ANNOUNCER: ONE OF THE GREAT
WRITINGS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
STILL READ AND STUDIED TODAY... IS THE BOOK OF REVELATION,
THE LAST BOOK IN THE BIBLE... THAT FOR MANY READERS
SPEAKS OF A TERRIBLE FUTURE
FOR THE WORLD AND MANKIND, CULMINATING WITH JUDGMENT
AND GOD'S WRATH BEING
POURED OUT ON THE EARTH. BUT REVELATION UNVEILS FAR
MORE THAN COSMIC DESTRUCTION. IT BEGINS BY REVEALING THE
HEART OF THE RESURRECTED JESUS
FOR THOSE HE'S LEFT BEHIND. ON THIS DAY OF DISCOVERY, AUTHOR
AND CORNERSTONE UNIVERSITY
PRESIDENT JOE STOWELL... TRAVELS TO MODERN TURKEY TO
BEGIN LOOKING INTO THIS ANCIENT
BOOK WITH A CURIOUS BEGINNING: A SERIES OF SEVEN LETTERS,
SEVEN LETTERS TO SEVEN CHURCHES
OF THE FIRST CENTURY. JOE LOOKS CLOSELY INTO THE WORDS
OF THESE LETTERS TO UNCOVER
THE MIND AND WISDOM OF JESUS... AS DIRECTED TO
HIS FOLLOWERS LIVING IN AN
ANTI-CHRISTIAN ROMAN EMPIRE. JOURNEY TO THE SEVEN
CHURCHES OF REVELATION... ON THIS DAY OF DISCOVERY. THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WHICH GOD GAVE HIM TO SHOW
HIS SERVANTS THINGS WHICH
MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE. AND HE SENT AND
SIGNIFIED IT BY HIS ANGEL
TO HIS SERVANT JOHN, WHO BORE WITNESS
TO THE WORD OF GOD, AND TO THE TESTIMONY
OF JESUS CHRIST, TO ALL THINGS THAT HE SAW. BLESSED IS HE WHO READS
AND THOSE WHO HEAR THE
WORDS OF THIS PROPHECY, AND KEEP THOSE THINGS
WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN IT,
FOR THE TIME IS NEAR. JOHN, TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES
WHICH ARE IN ASIA: GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE
FROM HIM WHO IS AND WHO
WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, AND FROM THE SEVEN SPIRITS
WHO ARE BEFORE HIS THRONE, AND FROM JESUS CHRIST,
THE FAITHFUL WITNESS,
THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD, AND THE RULER OVER
THE KINGS OF THE EARTH. TO HIM WHO LOVED US
AND WASHED US FROM OUR
SINS IN HIS OWN BLOOD. I, JOHN, BOTH YOUR
BROTHER AND COMPANION... IN THE TRIBULATION AND KINGDOM
AND PATIENCE OF JESUS CHRIST, WAS ON THE ISLAND
THAT IS CALLED PATMOS... FOR THE WORD OF GOD AND FOR
THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST. I WAS IN THE SPIRIT
ON THE LORD'S DAY, AND I HEARD BEHIND ME A LOUD
VOICE, AS OF A TRUMPET, SAYING, "I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA,
THE FIRST AND THE LAST." JOHN BEGINS HIS LETTER TO
THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR
BY QUOTING JESUS CHRIST, WHO SAID,
"I AM THE ALPHA AND OMEGA," WHICH MEANT HE WAS
THE BEGINNING AND THE END,
THE FIRST AND THE LAST, "THE ONE WHO IS,
THE ONE WHO WAS, AND THE
ONE WHO IS YET TO COME. "I AM THE ALMIGHTY." THAT WAS A STATEMENT THAT
THESE SUFFERING CHRISTIANS
DESPERATELY NEEDED TO HEAR. IT'S A DANGEROUS
AND CONFUSING TIME FOR
FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST. MORE THAN 50 YEARS
HAVE PASSED SINCE HIS DEATH
ON A CROSS AND RESURRECTION, AND THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN
WORLD AT THE CLOSE OF
THE FIRST CENTURY... THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS
AND THEIR DISCIPLES... HAVE SPREAD THE MESSAGE
AND BUILT A THRIVING CHURCH. BUT AFTER THE GREAT FIRE OF ROME
OCCURRED ON JULY 19, AD 64, THE CAESAR, NERO, BLAMED THIS
GROWING RELIGIOUS SECT KNOWN
AS "CHRISTIANS" FOR THE FIRE. HE DID THAT TO PROTECT
DOUBTS ABOUT THE PART
HE HAD IN CAUSING THE FIRE. WHAT A BRILLIANT STRATEGY:
BLAME THE CHRISTIANS. THEY WERE TROUBLE ANYWAY,
CLAIMING THAT GOD WAS GREATER
THAN ALL OTHER GODS, AND GREATER THAN CAESAR,
AS WELL. THE ROMAN WORLD
WAS FILLED WITH GODS, AND WAS INCLUSIVE
OF THE GODS OF PEOPLE
CONQUERED INTO THE EMPIRE. YET, IN SPITE OF THEIR CLAIM
THAT JESUS WAS THE ONLY WAY,
THEY CONTINUED TO GROW. BUT WHEN THE EMPEROR DOMITIAN
CAME TO POWER IN 81 AD, IT WAS THEN THAT THE ROMAN WORLD
BECAME A WORLD THAT CHRISTIANS
FIT INTO LESS AND LESS. AND UNDER HIS ADMINISTRATION
THAT HELD TO THE TRADITIONAL
ROMAN RELIGIONS AND POLICIES, THERE WAS A LOT OF BAD NEWS
FOR FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. AS A RESULT OF
THE DOMITIAN PERSECUTION,
FOR HIS FAITH IN CHRIST, THE APOSTLE JOHN,
ONCE THE BELOVED DISCIPLE
OF JESUS IN HIS YOUTH, AND FOR YEARS
THE BISHOP OF EPHESUS,
IS NOW AN AGING PASTOR... IMPRISONED ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS
IN THE MIDST OF THE AEGEAN SEA. "WHAT YOU SEE, WRITE IN
A BOOK AND SEND IT TO THE SEVEN
CHURCHES WHICH ARE IN ASIA: TO EPHESUS, TO SMYRNA,
TO PERGAMOS, TO THYATIRA, TO SARDIS, TO PHILADELPHIA,
AND TO LAODICEA." THEN I TURNED TO SEE THE VOICE
THAT SPOKE WITH ME. AND HAVING TURNED,
I SAW SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS, AND IN THE MIDST
OF THE SEVEN LAMPSTANDS,
ONE LIKE THE SON OF MAN. AFTER THAT STATEMENT
ABOUT THE ETERNAL POWER
AND PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST, JOHN FOLLOWS BY RECORDING
A VISION THAT HE SAW
OF JESUS CHRIST, A VISION SO TERRIFYING,
SO AWESOME, THAT JOHN
FALLS DOWN AS A DEAD MAN. HE RECORDS THAT HE SAW JESUS
WALKING THROUGH THE GOLDEN
LAMPSTANDS IN LONG WHITE ROBES, WITH A SASH OF GOLD
AROUND HIS CHEST. HIS HAIR WAS LIKE
WHITE WITH WOOL. HIS EYES WERE LIKE
A BLAZING FIRE. FROM HIS MOUTH CAME A
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD, AND HIS
VOICE WAS LIKE MANY WATERS. THAT IMAGE OF JESUS CHRIST
MAKES ME THINK ABOUT ALL
THE WAYS THAT JOHN SAW JESUS. AT THE VERY BEGINNING, YOU KNOW,
LOST IN THE DOLDRUMS OF HIS
CAREER AS A FISHERMAN, A YOUNG WOULD-BE MESSIAH
RABBI COMES TO THE SHORE, CALLS THEM FROM THEIR NETS TO AN ADVENTURE HE WILL NEVER FORGET. HE SAW HIM TEACH, HOLDING
CROWDS AT HIS VERY WORD. HE SAW HIM MAKE THE BLIND
TO SEE AND THE LAME TO WALK. HE SAW HIM AS WARRIOR
CHAMPION WHEN HE CHASED
THE THIEVES OUT OF THE TEMPLE. HE SAW HIM AT THE LAST SUPPER,
WHERE AS THE BELOVED DISCIPLE, HE LEANED AGAINST CHRIST'S
CHEST AS THEY FELLOWSHIPPED
IN THAT CRITICAL MOMENT. THEN HE SAW HIM MANGLED,
TORMENTED, NAKED ON THE CROSS, HEARING HIS PLEA THAT JOHN
WOULD CARE FOR HIS MOTHER. AND THEN HE SAW
THE RESURRECTED JESUS CHRIST. AND NOW HE SEES CHRIST LIKE
HE'S NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE. AND IT'S IMPORTANT
FOR US TO UNDERSTAND WHY
THIS APPEARANCE OF CHRIST... IS SO VERY IMPORTANT
TO EARLY CHRISTIANS
IN THESE SEVEN CHURCHES. "THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS
WHICH YOU SAW IN MY RIGHT HAND,
AND THE SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS: "THE SEVEN STARS ARE THE ANGELS
OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, "AND THE SEVEN LAMPSTANDS WHICH YOU SAW ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES." ONE OF THE MORE INTERESTING
ASPECTS OF THE VISION THAT
JOHN SAW OF JESUS CHRIST... IS THAT HE SAW JESUS HOLDING
SEVEN STARS IN HIS RIGHT HAND. NOW, I KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT
HAND MEANS, BECAUSE ALL
THROUGH SCRIPTURE, THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD IS
A SYMBOL OF HIS POWER, OF HIS
STRENGTH, AND OF HIS MIGHT. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STARS? WHEN DOMITIAN'S INFANT
SON DIED IN AD 83, THE EMPEROR DOMITIAN DEIFIED
THAT CHILD, MADE HIM INTO A GOD. AND THEY HAD A COIN THAT
SHOWED THIS INFANT SITTING
ON TOP OF THE GLOBE, AND AROUND THE INFANT'S HEAD WERE SEVEN STARS. COULD IT BE THAT THE SEVEN
STARS WERE A SYMBOL... OF THE GODLIKE POWER OVER THE UNIVERSE THAT THE EMPERORS HELD? WELL, IF THAT'S THE CASE,
THIS IMAGE OF JESUS IS
VERY IMPORTANT, FOR THE EMPIRE THAT THESE
EARLY CHRISTIANS WOULD FEAR, AH, JESUS CHRIST
HELD IT IN HIS RIGHT HAND
WITH SUPERIOR POWER OVER IT. AND LATER, JESUS SAYS THAT
EACH ONE OF THESE STARS ARE THE
ELDERS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, WHICH WOULD MEAN TO ME THAT
THESE ELDERS THEMSELVES... WOULD HAVE POWER OVER ALL THE
HOSTILE POWERS OF THE EMPIRE.
I THINK THAT'S A STRONG PICTURE, AND SOMETHING THAT
THESE EARLY CHRISTIANS
NEEDED TO KEEP IN MIND. THIS POWERFUL VISION
OF JESUS CHRIST AS
THE MIGHTY CONQUEROR... COMES TO JOHN AT A VERY INTERESTING MOMENT IN HIS LIFE, BECAUSE JOHN IS NOW
IN A CAVE ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS
IN THE MIDST OF THE AEGEAN SEA. HE'S BEEN EXILED
UNDER THE RULE OF DOMITIAN, THE EMPEROR WHO HAS LAUNCHED
A MASSIVE PERSECUTION
OF THE EARLY CHURCH. UP TO THIS POINT,
EVERYTHING'S BEEN GOING
PRETTY WELL, ACTUALLY. BUT WITH DOMITIAN'S PERSECUTION,
EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED. I THINK IF I WERE JOHN, I WOULD
BE THINKING, "ALL IS LOST." THE DEMONIC FORCES,
THE IMPERIAL CULT, COULD
IT BE THAT THEY HAVE WON? COULD IT BE THAT JOHN
IS THINKING, "I DIDN'T THINK
IT WOULD TURN OUT LIKE THIS." AND THEN, IN THAT MOMENT,
CHRIST APPEARS AS THE MIGHTY,
CONQUERING WARRIOR. TALK ABOUT A MOMENT WHERE
YOU'D HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR
FAITH AND COURAGE TO PERSEVERE. THE VISION OF JESUS CHRIST
RIVALED ANY FORCE IN THE EMPIRE, AND IT WAS A FITTING BEGINNING TO THE BOOK, WHOSE BASIC THEME
IS THAT IN THE END, JESUS WINS. TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHY
THESE LETTERS FROM JESUS... WERE SO NEEDED BY CHRISTIANS
IN THE ROMAN WORLD, TRAVEL
WITH ME TO ISTANBUL, TO ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT MUSEUMS IN THE WORLD
TO MEET DR. MARK FAIRCHILD, A SCHOLAR WHO HAS SPENT
MANY YEARS OF STUDY
THROUGHOUT TURKEY, LOOKING INTO THE WORLD
OF THE FIRST CENTURY. JOE: THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST
INTERESTING LOCATIONS IN
ISTANBUL, TURKEY, AND DR. MARK FAIRCHILD
IS THE PROFESSOR OF
BIBLE AND RELIGION... AT HUNTINGTON UNIVERSITY
IN HUNTINGTON, INDIANA. HOWEVER, MORE IMPORTANT
TO US TODAY, MARK IS AN EXPERT
IN THE EARLY CENTURIES
THAT THE CHURCH GREW UP. HE KNOWS MUCH
ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT
IN WHICH, FOR INSTANCE, THE CHRISTIANS IN THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION... WOULD HAVE LIVED AND EXPERIENCED
THEIR LIVES ON A DAILY BASIS. SO, MARK, WELCOME,
AND TELL US A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT WHERE WE FIND OURSELVES. MARK: WELL,
THANK YOU, JOE. THE ISTANBUL
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM... IS ONE OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL
MUSEUMS IN ALL THE WORLD. DURING THE MORE THAN
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS THAT
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE EXISTED, ALL THE IMPORTANT BIBLICAL
ARTIFACTS CAME BACK TO ISTANBUL,
AND THAT'S WHY THEY'RE HERE. WHAT WE SEE BEFORE US,
FOR INSTANCE, ARE ALTARS
TO UNKNOWN GODS. WHEN PAUL WENT TO ATHENS,
FOR INSTANCE, HE WAS PERUSING
THE ARTIFACTS AND THE ALTARS, THE STATUES IN THE ATHENIAN
AGORA, AND HE ALSO OBSERVED
STATUES TO UNKNOWN DEITIES, AND HE USED THAT AS
AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROCLAIM
THE TRUE LIVING GOD, NOT A GOD OF WOOD OR STONE,
BUT A GOD WHO TRULY LIVES. JOE: AND CERTAINLY,
SYMBOLIC OF THE POLYTHEISM
AND THE PAGANISM... OF THE WORLD IN WHICH
THOSE EARLY CHRISTIANS HAD
TO NAVIGATE THEIR LIVES. MARK: AND... AND HE GAVE THEM
HOPE AT A TIME WHEN THESE
PEOPLE WERE STRUGGLING... WITH DEITIES WHO COULD
BE VERY UNPREDICTABLE. "HOW IS IT THAT BAD THINGS
HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE? "WELL, IT'S BECAUSE WE DON'T
ACKNOWLEDGE DEITIES THAT
WE'RE NOT EVEN AWARE OF." AND SO THERE WAS A GREAT FEAR
AMONG SOME OF THESE PEOPLE THAT,
"WE HAVE TO COVER ALL THE BASES, "TO OFFER SACRIFICE EVEN TO
DEITIES THAT WE'RE NOT AWARE OF. "OTHERWISE, WHO KNOWS
WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO US?" JOE: SO THESE WERE LIKE THE
DEFAULT POSITION OF WORSHIP. THESE WERE THE "JUST IN
CASE I MISS SOMEBODY... "I'M GONNA MAKE A SACRIFICE
TO THESE ALTARS RIGHT HERE." MARK: AND WHAT PAUL SAYS
IS THE GOD THAT WE WORSHIP
IS A GOD THAT IS PREDICTABLE, AND THAT IF WE SERVE HIM,
THAT WE HAVE SECURITY. JOE: AND IT WAS THAT SECURITY
AND HOPE IN THE EARLY
CHRISTIANS' LIVES... THAT BECAME A TESTIMONY
TO THEIR WORLD, WASN'T IT? IT WAS MAGNETIC
THAT SOMEBODY BELIEVED
THERE WAS SOMETHING CERTAIN, AND JESUS CHRIST
HAD GIVEN THEM THAT. JOE: ALL OF THESE
STATUES REMIND ME OF WHAT AN
IDOLATROUS CULTURE IT WAS, AND HOW MANY OF THE TEMPLES
AND GODS AND GODDESSES... TOTALLY CONTROLLED THE ENTIRE
ECONOMY AND THE SOCIAL SYSTEM... EVEN THIS NARROW HALL,
LIKE HOW IT... IT CLOSES IN ON US,
HOW THE GODS AND GODDESSES
CLOSED IN ON THAT CULTURE. MARK: IF YOU WANTED
TO BE A PARTICIPANT
IN THE BROADER CULTURE, YOU HAD TO PLAY THE GAME,
EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE
THAT THESE DEITIES EXISTED. MANY PEOPLE OPTED FOR
PHILOSOPHY AS AN ALTERNATIVE, BUT YOU STILL HAD TO BE
A PARTICIPANT IN THE CULTS. JOE: WHICH MADE IT CHALLENGING
FOR EARLY FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST
WHO CLAIMED CHRIST AS THEIR GOD, AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE A TEMPLE,
THEY DIDN'T HAVE IDOLS. THEY MUST HAVE BEEN SEEN AS
A VERY STRANGE GROUP OF PEOPLE. MARK: AND OUTSIDERS.
AND AS A CONSEQUENCE, THEY
ENCOUNTERED DIFFICULTIES. THEY WERE PERSECUTED.
SOMETIMES THEY LOST JOBS, THEY LOST ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITIES AND SOCIAL
OPPORTUNITIES, MANY TIMES WERE OSTRACIZED
WITHIN COMMUNITIES. JOE, THIS IS A STATUE
OF HERMES, THE OLYMPIAN DEITY
WHO WAS A MESSENGER GOD... AND A GOD WHO TRANSPORTED
PEOPLE TO THE UNDERWORLD. JOE: WASN'T THIS THE GOD THAT
THE PEOPLE, WHEN THEY SAW PAUL
AND BARNABAS DOING MIRACLES, THAT THEY CONFUSED
THEIR POWER IN CHRIST... WITH THE POWER OF THE GODS
AND STARTED TO WORSHIP THEM? MARK: YES, IN GALATIA. AND THEY INTERPRETED
PAUL'S MIRACLES THE WAY
ANYBODY ELSE WOULD, THAT IS, THEY INTERPRETED
IT IN TERMS OF THE DEITIES
THAT THEY KNEW. PAUL AND BARNABAS WERE
PROCLAIMING TO THEM
A DIFFERENT DEITY, NOT ONE OF THE POLYTHEISTIC GODS
THAT THEY WERE FAMILIAR WITH. JOE: THEY HAD NO SPACE IN THEIR
MIND FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT... THAT MIRACLES WOULD ONLY COME FROM THE GODS AND THE GODDESSES. THE THOUGHT THAT CHRIST
WOULD DO THIS WAS NOT ON
THEIR RADAR AT ALL. MARK: NOT UNTIL LATER ON WHEN
PAUL BEGAN TO EXPOUND UPON
THE GOSPEL AND TO SHARE IN... IN MORE DEPTH WHO THIS GOD WAS. JOE: MARK, WHEN JOHN PENS
THE LETTERS THAT JESUS DICTATES
TO HIM, TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES, I FIND IT INTERESTING,
THERE'S A LOT OF JOHANNIAN
THOUGHTS AND IMAGERY... IN THESE LETTERS THAT
CHRIST GIVES TO THE CHURCHES. MARK: YEAH, JOHN LOVES DUALISMS, AND ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT JOHN EMPHASIZES,
NOT ONLY IN HIS GOSPEL, BUT ALSO IN THE LETTERS,
IS THE FACT THAT WE ARE
STRANGERS TO THIS WORLD, AND THAT JUST AS JESUS WAS NOT WELL-RECEIVED IN THIS WORLD, SO ALSO,
AS HIS DISCIPLES, WE'RE NOT
GOING TO BE WELL-RECEIVED. JOE: SO OUR IDENTITY, WE HAVE
TO UNDERSTAND, THAT WE AS... SCRIPTURE OFTEN SAYS
WE'RE ALIENS HERE. IN A SENSE, WE DON'T
REALLY BELONG HERE, SO WE SHOULD EXPECT SOME KIND
OF FRICTION AND PRESSURE. BUT THEN THAT LEADS
TO THE THEME THAT JESUS DOES
IN THESE BOOKS SO OFTEN, IN THESE LETTERS TO
THE CHURCHES, OF ETERNITY. BUT THIS... THIS WORLD IS NOT REALLY, FINALLY, FULLY, MY HOME, THAT THERE WILL BE GREAT REWARD
IN ETERNITY FOREVER, SO IT'S THE TEMPORARY AND
THE ETERNAL, ISN'T IT? MARK: AND AS JOHN WRITES IN
HIS LETTERS, FIRST JOHN,
WRITTEN AT EPHESUS, HE SAYS, "FRIENDSHIP WITH THE
WORLD IS HOSTILITY TOWARDS GOD." WE ALWAYS HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT
OUR ETERNAL ABODE IS NOT HERE, THAT GOD HAS
PREPARED A PLACE FOR US,
AND HE COMFORTED HIS DISCIPLES, IN JOHN CHAPTERS 16 AND 17,
BY MAKING REFERENCE TO
THE FACT THAT OUR WORLD, WHAT WE SHOULD BE ASPIRING FOR, IS BEYOND WHAT WE SEE HERE. JOE: YEAH. I DO THINK
IT'S FASCINATING, WITH THE EARLY CHRISTIANS
HAVING THAT KIND OF SENSE, MARK, THAT YET THEY KNEW
THEY WERE IN THE WORLD, AND THEY BROUGHT THE COMPASSION
OF CHRIST INTO THEIR WORLD, AND THE LOVE OF CHRIST
INTO THEIR WORLD, WHICH GAVE THEM A DYNAMIC THAT
PEOPLE COULDN'T CONTRADICT. MAYBE THEY COULD CONTRADICT
THEIR THEOLOGY, BUT THEY ENGAGED THEIR CULTURE
WITH THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST, WHICH WAS REALLY
THE POWER OF THE EARLY CHURCH. AND I THINK A MESSAGE FOR US
IN OUR DAY AS WE EXPERIENCE
INCREASING MARGINALIZATION, IT WOULD BE EASY JUST TO HUDDLE
DOWN AND WAIT FOR JESUS TO COME, AND WHILE WE'RE NOT
OF THIS WORLD, WE ARE TO BE A DYNAMIC FORCE IN
THIS WORLD FOR JESUS CHRIST... BY SHOWING HIS
LOVE AND COMPASSION TO
THOSE IN NEED, AS WELL. JOE: HERE IS ANOTHER
GREAT MUSEUM IN ISTANBUL:
THE HAGIA SOPHIA, FORMALLY A CHURCH,
THEN A MOSQUE,
AND TODAY A MUSEUM, A MUSEUM FROM WHICH
WE CAN LEARN AN INTERESTING
LESSON FROM HISTORY... THAT GIVES US A VIEW OF
CHRISTIANITY THAT STRETCHES
FROM THE ROMAN WORLD... TO THE WORLD IN WHICH
WE LIVE TODAY. AS WE ENTER THE HAGIA
SOPHIA, THESE DOORS, LIKE MANY
OF THE OTHER ARTIFACTS HERE, ARE RICH IN ANCIENT HISTORY.
BUT THE THING I FIND
INTERESTING IS THAT, IMMEDIATELY, YOU ARE WELCOMED
WITH THE SIGN OF THE CROSS
AND THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. NOW, THAT TAKES ON PARTICULAR
MEANING WHEN YOU REMEMBER... THAT THESE DOORS ARE
FROM TWO CENTURIES BEFORE
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, FROM THE TOWN WHERE THE APOSTLE
PAUL, THE WRITER OF MANY OF THE
LETTERS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, WHERE HE WAS BORN,
THE TOWN OF TARSHISH. THESE DOORS WERE ORIGINALLY
ON THE TEMPLE TO APOLLOS, THE PAGAN GOD WHO REPRESENTED THE POWER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. THEN THEY WERE TAKEN DOWN
AND BROUGHT HERE AND PUT
AS THE ENTRY DOORS, AND INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH,
ASCRIBED WITH THE CROSS AND
THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST... TO MARK THIS AS A CATHEDRAL,
OR A TEMPLE, TO THE LIVING
RESURRECTED SON OF GOD. THIS BEAUTIFUL ARRAY OF
LIGHTING REMINDS ME OF THE BOLD
CLAIM THAT JESUS CHRIST MADE... WHEN HE CAME INTO
A VERY DARK WORLD. HE SAID, "I AM THE LIGHT
OF THE WORLD." AND HE SPOKE THAT INTO A WORLD
IN THE DARK GRIP OF GODS AND
GODDESSES AND MASSIVE TEMPLES, IMAGES OF WOOD AND STONE THAT
COULD NOT HELP, COULD NOT HEAR,
COULD NOT HEAL, COULD NOT SEE. BUT MORE THAN THAT,
THIS MASSIVE CATHEDRAL
STANDS TODAY AS A MONUMENT... TO THE RISE AND THE FALL OF
CHRISTIANITY HERE IN ASIA MINOR, IN THE NATION THAT
WE NOW KNOW AS TURKEY. ON THIS VERY SITE, SOON AFTER
CONSTANTINE, THE EMPEROR OF
THE ROMAN EMPIRE, DECLARED CHRISTIANITY LEGAL...
IT WAS A FEW YEARS
AFTER THAT, IN 360 AD, THEY BUILT A CHRISTIAN
CHURCH HERE TO THE LOGOS,
TO JESUS CHRIST. RIOTERS BURNED IT AND
LOOTED IT, BUT YOU COULDN'T
HOLD THESE CHRISTIANS BACK. THEY BUILT ANOTHER ONE,
AND THAT ONE WAS BURNED AND
LOOTED BY RIOTERS, AS WELL. THEN, IN 532, PLANS WERE MADE
TO BUILD THIS MASSIVE STATEMENT
TO CHRISTIANITY, AND THIS HAGIA SOPHIA,
"JESUS CHRIST, THE HOLY
WISDOM OF GOD" CATHEDRAL, STOOD HERE AS THE CENTER
OF CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE
THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE EAST, ALL OF THE BYZANTINE
EMPIRE, UNTIL 1453.
THEN ALL THINGS CHANGED. BY THE YEAR 1453 AD,
ALL OF ASIA MINOR, ALL OF TURKEY HAD BEEN
CONQUERED BY THE OTTOMAN TURKS, AND ISLAM HAD BECOME
THE RELIGION OF THE REGION. BUT CONSTANTINOPLE,
WHAT WE NOW CALL ISTANBUL,
WAS THE ONLY HOLDOUT. IN 1453, MEHEMET II, THE SULTAN,
VICTORIOUS SULTAN, MARCHED INTO CONSTANTINOPLE
AND TOOK IT CAPTIVE, AND CHANGED THIS MONUMENT
TO JESUS CHRIST, THE HOLY
WISDOM OF GOD, INTO A MOSQUE TO CELEBRATE
THE RELIGION OF ISLAM. AS YOU CAN SEE BEHIND ME,
THE CALLIGRAPHY SIGNATURES... THAT DATE WAY BACK TO
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY... WERE PLACED THROUGHOUT
THE BUILDING. AND IN A SENSE, THEN, THIS
REPRESENTS, AS WELL, THE FALL
OF CHRISTIANITY IN ASIA MINOR. ALTHOUGH,
FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE, SINCE THE POPE WAS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE EASTERN CHURCH, MEHEMET II DECIDED TO
PROTECT THE PATRIARCH AND TO
PROTECT EASTERN ORTHODOXY, AND SO HE BUILT A SMALL CHURCH
FOR HIM ON THE BOSPHOROUS, AND EVEN TODAY,
THERE REMAINS THE PRESENCE OF
THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH, AND THE HEADQUARTERS OF
THE PATRIARCH HERE IN ISTANBUL. BUT THAT WAS THE CHANGE
THAT TURNED THE TIDE, THAT BASICALLY TOOK THE
INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY
OUT OF ASIA MINOR. THIS ANCIENT PULPIT THAT,
INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, DECORATES THE PATIO
OF A COFFEE SHOP JUST
OUTSIDE THE HAGIA SOPHIA, IS PROBABLY FROM THE SECOND
CHURCH THAT WAS BUILT ON THIS
SITE IN ABOUT 390 AD, BUT IT'S A REMINDER TO ME,
AS A FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST, THAT THE THING THAT HAS BEEN
CENTRAL TO BELIEVERS THROUGHOUT
ALL OF THE CENTURIES... HAS BEEN THE PROCLAMATION
OF THE WORD OF GOD, THAT THE HEALING, TRANSFORMING
POWER OF GOD SPEAKING TO US
THROUGH HIS WORD... IS WHAT WE HOLD ONTO
AND CLING TO. NOW, I'M SURE THAT MANY WHO
DON'T FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST... WONDER WHY IT IS THAT WE'RE
SO STEADY AND SO DETERMINED. WELL, IT'S BECAUSE GOD'S TRUTH
HAS GOTTEN A GRIP ON OUR HEARTS. AND QUITE FRANKLY, IT'S
ENCOURAGING FOR ME TO KNOW... THAT I DON'T JUST FLOAT
THROUGH MY GENERATION ALONE, BUT THAT...
THAT I HAVE DEEP ROOTS IN
THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH... REPRESENTED BY THE PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD OF GOD FROM A PULPIT
JUST LIKE THIS SO LONG AGO. YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES
I WONDER WHY WE NAME OUR
CHURCHES WHAT WE DO, LIKE "FIRST CHURCH OF THAT,
SECOND CHURCH OF THAT." WELL, IT WASN'T SO WITH
THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. THEY NAMED THEIR CHURCHES
CAREFULLY AFTER THE THINGS THAT
WERE REALLY IMPORTANT TO THEM, LIKE THE HAGIA SOPHIA: JESUS
CHRIST, THE HOLY WISDOM OF GOD. NOW, THAT'S GOT WEIGHT.
THAT'S IMPORTANT. THE FIRST CHURCH THAT WAS
BUILT ON THIS SITE WAS NAMED
THE CHURCH OF THE LOGOS. NOW, TO EARLY CHRISTIANS
IN A GREEK CULTURE, THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT THE WORD
LOGOS WAS THAT PLACE SOMEWHERE, THAT PERSON SOMEWHERE,
THAT HAD ALL THE ANSWERS
TO THE MEANING OF LIFE, ALL THOSE QUESTIONS THAT
HAUNT US AND DAUNT US. SOMEWHERE THERE WAS MEANING,
AND SOMEWHERE THERE WAS...
THERE WAS PURPOSE. AND WHEN JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL,
HE BEGINS BY SAYING, "IN THE BEGINNING
WAS THE LOGOS," SPEAKING
OF JESUS CHRIST, THE CREATOR, THAT IN JESUS CHRIST IS WHERE
ALL THE MEANING COMES TOGETHER, WHERE LIFE MAKES SENSE. AND EARLY CHRISTIANS NOT ONLY
HEARD THAT, THEY EXPERIENCED
THAT IN JESUS CHRIST. THAT'S WHY THEY LIVED
FOR HIM. THAT'S WHY SOME
OF THEM DIED FOR HIM. SO I'M FASCINATED BY THE FACT
THAT WHEN THEY BUILT THE VERY
FIRST CHURCH ON THIS SITE, THEY DEDICATED IT
TO JESUS CHRIST, THE LOGOS,
THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE, AND THEY DEDICATED IT ON DECEMBER 25, THE BIRTHDAY OF
THEIR SAVIOR, OF THEIR LOGOS. "I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA,
THE BEGINNING AND THE END,"
SAYS THE LORD, "WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND
WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY." "DO NOT BE AFRAID. I AM
THE FIRST AND THE LAST. "I AM HE WHO LIVES,
AND WHO WAS DEAD, "AND BEHOLD, I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE. AMEN."
