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Why Would Anyone Become a Christian?
Or, how would the Apostle Paul have discipled Wonder Woman?
We often think that evangelizing and making disciples in our day and age is tough. So many beliefs and convictions fly in the face of the gospel. And while our day has its challenges, consider what Paul faced when he arrived in Ephesus in Acts 19. A closer look at his message and methods is instructive for us.
Even by Paul’s day, Ephesus was already an ancient city, being founded 1000 years earlier by Amazon women, according to legend.
It was also big at 500,000+ people. The theater where Paul & friends were dragged could fit at least 25,000 people. In that city, they worshiped Artemis (Greek) or in Roman myth, Diana, the huntress, animals, green things, and an all-purpose fertility goddess.
The original image of Diana was probably carved from a meteorite — “the image that fell from heaven.” v.35
If you’re getting a Wonder Woman vibe here you’re not far off.
The Temple to Artemis/Diana was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was 4x bigger than Parthenon. More than 100 hundred Ionic pillars, each sixty feet high, a white marble roof. There were paintings, sculptures, statues, and grandeur.
