First John-Introduction-First John: Place of First John
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday February 15, 2017
First John: Place of First John
Lesson # 9
The provenance of 1 John is largely based on the testimony of Irenaeus. He identifies John as the Beloved Disciple and author of both the Gospel of John and 1 John (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 3.16.5, 8). He notes that John “gave forth the gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in Asia” (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 3.1.1). Eusebius endorses this same tradition (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.1.1; 3.20.11; 3.23.1–6). Owing to early Christian tradition, most contemporary scholars favor the Ephesian provenance for John’s Gospel and the Letters of John. A minority of scholars prefers a Syrian provenance (e.g., H. Koester, Introduction, 1st ed., 178–98; 2nd ed., 182–204). However, there is little basis for a provenance aside from Asia Minor.
Akin writes “Tradition is strong that John spent his latter years in the city of Ephesus ministering to the churches of Asia Minor. Irenaeus wrote, ‘John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia’ (Against Heresies, 3.1.1). Therefore, it would seem reasonable to see the place of writing for the three epistles also as Ephesus. ”
Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia mentioned by the apostle John in the book of Revelation and not only did Paul spend a lot of time there but John did as well.
It was the gateway to Asia and was located on the western part of Turkey and was situated at the mouth of the Cayster River and opposite the island of Samos.
It was the entrance for shipping from the West and the point of departure for the caravans between the Ionian coast and the East.
The highway led from Ephesus across central Asia Minor through the Cilician Gates to Antioch, and from there across Syria to the Euphrates valley, Persia and India.
With an artificial harbor accessible to the largest ships, and rivaling the harbor at Miletus, standing at the entrance of the valley which reaches far into the interior of Asia Minor, and connected by highways with the chief cities of the province, Ephesus was the most easily accessible city in Asia, both by land and sea.
Its location, therefore, favored its religious, political and commercial development, and presented a most advantageous field for the missionary labors of Paul.
The city stood upon the sloping sides and at the base of two hills, Prion and Coressus, commanding a beautiful view; its climate was exceptionally fine, and the soil of the valley was unusually fertile.
Colonists from Athens founded the city of Ephesus in the 11th century B.C. and they displaced the original inhabitants and began a Greek civilization on the Ionian coast.
The strategic location of the city favored its growth and it became a military prize for both the naval states of Greece and those who dominated Asia Minor thereafter, the Lydians and the Persians.
Alexander the Great received the homage of the Ephesian rulers in 334 B.C. and in 188 B.C. the Romans took it from Antiochus the Great and then in turn gave it to the king of Pergumum.
The Romans got it back again and incorporated it into the province of Asia.
Ephesus became the chief city of the province and tradition says that in early times near the place where the mother goddess of the earth was born, the Amazons built a city and a temple in which they might worship.
This little city of the Amazons, bearing at different times the names of Samorna, Trachea, Ortygia and Ptelea, flourished until in the early Greek days it aroused the cupidity of Androclus, a prince of Athens.
He captured it and made it a Greek city and still another tradition says that Androclus was its founder.
Under Greek rule the Greek civilization gradually supplanted that of the Orientals, the Greek language was spoken in place of the Asiatic; and the Asiatic goddess of the temple assumed more or less the character of the Greek Artemis.
Ephesus, therefore, and all that pertained to it, was a mixture of oriental and Greek.
Though the early history of the city is obscure, it seems that at different times it was in the hands of the Carians, the Leleges and Ionians and in the early historical period it was one of a league of twelve Ionfan cities.
In 560 BC it came into the possession of the Lydians; three years later, in 557, it was taken by the Persians; and during the following years the Greeks and Persians were constantly disputing for its possession.
Finally, Alexander the Great took it and at his death it fell to Lysimachus, who gave it the name of Arsinoe, from his second wife.
Upon the death of Attalus II (Philadelphus), king of Pergamos, it was bequeathed to the Roman Empire and in 190, when the Roman province of Asia was formed, it became a part of it.
Ephesus and Pergamos, the capital of Asia, were the two great rival cities of the province.
Though Pergamos was the center of the Roman religion and of the government, Ephesus was the more accessible, the commercial center and the home of the native goddess Diana and because of its wealth and situation it gradually became the chief city of the province.
After varying periods of independence and absorption into neighboring empires, Ephesus came into the Roman Empire in 133 B.C. as part of the province of Asia.
Though suffering terribly during the civil wars of the first century B.C., Ephesus enjoyed great prosperity under Rome during the first and second centuries A.D., when the city must have had a population of about a half million.
Here the Roman governor resided, and here Paul conducted the longest of his city ministries (two years and nine months, Acts 19:8,10).
The city’s importance lay in its political prominence, its economic clout derived from its position on major trade routes, and its religious leadership as a center for the worship of Diana, or Artemis.
By the middle of the third century signs of decay appeared in the city, and in 263 Goths raided Ephesus and dealt it a blow from which it never recovered.
By the tenth century the prosperous city of Roman times was completely deserted and invaded by marshes.
Ephesus was home to one of the seven wonders of the world, namely, the Temple of Artemis or Diana of the Ephesians and it is to the temple of Diana, however, that its great wealth and prominence are largely due.
There was a great marble street in Ephesus, the Arkadiane and there was also the Odieon Theater, which served the city as a council chamber and also a great library was located in the city and of course the great agora or marketplace.
Carved into the great sidewalk leading to the building on the marble street is the mark of a bare foot, the ancient sign of direction to a house of prostitution-a reminder that Ephesus was a port city with many visitors and sailors.
There was a stadium constructed during the reign of Nero and south of it was the theater, set in the side of a mountain which was the scene of a riot when the apostle Paul was accused of ruining the business of the silversmiths in Ephesus who made a substantial prophet in relation to the worship of Artemis in Acts 19:23-24.
Asia and in particular Ephesus was a fruitful field for evangelism and in three years the entire region of Asia Minor heard the Christian message since churches were founded in almost every city and town…large and small.
The history of Christianity at Ephesus began probably about A.D. 50, perhaps as a result of the efforts of Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:18).
Paul came to Ephesus in about A.D. 52, establishing a resident ministry for the better part of three years (Acts 20:31) and after Paul departed from Ephesus, Timothy remained to combat false teaching (1 Tim 1:3; 2 Tim 4:3; Acts 20:29) until his death.
Many traditions testify that the apostle John lived in Ephesus toward the end of the first century and in his vision from the island of Patmos off the coast of Asia Minor, John described the church of Ephesus as flourishing, although it was troubled with false teachers and had lost its first love (Rev 2:1-7).
In the sixth century A.D. the Roman emperor Justinian (A.D. 527-565) raised a magnificent church to John’s memory in this city.
Ephesus continued to play a prominent role in the history of the early church and several important councils were held in Ephesus, among which was the third ecumenical council (June 22-August 31, A.D. 431) and a long line of bishops in the Eastern Church lived there.
In A.D. 431 the council of Ephesus officially condemned the Nestorian heresy, which taught that there were two separate persons, one divine and one human, in the person of Jesus Christ.