira. Paul met her outside the city at Philippi.

Located ten miles inland from Neapolis, Philippi was named after Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Philippi increased in political importance when Mark Antony defeated Caesar’s assassins on a nearby plain in 42 b.c., after which Augustus refounded the colony as Colonia Iulia Augusta Philippensium.

Paul left Corinth for the nearby port of Cenchreae accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla. There he kept a vow before sailing back to Syria. Paul stopped briefly at Ephesus, where he parted with his friends and sailed on to Caesarea.

Apostle Paul's Third Missionary Journey

Third Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23–21:14). After a brief stay at Antioch, Paul resumed his missionary endeavors, traveling northwest into Asia Minor. He revisited the churches of Galatia and strengthened the believers in the face of a threat posed by the Judaizers described in Galatians. Paul’s destination, however, was Ephesus, the great commercial emporium located on the western coast of Asia Minor (see “Important Cities in Paul’s Ministry,” pp. 251–55).

This third journey actually was an extended stay of over two years in Ephesus (Acts 19:10). Paul’s work in Ephesus advanced the gospel along the valleys that descended westward from the Anatolian Plateau (Hermus, Cayster, and Meander Valleys, and perhaps the Caicus Valley as well). Paul sent disciples such as Epaphras up the valleys to evangelize key cities (Col. 1:7). Many of the churches mentioned in Revelation 2–3 must have been established in these years.

Paul approached Ephesus from the east, perhaps traveling by Pisidian Antioch through Phyrgia into Asia and then down the Cayster Valley. A city of over a quarter million people, Ephesus controlled important land and sea routes. Thousands of pilgrims came to Ephesus yearly to honor the great goddess Artemis, whose temple stood in Ephesus.

Paul’s stay in Ephesus was fraught with anxieties and danger. He wrote about being “burdened immensely, beyond our strength” (2 Cor. 1:8–9), and compared his experiences in Ephesus to “fighting wild beasts” (1 Cor. 15:32). Despite the obstacles, Paul persevered, preaching first in the synagogue and then teaching daily in the lecture hall of the rhetorician Tyrannus. Paul extended his ministry through letter writing (1 and 2 Corinthians, possibly Romans) and by dispatching assistants by sea to the troubled church at Corinth (1 Cor. 4:17) and to Macedonia (Acts 19:22).

In Ephesus, Paul’s labors affected local magicians, who subsequently burned their books containing magical incantations. Moreover, Paul’s preaching caused a reduction in the sale of idols of Artemis to pilgrims visiting the temple of Artemis (Diana), prompting a riot led by Demetrius the silversmith. Calmer heads prevailed when the city clerk persuaded the mob that they courted Roman reprisals for such unlawful actions.

Shortly thereafter, Paul departed for Macedonia and Greece, fulfilling a previously expressed desire to revisit the troubled church at Corinth (2 Cor. 1:15–16). His route is not stated, but he probably sailed from Troas, as in his earlier visit. After exhorting believers in Macedonia, Paul went to Corinth for a three-month visit. When spring came, he determined to sail for Syria. A plot on his life forced Paul to retrace his steps back through Macedonia, where he sailed for Troas. At Troas, Paul restored life to the unfortunate Eutychus who, while slumbering during Paul’s sermon, suffered a deadly fall.

Traveling on to Assos by land, Paul rejoined his ship and passed through the Samos Straits to Miletus, where he said farewell to the elders of Ephesus. From Miletus, Paul journeyed homeward to Jerusalem, going first to Patara by way of Cos and Rhodes and then to Caesarea with stops at Tyre and Ptolemais. Although repeatedly warned by friends not to go up to Jerusalem for fear of reprisals because of his work among the Gentiles, Paul nonetheless was determined to report his work to the Jerusalem church.

Paul’s Voyage to Rome (Acts 27:1–28:16)

Paul remained in Caesarea under arrest until Porcius Festus replaced Felix in a.d. 60. Festus and Agrippa II heard Paul’s eloquent testimony but remained unmoved, even though they agreed Paul had done nothing to deserve imprisonment or death. Had Paul not appealed to Caesar as was his privilege as a Roman citizen, he might have been set free. However, Paul’s appeal set him on a voyage to Rome (Acts 27–28).

Apostle Paul's Voyage to Rome

Sea journeys on the Mediterranean from east to west were difficult due to the prevailing northwesterly winds (the “Etesian Winds”). Moreover, Paul began his voyage late in the sailing season when unexpected storms threatened. Accompanied by Aristarchus from Thessalonica (Acts 19:29; 20:4), Luke, and in the custody of the centurion Julius, Paul joined other prisoners for a two-thousand-mile voyage to Rome.

Paul embarked on a small trading vessel heading to home port at Adramyttium, a city on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. The initial phase of the trip followed the coast to Sidon and then headed northwest past the lee of Cyprus “because the winds were against us” (Acts 27:4). Upon arrival at Myra in Lycia, the centurion located a much larger Alexandrian grain freighter bound for Rome.

These great ships supplied Rome with wheat; the largest freighters measured 180 feet long with a beam width of 50 feet. Paul and his party joined the 276 crew members and passengers bound for Italy. The heavy cargo and passenger load increased the risk of sailing, especially so late in the season. Making for Salmone on the eastern tip of Crete, the pilot sailed to Fair Havens, a small harbor in southern Crete. Paul considered remaining in Fair Havens for the winter, but those in charge suggested wintering at Phoenix on the Cretan coast, some forty miles to the west.

The dash toward Phoenix following favorable light winds became a fourteen-day nightmare when gale-force winds drove the ship southwestward to the small island of Cauda. The crew fought to gain control of the vessel, using sea anchors and jettisoning cargo in a desperate bid to avoid the deadly shallows off North Africa known as Syrtis Major. Drifting helplessly for several days, the crew lost any hope of rescue.

Paul received a vision in those dark days that he and the crew would be divinely spared. On the fourteenth night, the vessel approached land, and the crew feared the ship would be smashed against the rocks. After an aborted attempt to abandon ship, the crew deployed sea anchors to slow their drift and prayed for daylight. Dawn revealed an unfamiliar land with a bay. Risking everything, the crew set a course for the beach but ran aground on a reef, the ship breaking up under the pounding waves. The centurion, ordering his soldiers not to kill the prisoners to prevent escape, gave the command to abandon ship and swim for shore. Those who could not swim clung to debris as they washed to shore.

After washing up on shore, the survivors discovered they had landed on the island of Malta. Publius, a leading citizen of the island, provided help and hospitality to Paul and his companions. The group wintered in Malta, awaiting the arrival of favorable weather conditions. This allowed Paul opportunity to exercise a healing ministry that included relief given to Publius’ father. Three months later, in the custody of Julius, Paul boarded another Egyptian grain ship bound for Italy. The ship put in at Syracuse in Sicily and then sailed on to Rhegium. Catching a favorable wind, the ship sailed on to Puteoli in the Gulf of Naples.

Puteoli was a major port receiving the grain supply from Egypt vital to Rome. During the reign of Claudius, the port of Ostia increasingly supplied Rome’s needs. Located at the mouth of the Tiber, Ostia had a new harbor just north of the city named Portus. Believers at Puteoli hosted Paul for a week, and then, after adequate rest, Paul’s party headed north along the Via Campana to Capua and then by the Via Appia to Rome. Upon hearing of Paul’s arrival in Italy, groups of Roman Christians went to greet the apostle at two way stations on the Via Appia—the Forum of Appius (forty-three miles from Rome) and Three Taverns (thirty-three miles from Rome). According to Acts, Paul spent two years in Rome, preaching the gospel with confidence and boldness, awaiting the adjudication of his appeal to Nero.