Tag: History

Today we were at sea all day.  I always look forward to at sea days on a cruise because they are days when I don’t have to be anywhere or do anything, which is always part of a good vacation.

I was getting caught up on the news from the States today and saw the story regarding the controversial mosque near ground zero. A lot of people are thinking and debating about how this issue should be resolved.

For a citizen of the kingdom of God the issue is an important one because as the Kingdom expands more Christians will find themselves in authority and leadership positions in governments ruling nations where people practice false religions.

The Byzantines grappled with this same issue in the form of paganism. Constantine I (ruled 306 – 337 A.D.) and Theodosius I (ruled 379 – 395 A.D.), both Christians, instituted laws addressing the practice of false religion.  These two men took two very different approaches to the issue.

Constantine, who became a Christian in 312 A.D., instituted the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D., guaranteeing to Christians and others “the right of open and free observance of their worship.” It is one of the most progressive and important documents in history. Temples remained open and people continued their pagan practices, unless, of course, they became Christians. Constantine’s maxim was that Christians should persuade pagans to Christianity but if persuasion fails, compulsion should not be attempted. Constantine took steps to promote and support the church, but he didn’t ban paganism.

Theodosius took a different approach. In the early part of his reign, he banned public pagan worship and sacrifice, effectively closing the pagan temples. As a result, private homes became the primary place of pagan worship. Interestingly, Theodosius did not ban Judaism or close synagogues. Later in his reign, Theodosius took a much harder line, prohibiting pagan worship and sacrifice both publicly and privately, and imposing harsh penalties on those who violated the law. Theodosius’s reign and his laws effectively put an end to paganism in the Roman Empire.

It’s important to note that neither Constantine nor Theodosius compelled people by force of law to become Christians or attend church. Both recognized that citizenship in the kingdom of God is voluntary if it is anything. So, who was right?

What do you think and why? GS

We spent the morning on a boat cruising up the Bosphorus, taking in the sites from a different angle. We went north as far Rumeli Hisari (Castle), which Mehmed II built in 1452 to control of the traffic on the Bosphorus and prepare his army to lay siege to Constantinople the following year. Rumeli Hisari is in remarkably good condition, as you can see from the photograph.

By the time Mehmed II attacked Constantinople he controlled the Bosphorus and surrounding land areas. The Byzantines solicited help from the Latin church (the Catholics) to prevent this Christian city from falling to the Muslims, but received only nominal support.

In fact, seeing the threats from the Ottomans years before, the Byzantine Emperor had, against great opposition from his own people, reunited the Eastern Orthodox Church with the Roman Catholic Church, healing, at least on paper, the Great Schism that had happened in 1054. The reunification wasn’t to last long, and it was too fragile to save Constantinople from the Muslims.

After a brief visit to the spice market, we went to the Mosaic Museum where we saw some of the largest and most well-preserved mosaics in the world.  These were from the Great Palace of Constantine, probably from a part added by Justinian in the 6^th century.

Having visited Pompeii a few years ago and seen the mosaics and sculptures there in which phallic symbols and other erotic scenes were commonplace, it was refreshing to see here nothing of the sort. In the 500 years from the destruction of Pompeii to the creation of these mosaics, the kingdom of God had leavened and transformed Roman culture.

The highlight of the day was the Basilica Cistern, an enormous underground water jug, supported by more than 300 columns, designed to collect rainwater for use in the palace and surrounding areas.  Most interesting here was the base of two of the columns, not discovered until recently because they are on the base of the column, were under water and could not be seen until the water level receded.

As you can see from the photograph, the figure on the base of the column is the head of Medusa.  A big head.  This head was taken from the Temple of Apollo in Medina. Justinian’s placement of the Medusa upside down, underwater at the bottom of the column was intended to denigrate paganism and symbolize its defeat by Christianity in the Roman Empire.

When we were in Israel a few months ago, we visited Caesarea Philippi in northern Israel, where Jesus told his disciples the gates of Hades would not prevail against the church. (Matthew 16: 18). What I didn’t realize until I was there in Caesarea Philipi and our guide explained it, is that the “gates of Hades” is an actual place. It’s the opening to the cave at Caesarea Philippi, which you see in the photograph. When Jesus was there, the cave opening was surrounded by pagan temples. You can still see the foundations of the temples at the opening to the cave.

The pagans believed this cave opening—the “gates of Hades”—was a door to the spirit underworld. Therefore, when Jesus said the gates of Hades would not prevail against the Church, He was prophesying the Church would soundly defeat paganism within the Roman Empire. These two columns erected in the Basilica Cistern 500 years later, flaunting the defeat of paganism, are proof that Jesus’ prophecy regarding the advance of the kingdom of God in the Roman Empire had been fulfilled. GS

Today, we only toured in the morning, but it was an inspiring and interesting day. We began with a short stop at the back side of the far end of the Hippodrome, which is the only part of the structure remaining. We hadn’t seen this Sunday, because it’s hidden from view by the buildings that were erected on its ruins. This last remaining part of the Hippodrome hints at its once awe-inspiring size and magnificence at a time when the Christian city was the envy of the world.

We next stopped at what was formerly the church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus but is now a mosque. It was not on the standard tour itinerary, but I’d come across it in the Byzantine history I’ve been reading and wanted to see it. So our tour guide arranged for us to see it. It was built by Emperor Justinian between 530-533 A.D. and is in remarkably good shape. Its marble columns look like they were hewn yesterday. The dome ceiling, marble columns and vaulted interiors create an impression of vertical space that is disguised by the exterior of the church. The vertical pull of the sanctuary was intended to direct one’s attention God. It succeeded.

You may wonder, “What’s the big deal with looking at old churches?” There are two things really. It’s the history for one; there is something about seeing a building erected 1,500 years ago that helps one transcend one’s own time and see the present through the more objective lens of the whole. But then there is the beauty. Devotion to God inspires the most creative impulses in the heart of man, and when one looks at churches like Hagia Sophia and SS Sergius and Bacchus, one is seeing clearly into the heart of men from a distance of 1,500 years.

The highlight of the day, and perhaps the trip thus far, was found at our next stop: the Theodosian Wall. This is the wall constructed by Theodosius II between 408 and 413 A.D. What’s the big deal about a wall? This wall, combined with the preexisting wall protecting the sides of the city facing the water, completely encircled the city–12 miles of walls. From the photograph you can see it disappearing in the distance. Just imagine it continuing for 12 miles. This wall successfully protected Constantinople for more than 1,000 years. During that time, only the crusaders in the Fourth Crusade breached the walls. Perhaps more on that tomorrow.

Walls were necessary at this point in history, as they are, though in a different form, today. But the future toward which the kingdom of God is progressing is a world where walls are unnecessary, where men will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. (Isaiah 2:4). GS

This day began early. We were out of our hotel by 6:00 a.m. on our way to the airport to catch a flight to Kayseri (in English “Caesar”), our ultimate destination a Central Turkey region called Cappadocia.

Cappadocia was once inhabited by the Hittites (as in “Uriah the Hittite,” 2 Samuel 11), then the Greeks, and for the last several hundred years, the Turks.  Cappadocia is known for its otherworldly rock formations, which were created by the two hands of desert heat and mountain snow placed on volcanic rock and spun by a persistent wind. The result appears as purposeful as anything that has ever left the potter’s wheel, as you can see from the photograph.

In the late morning, we visited Goreme, another cave-community, this one used as a seminary where St. Basil taught Christianity to the locals and to aspiring priests.  The churches carved out of the rock at Goreme contain frescos more than 1,000 years old that have survived Iconoclast and Muslim defacement.

After a long relaxing lunch finished off with a Turkish coffee, we stopped in a small village for some shopping. The Turks have been very friendly to us everywhere we’ve been, and in this village a local proprietor offer us tea and was so friendly we were looking for things to buy from him. Did I mention the Turks are also very good businessmen?

We ended our tour of Cappadocia at an underground cave-city. Like the cave city at Zelve, the Hittites used this underground city to escape from their enemies. The Greeks used the underground city after the Hittites, followed by the Christians, who used the underground city to escape persecution from the pagans.

Christians in caves was the theme of the day.  What’s interesting is that even after the persecution ended and Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, the Christians at Zelve and in other cave communities in Cappadocia, continued to live and worship in the caves.  Moreover, other Christians joined them, apparently desiring the community of other believers to the challenge of discipling the nations.

In it’s nascent stages in a hostile intolerant culture, it’s sometimes necessary for the Church to remain underground.  This is certainly the case now in China and Iran. But the destiny of the kingdom of God is not the seed planted in the ground but the tree in whose branches the birds of the air nest.

Leaven only changes the dough when it is in contact with it; salt requires a similar interaction. What was true in Cappadocia in the days of the early church is true today.  Christians will not change the world escaping from it, but from engaging it. One doesn’t change the world from a cave.

Until tomorrow…  GS

Our day began at the Hippodrome, or what used to be the Hippodrome.  After Constantine the Great’s renovation in the 4th century, the Hippodrome could hold as many as 100,000 horse race enthusiasts. It was Churchill Downs on steroids.

Today, as you can see from my picture, there is little left of the Hippodrome, except for two monuments, one a 10th century column dedicated to Emperor Constantine (VII) Porphyrogenitus and the other an Egyptian obelisk on a marble base honoring Emperor Theodosius, which was erected in 390 A.D. (Theodosius, you may or man not know, put an end to what was left of paganism in the empire).

The Turks did to the Hippodrome what Theodosius did to paganism.  The Hippodrome began disappearing stone-by-stone after Constantinople fell to the Turks.

Later in the morning, we arrived at Hagia Sophia.  Hagia Sophia was completed by Justinian in 537 A.D. and for 800 years was the most beautiful and famous church in the world. When Hagia Sophia was completed, Justinian proclaimed, “Solomon, I have surpassed thee!”

After sacking Constantinople, the Turks converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which explains the round billboards in my picture extolling, in Arabic, the virtues of Allah and Muhammad.  I’m guessing Justinian never imagined his church would become a mosque.  In fact, I’m confident he didn’t since, in 537 A.D., Islam didn’t exist.

Hagia Sophia was not the only church converted to a mosque in Constantinople by the Turks. Hagia Eirene and the church of SS Sergius and Bacchus met the same fate.  In fact, nearly every church in Constantinople was converted to a mosque.  The once great city, God’s earthly crown jewel, became a Muslim city.

As a Christian, it’s natural to contemplate these events and ask God, “Why?”  As a kingdom-believing Christian, convinced the kingdom of God is destined to grow and transform the earth, the loss of Constantinople cannot help but appear to be a major setback.

However, when considering the fleeting nature of buildings, cities and civilizations, even those dedicated to God, it’s important to remember that while the kingdom of God is destined the transform the earth, it also transcends it.  God did not choose to place His Holy Spirit in churches–not even the most beautiful one in the world–but in believers. While King Jesus purposes to transform cities and cultures, neither He nor his Kingdom is defined by them.  Civilizations come and go, but the kingdom of God endures (Daniel 2:42) and continues to expand. GS