Page 144 - Biblical Backgrounds

subversion, and the Ephesians wanted to kill him for undermining the worship of Artemis. The modern
concept of tolerance was not a religious virtue as some try to understand it today. 192

Some would love to say that Rome had its deities, Greece had its deities, and so on. The problem with
that is that Hellenism involved syncretism. Syncretism involves the combining or adopting of various
religions or cultures as part of another. Greece came before Rome as an empire. So many of the Asia
Minor cities adopted the Greek pantheon of deities as their own. Some of the deities were adopted by
the name they were known by in that culture. The same then happened when Rome took over. Writes
explains that

“Roman religion itself followed in the lines of the Greek Pantheon. The Roman interpretation of
Greek religion meant that Zeus was Jupiter; Poseidon, Neptune; Hera, Juno; Athene, Minerva;
Aphrodite, Venus; Ares became Mars; Artemis, Diana…Heracles changes a couple of letters to
become Hercules…of the major divinities, only Apollo retains his name unchanged in both
cultures.” 193

Different cities would have a different primary deity they served, though they
certainly served others as well. In Corinth, for instance, the remnants of the
temple of Apollo, see the picture on the right, can still be visited. 194 As we saw
in the section on Asia Minor, the temple of Artemis (Diana to the Romans) was
a wonder of the ancient world (see reconstruction below). 195

Along with the
Pantheon of
Greek or Roman
deities,
households
would have
deities they
personally worshiped to gain favor and
blessings. These deities were usually
passed down from generation to
generation. Many Christians had
difficulties knowing how exactly to engage
with the city rituals and related issues. In
Romans, the issue of food sacrificed to
idols comes up. Paul says anyone can eat
it who can do so with a clean conscience.
Anyone who cannot is sinning if they eat it. To participate in these festivals and rituals was not just the
religion of the local community. It was often seen as what it meant to be part of the community. This is
like African Traditional Religion in different tribes. To refuse to participate can be seen as inviting bad

192 N.T. Wright and Michael F Bird, The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and
Theology of the First Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 153.
193 Ibid, p.146.
194 Brisco, Thomas V. Holman Bible Atlas. Holman Reference. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.
254.
195 Reconstructional Picture of Temple of Artemis. http://www.ephesustravelguide.com/temple-of-artemis.html

142