God or the Deities

by Hugh DeLong

As we begin the letters to the churches of Asia, again I share a couple of brief quotes from DeSilva’s ‘Unholy Alliances’ (pgs. 11-12).

Concerning Ephesus, he wrote:

"Another prominent facet of the life of their cities, and indeed the corollary of the first, involved the many cult sites of the traditional Greco-Roman and local gods and of the emperors, the representations of Roman imperialism. Ephesus was famous throughout the Mediterranean for its Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders, a source of great civic pride and focus of civic identity."

Then, concerning Pergamum:

"The Acropolis of Pergamum was studded with prominent cultic sites of the traditional Greek divinities. A vast altar dedicated to Zeus, surrounded by columned porches and all sitting upon a raised marble platform, crowned the brow of the hill, overlooking all the territory below. Just above it on the hill stood a temple to Athena, which overlooked a vast amphitheater carved into the side of the hill. At stage level, halfway down the hill, a temple to Dionysus stood in close proximity to the theater whose productions were often connected with the worship of that god. On another slope of the hill sat a large temple sacred to Demeter, with a central altar and stadium seating running along one of its longer sides."

Paul described the disciples and their conversion experience in this way:

“… how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come” (I Thessalonians 1:9-10).

Our ‘idols’ are mostly worldly goals and practices, but we too must turn from these and serve the living and true God. How accurately does that description describe your conversion and life?