Turkey Relives Biblical Story

HELLO FOLKS! — It is tourist time again and our affluent American society will be contributing to other nations of the world, some of our wealth in the form of American dollars.

Turkey is one nation making a big play for these dollars. At first thought it might seem that Turkey has very little to offer the average tourist. However, I ran across an interesting article, about one site that offers much of interest.

Near the city of Izmer lies the ruined and ancient city of Ephesus. This city at one time was a great center of civilization and culture. Today it lies in ruins. Inhabited only by a few hawkers eager to make a few dollars from the few tourists who travel to this spot.

One of the suburbs of Ephesus which lies high on a hill near what once was the city, is a shrine maintained by the Roman Catholic Church.

According to the information given about this shrine it was the final home of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Tradition has it that when the Christians left Jerusalem John the disciple took Mary, and made a home for her at Ephesus. After her death the Christians maintained the place.

In the city of Ephesus lies ruins of two churches named after Mary and John. The oldest church is the church of Mary. It was built the year 351. Later about 400, to accommodate the growth of the Christian community, the church of John was built on the end of the older church. They were sometimes called the "double church".

They were destroyed about 500 AD by invaders. About 600 AD the church of John was rebuilt.

It is obvious from the pictures that these churches and especially the church of John were extremely well built. Some of the walls, floors and pillars still remain. Imbedded in the floors of the baptismal rooms are the fonts with steps leading down to them.

...a whisper of its past glory.

Tradition has it that, except for the time he was banished to the isle of Patmos, John lived here and directed the affairs of the Church after the death of Peter. He lived to a tremendous age, that was the marvel of all who knew him. It is believed that he lived there until 105 AD.

An interesting sidelight to all this is: Why did Jesus have John take Mary? We know from scripture (Matt. 13:55) that Mary had four other sons and at least two daughters. Did they not accept the divinity of Christ? Or were they not considered by Jesus to be worthy enough to care for his mother?

At any rate it seems that while Jerusalem is the birth place of Christianity; Epheus probably could be called its first permanent home.