In search of Paul

This last May I was presented with an opportunity that I couldn't refuse. At Transy we have "May Term," a month-long term where you take one specialty class every day for those four weeks. Many professors take this opportunity to travel with their students and my religion professor, Dr. Paul Jones, decided to take a class to Turkey and Greece for two weeks. The class was called "In Search of Paul" and although we didn't find the apostle Paul, I think all of us came away with a new perspective on life and especially on the Bible.

There were 25 of us total, seventeen students and eight "non-students." Dr. Jones and a senior student had been on the trip before, so almost all of us came into this experience not really knowing what to expect. Every day was jam-packed. We spent five days in Turkey and the rest of the time in Greece.

During those two weeks we traveled in the footsteps of Paul, stopping in places like Ephesus, Miletus, Pergamum, Hieropolis, Corinth, Delphi, Delos, and of course the Asklepian in Athens. I think the biggest thing for me after I came back was reading passages from the Bible and being able to say "I've been there! I know what that looks like!" We were not only able to see the places that Paul speaks of, but we were able to explore them fully and really get a clear idea of how things were back in biblical times.

My favorite place that we visited was Ephesus. I was really excited about Ephesus and Corinth especially because I already knew their biblical significance, but I was not expecting to fall in love with Ephesus. When you enter the city you see a theater and ruins of some other buildings. Then as you get closer to the heart of the city you begin to see signs of the Romans. Above archways there are crosses and there are several drawings on the ground of "ichthus". You continue walking and then all of sudden there it is in front of you, The Library of Celsus with the Turkish countryside as a background. What amazed me the most was how intact everything was. Although there has been reconstruction, it was very easy to imagine what the city looked like when it was in its prime.

I could go on forever about the architecture and how wonderful the city was but what was so special about our trip to Ephesus for me was the Cave of St. Paul. If you go off to the left when you're coming down the street to the Library, you will be greeted with a very high mountain (at least it was high for me!) that very few people have climbed in modern times. You climb about halfway up and you will find a small cave discovered in the early 1900s that was used as a place of pilgrimage starting as early as the sixth century. Historians and archeologists are fascinated by the cave because of the frescos that are painted on the wall. In particular they are interested in one that is directly on your right as you enter the cave. This fresco is of St. Paul, Thecla, and Thecla's mother. The eyes of Thecla's mother have been taken out. I don't know exactly what the fresco is supposed to mean, or what any of the other writings inside the cave mean, but I do know that this cave was and is a holy place.

I am so grateful that I was able to have this experience of not only visiting a different country but of seeing and standing where the forefathers of our religious tradition began what we now know as Christianity. Every site that we visited was more magnificent than the last, not because everything was still intact or it was in an especially beautiful part of the country, but because at each place the historical and religious value of it was more and more clear. The rocks and ruins that we saw were the remnants of a truly great civilization and this experience has given me an even greater understanding of what it means to live in this world, in our time and in our religious tradition.