Page 114 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

Study Section 15: Asia Minor and Cyprus and the Expansion of the
Early Church (Acts, Ephesians, Revelation)

15.1 Connect.

The Hellenistic world enjoyed many established methods of travel. Because of this Paul and his
companions were able to travel from city to city and region to region. As many pastors know,
traveling for ministry is both exciting and hard. It can also be dangerous. Animals, thieves,
corrupt governments, political enemies, and religious enemies can become barriers to
personal safety and successful ministry. In this section we will see how the Gospel spread
through Asia Minor and Cypress. This ministry would not have been possible without much travel and
facing danger to take the message of Messiah King Jesus to the world.

15.2 Objectives.

1. The student will be able to summarize the locations and government types of Cyprus and Asia
Minors.

2. The student will be able to explain some of the religious thought of Asia Minor.

3. The student will be able to explain the basic social and economic backgrounds of Asia Minor and how
they shed light on the biblical story.

15.3 From Syria to Cypress and Asia Minor.

Most are unaware that there are two cities
named Antioch in scripture. The first one is in
Syria. It served as a starting point for the
ministry of Paul on His first missionary journey.
Those journeys would take him, not exclusively,
to Cypress and Asia Minor. The other Antioch, known as
Antioch of Pisidia, was in Asia Minor. Acts 11 records the
establishment and ministry of the church at the Antioch
of Syria. Acts 13 records the sending of Paul and his
companions on the trip by the Syrian church. 148 That trip
started from Antioch in Syria. They traveled to and set
sail for Cyprus at the port of Seleucia in Syria (Acts 13:4).

Locations of Cypress and Asia Minor:
Cypress:
The island of Cypress is one of many in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest island. It is
approximately half mountains and half plains. It had two port cities. As you can see in the map above,
Salamis is in the East and Paphos was in the West. Salamis was the original capital city. When the
Romans took over the rule of Cypress, they moved the capital to Paphos. Paul and Barnabas arrived in

148 Paul’s First Missionary Journey. https://freebibleimages.org/illustrations/bj-paul-maps/.

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