Untitled Sermon (3)

1 Timothy 6:15b–16: [H]e who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

In recent weeks, we’ve looked at the influences which God used to prompt Paul to write:

I. Rome’s Power

II. Rome’s Culture

III. Rome’s Women

IV. Rome’s Law

V. Rome’s Religion

Regarding Roman religion, three areas will help us understand 1 Timothy better:

I. Rome’s God Complex

II. The Gods and the Economy

III. The Grip of the Goddess, Artemis

I. Rome’s God Complex

To truly comprehend this paradigm, you have to understand two concepts: pantheon and pax deorum.

Pantheonis a compound word comprised of (1) pan (all) and (2) theon (gods). It refers to all the gods in the universe. Greeks had certain gods. Romans had other gods. As Rome expanded, they made room for all the “gods” because they wanted to keep all the gods happy.

An author named Hesiod (eighth century B.C.) wrote Theogony, which listed the family tree of the Greek gods.[1]Each god had power over certain areas of life, and they constantly battled against one another. The effects of those battles were thought to appear in daily life: droughts, floods, wars, ill-fate, etc. So, of course, it was all of society’s responsibility to keep all the gods happy.

The second term, pax deorum, means “peace with gods.”[2]Rome operated under the false premise, “If the gods aren’t happy, no one is happy.” Therefore, Roman law embraced nearly all gods and goddesses. Part of their responsibility was to stamp out any groups whose god(s) might threaten the pax deorum—or, peace among the gods. Christians, such as Paul, were a danger to national security because he claimed no other gods existed but one. That claim threatened to upset the peace among the gods, and could trigger war, famine, droughts, floods, etc., if one or another god became offended.

I. The Gods and the Economy

Acts 19 records Paul’s visit to Ephesus, and the long, looming shadow the goddess, Artemis, cast over the city. In Acts 19:23–41, a silversmith named Demetrius was a devotee of Artemis. He sold silver shrines of the goddess. We often assume Demetrius was concerned only about losing his source of income, and he was; but his concern actually was broader than merely his pocketbook. Demetrius was concerned Paul’s message would disrupt the entire societal structure by disrupting the peace among the gods. Listen carefully to his speech to his colleagues in Acts 19:25–28 is revealing:

These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

When they heard this, they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Paul’s “Christ-alone-as-King” messaging was an explicit attack on multiple levels of the Roman empire’s security. First, it was a threat to personal security (“our wealth”). Second, it was a threat to Roman societal security (“Paul has turned away a great many people”). What Demetrius was getting at is this: if Artemis becomes offended, she may react negatively and trigger cosmological disorder among the gods which would result in human suffering. Third, it was a threat to economic security (“the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing”); i.e., most of the Ephesian economy was tied to Artemis in some way: tourism, merchandise, coinage, theatre performances, annual festivals, etc. Fourth, it was a threat to national security. It threatened the pax deorum—peace among the gods—and might lead to war, famine, plague, etc. In short, Paul represented a threat to disruption of life and happiness as they knew it; and therefore, his exclusive claims were a real problem.

I. The Grip of the Goddess, Artemis

Artemis’s tentacles ran deep and wide in Ephesus. A look at three areas will show her grip on the culture: (1) the city of Ephesus; (2) Artemis herself; and, (3) the temple of Artemis.[3]

Ephesus. The city was a large, influential metroplex. It was the capital of Asia Minor, the third largest city in the Roman Empire, and the population was approximately 250,000.[4]The city had the largest outdoor theater in the world,[5]a world-class gymnasium, a bustling marketplace, and a higher education forum called the “hall of Tyrannus,” where Paul debated.[6]However, one spectacle dwarfed them all: the temple of Artemis. Deemed one of the seven wonders of the world, it attracted tourists from all over the planet.

The Temple of Artemis. One of the seven wonders of the world, the temple of Artemis was the largest structure in Ephesus. Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.) wrote, “The entire length of the temple is 425 feet, and the breadth 225. The columns are 127 in number, and 60 feet in height, each of them represented by a different king.”[7]This measurement places it about 141 yards by 75 yards, a little larger than an American football field. Comparatively, Solomon’s temple was 30 yards by 15 yards. In base square footage, Artemis’s temple was 35 times larger than Solomon’s.[8]

Within the temple compound, priests and priestesses offered sacrifices, libations, and other ritual offerings and rites. Outside the temple, merchants sold souvenirs and memorabilia to worshipers and tourists as Acts 19 records. Silver and gold coins bearing her image “were minted in Ephesus for centuries, before, during, and after the first century A.D.”[9]

Artemis. Artemis had her fingers in nearly every aspect of Ephesian life. Her temple was a center of activity. She was heralded as the primary protector of the city. Artemis was the daughter of the powerful Greek god, Zeus. She was the twin sister of Apollo. Greek lore states she was delivered first, and then she helped deliver her twin brother.

Legend records that Artemis was delivered pain free: “[M]y mother suffered no pain either when she gave me birth or when she carried me in her womb.”[10]Thus, she also helped humans deliver children. She told her father, Zeus, “The cities of men I will visit only when women vexed by the sharp pang of childbirth call me to their aid.”[11]Historian and archeologist, Vikela comments, “Thus the virgin goddess becomes protectress of newborn infants and young women at the most critical time of their lives, childbirth.”[12]This legend likely had implications on Paul’s statement to Christian women in 1 Timothy 2:15; that is, God (not Artemis) will protect Christian women through childbirth.

Artemis was thought to hold power over nature (food supply), wild animals, vegetation, fertility, and childbirth/childcare. She was held in high esteem and generally well-liked, although she had a hot temper. For example, according to Ovid’s, Metamorphoses(ca. 8 A.D.), a minor god named Actaeon was hunting. He happened to see Artemis bathing in the woods. Enraged, she turned him into a deer, and his own hunting hounds ate him.[13]In another episode recorded in Sophocles’s, Electra (ca. 410 B.C.), a human king killed her sacred deer. She responded by demanding the sacrifice of the king’s daughter as well as stranding his ships at sea during the Trojan War. In the end, she spared the daughter and sacrificed a deer in her place.[14]

To keep her appeased, many Ephesian activities revolved around her. First, the temple where she resided held regular activities—religious, social, and political. Second, many theater productions reenacted her powers and influence. Third, large annual festivals and parades were held in her honor for several weeks each March and April. These festivities were known as Thargelion. Ellis describes the atmosphere:

Throngs flocked to Ephesus for these annual rites as much for pleasure as for religion, and for weeks, day and night, “Ephesus ran with revelry and drinking songs.” During the festivities, hunters and breeders came to Artemis’ temple to offer sacrifices of their finest game and cattle, . . . and sang hymns of worship as devotees placed a crown on the cultic statue.[15]

Her power and influence of Artemis were felt in Ephesus, and again, Paul’s claims of exclusivity in this letter were more of a statement than we might realize.

Timeless Truth

God, alone, is King, and there is no other.

Present Use

I often wonder what Paul would think if he visited us for 3.5 years. Honestly, I think he’d have good things to say. No one here believers in many gods. We believe in one God who has expressed himself in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I think he’d be pleased at this faithful little flock, who seeks to honor the Trinitarian Godhead, day by day.

Just to challenge us a little bit, I’ll close with Paul’s words in the next verse.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them to to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous an dready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so they may take hold of that which is truly life.

[1]Nijay Gupta, Strange Religion: How the First Christians were Weird, Dangerous, and Compelling (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2024), 64. [2]Gupta, Strange Religion, 15. [3] James W. Ellis (an attorney and historian) wrote a well-researched article titled, “Apostle Paul in Ephesus: Christianity’s Clash with the Cult of Artemis,” in European Journal of Theology and Philosophy, vol. 3, issue 1, January 2023, 22–34. Much of the following pulls from it as he has documented credible—and in many cases, primary—sources. [4]James W. Ellis, “Apostle Paul in Ephesus, 22. [5]Ellis, “Apostle Paul in Ephesus,” 31. [6]Ellis, “Apostle Paul in Ephesus,” 25. See Acts 19:9. [7]Pliny the Elder, Natural History trans. John Bostock and H. T. Riley (London: Taylor & Francis, 1885), 36.21; accessible online: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D36%3Achapter%3D21. [8]The temple of Artemis measured 95,625 square feet (425 x 225). Solomon’s temple measured 2700 square feet (90 x 30). [9]Ellis, “Apostle Paul in Ephesus,” 27. [10]Callimachus, “Hymn III: To Artemis,” in Callimachus Hymns and Epigrams. Lycophron. Aratus, ed. G. R. Mair; trans. A. W. Mair (London: William Heineman; New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1921), 63. Accessible online: https://archive.org/details/callimachuslycop00calluoft/page/62/mode/2up?view=theater. Callimachus was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian. He wrote “Hymn III” sometime between 257–248 B.C.—see Callimachus Hymns and Epigrams, 23. [11]Callimachus, “Hymn III: To Artemis,” in Callimachus Hymns and Epigrams, 63. [12] Evgenia Vikela, “The Worship of Artemis in Attica: Cult Places, Rites, Iconography,” published for the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA), 2009, 74; accessible online. Vikela is professor emeritus of Classical Archeology at Ionian University in Greece. Vikela, “The Worship of Artemis in Attica,” 74. [13]See Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book III, lines 138–252; accessible online. [14] Sophocles, Electra, lines 559–605; accessible online. [15]Ellis, “Apostle Paul in Ephesus,” 27, 30. Ellis briefly quoted C. Fouard, Saint Paul and His Missions (New York: NY: Longmans , Green, and Co., 1908), 286.