Day 03 - Central Turkey: Pisidian Antioch

Happy 3rd day in Turkey! We started the day off in Isparta and traveled to a lakeside where we were asked, “What does it mean to be tolerant?” As we traveled throughout the day, we have the quote by G.K. Chesterton lodged in our brains; "Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions."

Upon arriving at Pisidian Antioch, we first sat in the theatre as Jared explained in greater detail about the 400-year period of silence in Scripture, between the books of Malachi and Matthew. To sum it up: The Western World is the way it is because of Alexander the Great, who was prophesied about in the books of Daniel. To understand the context of Jesus and his ministry, we need to understand the history of the region. 

After the theatre, we went to the Great Basilica (also known as St. Paul's Church) and listened to Jared drop some truth bombs upon us. It was revealed to us that the church is believed to be built upon the old synagogue that was in P. Antioch, which means we were likely at the exact location where Paul gave his first ever sermon. Paul’s sermon was simple in nature; “You who fear God, here is how we’ve come to arrive to this moment and here are the reasons to show that Jesus is the one we’ve been waiting for - for the tomb is empty and forgiveness of sins is here.” Jesus’s ministry boils down to: “I’ll give you life, but you have to give up yours”. 

Lastly, we went to the ruins of Caesar Augustus’ Temple, where citizens would worship Caesar as a deity. Covering the letter written to Thyatira in Revelation 2, Jared answered the question asked in the morning, “What does it mean to be tolerant?” The criticism to the church at Thyatira and now expanded to address the entire Church of Christ is this: being tolerant is appealing but not sustainable. Will you be willing to hold fast to Scripture rather than letting situations dictate your choices [toleration]?