DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0097
78
PAGAN TEMPLES CONVERTED INTO CHURCHES.
fell to the ground under the influence of his preaching; we do not forget that Laodicea was
amongst the number of those towns which agreed to erect a temple to Tiberius, precisely at the
period when the Apostle commenced preaching. Still we cannot help considering what has been
just stated about the destruction of temples as a palpable fact, which cannot be denied by any
one who has travelled in Asia Minor; and we can only explain it by supposing that religious
zeal was much stronger in the regions visited by St. Paul than in the neighbouring provinces.
In order to gain some idea of the authority that St. Paul acquired in Asia, it will be
sufficient to read his Epistles to the Galatians and Colossians. His words resounded from one
side of the peninsula to the other, and the Word of the Lord was published throughout the
whole region.1 * Again, what terror possessed the priests of Diana in the powerful and splendid
city of Ephesus—they trembled not only for the temple but for the goddess herself, lest her rule
should he overthrown. In provinces where the Homan yoke was the object of a hatred hardly
concealed, the new Christians exhibited their abhorrence of the gods of their oppressors by
the destruction of their temples.
To the Asiatic towns before enumerated we must add one — the town of Nymphseum,
now Nymphi, near Smyrna, which had some reputation as a Christian town. The Byzantine
emperors built a summer palace near it (the ruins of which still exist), where they went
to repose in the shade of the forests of Mount Tmolus. Nymphseum, like the other towns
mentioned, has no vestiges of a temple, but there are to be found there numerous traces of
Christian edifices.
During all his wanderings through Asia Minor, the Apostle addressed himself to the people
with an authority which showed how his preaching had fructified. When he reached Pamphylia,
he visited all the towns where he had founded churches, and confirmed and strengthened
the faithful in the right way.3
There is no documentary evidence showing how long the temples of Laodicea were
preserved; but it is certain that, after the preaching of St. Paul, they were razed to the ground.
The first temples that fell under the hammer of the Christians were without doubt those
of Byzantium. There was there a plausible pretext for making room for new structures: many
temples were employed for civil purposes, but no rigorous measures were carried out against
the adherents of polytheism -— even the statues of the heathen deities were allowed to be
honoured under the title of emblematical figures. Constantine had deprived the temples of
their revenues, and they were finally closed.3 But he remembered that he himself had been
a pagan — indeed he had not yet been baptized; so he sought to induce his subjects to embrace
the new religion by means of moderate measures. He caused the statues of the ancient worship
to be replaced by Christian figures, such as those of the Good Shepherd and Daniel in the
lions’ den.
It may be here remarked that at this period the lion entered into Christian iconography.
St. Mark the Evangelist had a lion for his emblem. Some writers attribute the invention of
the evangelistic symbols to St. Irenseus (A.D. 129). The lion is to be seen in the most ancient
sculptures ; it sustains the bases of the ambo, and it is also found in the porticos of many ancient
churches.
Notwithstanding all his tolerance, Constantine permitted the destruction of some of the
ancient temples, in order to erect churches on their sites. Thus, the first church of St. Sophia
and the churches of Menas and Mocius, were constructed upon the sites of ancient pagan
temples.4
In the provinces of Asia the religious enthusiasm was greater still than at Constantinople.
The Seven Churches were triumphant, and the apocalyptic menaces had terrors for the more
timid amongst the converts. The ancient worship declined day by day. The greater part of
the property of the temples had been confiscated for the benefit of the Church. The pagan
priests no longer beheld worshippers loaded with offerings arrive at the temenos; and as the
State no longer paid for the repairs of the temples, they fell into a state of decay.
Constantine, says Eusebius,5 laboured indefatigably for the establishment of Christian
1 Acts, XIII. 49. * tinopolitana sacris pecuniis usum, id est reditibus et donariis
8 Acts, xv. 41. ’Emtrrripifav ras eiacXrictae. templorum gentilitiorum : adde § simulacris.—Libanius, ed.
3 Chronicon Pascals, p. 561. Reiske. Zosimus, book ii.
4 Gyllius, book n. ch. 24. Anonymi ap. Banduri, vol. i. 5 Life of Constantine, book in. ch. 54.
book n. p. 51. Constantinus M. in condenda urbe Constan-
PAGAN TEMPLES CONVERTED INTO CHURCHES.
fell to the ground under the influence of his preaching; we do not forget that Laodicea was
amongst the number of those towns which agreed to erect a temple to Tiberius, precisely at the
period when the Apostle commenced preaching. Still we cannot help considering what has been
just stated about the destruction of temples as a palpable fact, which cannot be denied by any
one who has travelled in Asia Minor; and we can only explain it by supposing that religious
zeal was much stronger in the regions visited by St. Paul than in the neighbouring provinces.
In order to gain some idea of the authority that St. Paul acquired in Asia, it will be
sufficient to read his Epistles to the Galatians and Colossians. His words resounded from one
side of the peninsula to the other, and the Word of the Lord was published throughout the
whole region.1 * Again, what terror possessed the priests of Diana in the powerful and splendid
city of Ephesus—they trembled not only for the temple but for the goddess herself, lest her rule
should he overthrown. In provinces where the Homan yoke was the object of a hatred hardly
concealed, the new Christians exhibited their abhorrence of the gods of their oppressors by
the destruction of their temples.
To the Asiatic towns before enumerated we must add one — the town of Nymphseum,
now Nymphi, near Smyrna, which had some reputation as a Christian town. The Byzantine
emperors built a summer palace near it (the ruins of which still exist), where they went
to repose in the shade of the forests of Mount Tmolus. Nymphseum, like the other towns
mentioned, has no vestiges of a temple, but there are to be found there numerous traces of
Christian edifices.
During all his wanderings through Asia Minor, the Apostle addressed himself to the people
with an authority which showed how his preaching had fructified. When he reached Pamphylia,
he visited all the towns where he had founded churches, and confirmed and strengthened
the faithful in the right way.3
There is no documentary evidence showing how long the temples of Laodicea were
preserved; but it is certain that, after the preaching of St. Paul, they were razed to the ground.
The first temples that fell under the hammer of the Christians were without doubt those
of Byzantium. There was there a plausible pretext for making room for new structures: many
temples were employed for civil purposes, but no rigorous measures were carried out against
the adherents of polytheism -— even the statues of the heathen deities were allowed to be
honoured under the title of emblematical figures. Constantine had deprived the temples of
their revenues, and they were finally closed.3 But he remembered that he himself had been
a pagan — indeed he had not yet been baptized; so he sought to induce his subjects to embrace
the new religion by means of moderate measures. He caused the statues of the ancient worship
to be replaced by Christian figures, such as those of the Good Shepherd and Daniel in the
lions’ den.
It may be here remarked that at this period the lion entered into Christian iconography.
St. Mark the Evangelist had a lion for his emblem. Some writers attribute the invention of
the evangelistic symbols to St. Irenseus (A.D. 129). The lion is to be seen in the most ancient
sculptures ; it sustains the bases of the ambo, and it is also found in the porticos of many ancient
churches.
Notwithstanding all his tolerance, Constantine permitted the destruction of some of the
ancient temples, in order to erect churches on their sites. Thus, the first church of St. Sophia
and the churches of Menas and Mocius, were constructed upon the sites of ancient pagan
temples.4
In the provinces of Asia the religious enthusiasm was greater still than at Constantinople.
The Seven Churches were triumphant, and the apocalyptic menaces had terrors for the more
timid amongst the converts. The ancient worship declined day by day. The greater part of
the property of the temples had been confiscated for the benefit of the Church. The pagan
priests no longer beheld worshippers loaded with offerings arrive at the temenos; and as the
State no longer paid for the repairs of the temples, they fell into a state of decay.
Constantine, says Eusebius,5 laboured indefatigably for the establishment of Christian
1 Acts, XIII. 49. * tinopolitana sacris pecuniis usum, id est reditibus et donariis
8 Acts, xv. 41. ’Emtrrripifav ras eiacXrictae. templorum gentilitiorum : adde § simulacris.—Libanius, ed.
3 Chronicon Pascals, p. 561. Reiske. Zosimus, book ii.
4 Gyllius, book n. ch. 24. Anonymi ap. Banduri, vol. i. 5 Life of Constantine, book in. ch. 54.
book n. p. 51. Constantinus M. in condenda urbe Constan-