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Biblical
Anatolia
Turkey is called the Other
Holy Land as it has more
biblical sites than any
other country in the Middle
East. Unfortunately many
Christians are unaware of
Turkey’s unique role in the
Bible because Biblical
references works usually
refer to this strategic
peninsula, that bounded by
the Mediterranean, Aegean,
and Black Seas, as Asia
Minor or Anatolia. Turkey is
very important in
understanding the background
of the New Testament,
because approximately
two-thirds of its books were
written either to or from
churches in Turkey where the
three major apostles—Peter,
St. Paul, and St.
John—either ministered or
lived in.
About St. Paul
St. Paul, the great
Christian missionary, was
born perhaps in 10 CE, in
the Cilician city of Tarsus.
His family was Jewish and
from them he inherited Roman
citizenship. St. Paul was
privileged to have been born
a Roman citizen at a time
when it was not yet a
universal right for people
in the empire. Initially
confined to freeborn natives
of the city itself, as Roman
control was extended
throughout Italy and then to
the lands bordering the
Mediterranean and beyond,
certain individuals and
communities were given this
right. At the time of St.
Paul's ancestors, one way of
attaining to Roman
citizenship was serving in
the Roman army for
twenty-five years. However,
because of sabbath and
Mosaic food prescriptions
this profession would not
have been normally possible
for a Jew.
Seven Church of Revelation
...I was caught up in spirit
on the Lord's day and heard
behind me a voice as loud as
a trumpet, 'Write on a
scroll what you see and send
it to the seven churches: to
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,
Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia and Laodicea.
About St. John
Knowledge of the life of St.
John of Patmos (also known
as the 'Theologian' or the
'Divine'), the author of the
Book of Revelation, which
includes the letters to the
seven churches of Asia
Minor, mostly comes from
apocryphal stories recorded
after his death. Christian
tradition identifies him
with Other New Testament
figures of the same name,
St. John the Evangelist, the
traditional author of the
Fourth Gospel who is also
claimed to be St. John the
Apostle. The accounts of the
Gospels agree that the
latter is the son of
Zebedee; together with his
brother James (the Greater),
he decided to follow Christ
while fishing in the lake
Galilee. He became one of
Christ's closest disciples
and is said to have been
with him on various
significant occasions such
as the Transfiguration and
the Crucifixion. According
to the Fourth Gospel...
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