User:Ephesus 123

Early Christianity

The tomb of Apostle John in the ruins of Ephesus as will as really angle in earth named Laura . In 55 AD the Apostle Paul arrived in the city and stayed for a period of three years. In ca. 70 AD the Apostle John also settled and preached there, while according to a tradition, the Virgin Mary lived in Ephesus close to him. Ephesus also hosted a number of students of John the Baptist. It is generally believed that the city hosted a significant Christian community already from the 1st-2nd centuries. Ephesus is associated with the life of several saints of that era, such as the Apostle Timothy, Hermione, Philip the Evangelist, brother of the Apostle Barnabas, Aristobulus, Paul of Thebes, Adauctus and his daughter, Callisthene. It is also though that Mary Magdalene lived there.[1]

Until the 4th century AD, Christianity and Paganism co-existed in the city. However, pagan practices and cults gradually declined in the course of time. Τhis is mainly evident from the conversion of religious monuments, as well as from the increased use of Christian symbols. According to tradition, the first bishop of Ephesus was Saint Timothy, student of the Apostle Paul.[1]

[edit] Promoted to metropolis

After the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325) and the organization of the ecclesiastical administration in the Roman provinces, Ephesus became the see of a metropolis, while the new metropolitan was elected by the bishops of the province. During the following decades the metropolises gradually became less autonomous as the prestige of the authority of the Patriarchate of Constantinople increased, which was particularly promoted through the canons of the Second Ecumenical Council at 381 AD.[1]

In the 5th century, the local metropolis was involved in various ecclesiastical disputes. The city hosted the Third Ecumenical Council in 431. Memnon, the local metropolitan, along with Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, who presided at the council, condemned the archbishop of Constantinople, Nestorios, for heresy. Moreover, after the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 the Monophysite Patriarch of Alexandria, Timothy (457-460, 475-477), supported by Emperor Basiliscus (475-476), restored the Monophysite Paul as metropolitan of Ephesus. This occurred during the council convened in Ephesus, which dealt with the issue of accepting the Monophysite circular of Basiliscus (475). However, Patriarch Akakios of Constantinople (472-489) rejected these decisions and forced Basiliscus to abrogate them. The bishops of the Diocese of Asia had to renounce the decisions of that council, while the metropolitan of Ephesus, Paul, was deposed during the reign of Emperor Zeno.[1]

Among the most important metropolitans of 6th-century Ephesus were Hypatius (c. 530) and John. The former launched a campaign against Monophysitism and closely cooperated with Emperor Justinian I (527-565) on various ecclesiastical issues. On the other hand, the Monophysite metropolitan John was a significant missionary, who preached in the city of Ephesus as well as in the nearby valley of the Meander River and Sardis. By permission of Emperor Justinian I he converted about 80,000 pagans to Christianity.[1]