Bib 6 - Essay Example

Running head: Missionary Journeys of Paul Typing Template for APA Papers A. Sample Grand Canyon This paper summarizes the various routes Paul took on his three missionary journeys and the stops he made. These are among the most famous and effective evangelical works in Christian history. Each time Paul started from Antioch and travelled with various companions, along the way lecturing at synagogues and spreading God’s words in many villages, towns and cities.
Paul’s Missionary Journeys
In the early 1st Century, Saul – also called Paul – was a Hellenistic Jew who ardently had set out to persecute Christian converts. However, the message reached him at Damascus in the shape of Jesus Himself and Paul converted to Christianity (Acts 9:1-8); he vowed to spread the word of God and the Church to other lands thereon. According to the Acts, the Holy Spirit directed the Antioch Church to send out a missionary team, comprising of Barnabas and Paul (Act 13: 1-3) for the purpose of preaching the Gospel to the Jewish community and the Gentiles.
The First Journey
It was around the 48AD that Paul and Barnabas led a commission from Antioch, Seleucia and travelled to the island of Cypress (Calmet 1832, p731). The group made various stops along the way in villages and settlements to preach the Gospel. As indicated in the map (Fig 1), the team made the way through Salomis and travelled through the area of Paphos. It was here that they met the Jewish sorcerer and false prophet with the name of Bar-Jesus. He was actually an attendant to the Governor Sergius Paulus. Paulus was an intelligent logical man and was interested in seeking the truth. When he summoned for Barnabas and Saul, Elymas the sorcerer intercepted and tried to steer Paulus away from them. Paul, with the power of the Holy Spirit, unveiled the truth about Elymas’s deceit and lies and stated that he would turn blind because of them. Paulus, hence, converted to Christianity.
From Paphos and Cypress, the mission continued onwards to Perga in Pamphylia. This is where John left them to head for Jerusalem. Preaching and spreading the message of God, the mission travelled to the city of Antioch of Pisidia, and covered the towns of Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, further East (Acts 13:13-14:20). In Iconium, Paul went to the Jewish synagogue to an assembly of Jews and Gentiles and was so articulate in speech that a great many of the listeners converted; however, the Jews were specifically hostile and the evangelical strategy to preach in synagogues proved to be more cumbersome. Along the way, Paul and Barnabas faced life threats and stoning, were confused as the human form of God and had to persistently explain their message to people. They moved on towards the Lycaonian towns of Lysrta and Derbe, going to the homes and meeting places of the Jews and Gentiles. Taking the route along Attalia, the mission made its way back to Antioch of Syria. (Act 14) This journey was especially successful for gentiles and marked the time when ethnic and religious differences began to manifest between the Jewish and the Gentiles within the Church.
Figure 1: Pauls First & Second Missionary Journeys, Source: Biblical Foundations for Freedom
The Second Journey
In the 51AD, Paul suggested to Barnabas to revisit the areas that they had visited earlier for evangelism. A disagreement between the two ensued when the decision as to whether John, who had previously abandoned the duo’s mission at Prega, should be allowed to travel with them. Following the rift, Paul proceeded to take Silas on the second missionary journey, while Barnabas went on to Cypress.
As can be seen in the map (Fig 1), Paul travelled to Tarsus, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, all the way strengthening the Church message. At Lystra, a devout disciple called Timothy joined the mission. Through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, they travelled and delivered the decisions by the apostles in Jerusalem and instructed the people that they must obey. When they were at Troas, Paul had a vision at night that a man called him to Macedonia. Taking it as an omen, the mission took route to Macedonia (Act 16: 9-10). Sailing through Samothrace into Neapolis, the mission travelled on to Phillipi, Thessalonica - the capital of the district of Macedonia and Berea. During their stays, Paul and his team faced many hardships, including being thrown into prison and getting severely flogged but they continued the work of Jesus. They made churches for the peoples of faith wherever they could but at Berea they faced a lot of resistance from the Jewish synagogue.
From Berea, Paul took the mission to south to Athens, Greece, the center of Western Society intellect and then to Corinth, a major seaport and presumably the capitol of Achaia. He was joined later by Silas and Timothy from Macedonia. Here Paul is supposed to have written the 1 and 2 Thessalonians and continued writing more letters. They reportedly spent 18 months in the city of Corinth, before journeying back.
The Third Journey
On the third trip, Paul was dispatched by Antioch to Ephesus. (Acts 19:1). Ephesus was deemed to be the fourth largest city in the empire, along with being the center of trade and politics and had a huge population of Greeks and Jews. It also hosted the pilgrimage of umpteen pilgrims to the Temple of Artemis and thus was central to paganism as well. Paul spent all his time there for the next couple of years and in 57AD wrote 1 Corinthians and evangelized neighboring cities of Smyrna, Sardis, and Laodicea. Here too he faced threats and hardships from the locals and pagan worshippers. Upon leaving Ephesus, Paul travelled to Miletus and Philippi where he presumably wrote II Corinthians. From there he travelled to Corinth and then back. It was around 58AD when he travelled again with the intent of going to Jerusalem by Pentecost.
Figure 2: Paul’s Third Journey. Source: The Bible Study Website
References
Apostle Pauls Third Missionary Journey. The Bible Study Web Site. Retrieved 8 October 2009 from http://www.biblestudy.org/maps/pauls-third-journey-map.html
Bucknell, Paul J. Acts Map: Pauls First & Second Missionary Journeys. Biblical Foundations for Freedom. Retrieved 8 October 2009 from http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/NT/Acts/Acts_Map_3-Rome_Journeys.html
Calmet, Augustin, Taylor, Charles & Robinson, Edward (1832). Dictionary of the Holy Bible. New York: Crocker and Brewster. Read More