The Uproar in Ephesus
’ 1 After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. And the same time there arose no small stir about that way,” etc. — Acts xix. 21-41.
THE sphere of the Christian Church is rapidly enlarging; and the ideas of the great missionary are enlarging along with it. Ephesus is now a station in the middle of his field. He proposes to make a journey eastward to Jerusalem, and afterwards to visit Rome. “I must also see Rome:” yes, Paul, this is a necessity in the plan of Pro-The Uproar in Ephesus. vidence; but thou knowest not yet in what capacity thou shalt travel to the capital. What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. If we could see as far before us as by memory we can see behind, our courage would fail and we should faint by the way. He who leads us sees his own way: it is better for us to be led blindfold.
At this time a great commotion occurred in Ephesus, which the historian has minutely related. There arose no small stir about the way, — that is, about the gospel which Paul had preached. The emeute did not spring directly from the fanaticism of the idolaters; it had a baser origin. Certain artificers of the city had been accustomed to carry on a profitable trade in the manufacture of small models in silver, both of the temple and the image of the goddess. These men perceived that the general acceptance of Paul’s doctrine would inevitably drain the sources of their trade. To save their own profits, therefore, they endeavoured to crush or banish the foreign preachers by a popular tumult.
The temple of Diana at Ephesus held a high place among heathen shrines. It had a romantic history. It was built on artificial foundations in a marsh below the city, as a security against earthquakes. The sumptuous edifice was destroyed by fire in 356 B.C. A fanatic named Hesostratus confessed that he set it on fire in order to make his own name immortal. It was destroyed the same night in which Alexander the Great was born. It was restored in still greater splendour; the dimensions of the new temple were 425 feet by 220. It had 127 columns, 60 feet in height. This second edifice was standing in all its glory at the date of Paul’s visit.
It was consecrated to Diana, one of the twelve greater deities of the Greeks. She was worshipped as a huntress,
2D and also as the moon. The month of May was sacred to her, and was called Diana’s month. It is abundantly obvious that a great portion of Romish Mariolatry was born in a dark age from the worship of Diana. The appellation Queen of Heaven, and the designation of May as Mary’s month, are evidently old pagan rites, repainted and regilded for modern use.
A mob of interested artificers, instigated and headed by Demetrius the silversmith, attempted to suppress by violence the liberty of the gospel in Ephesus. The oration of this demagogue is in outline preserved. It is an interesting antique. Its arguments are skilfully constructed. They are well fitted to gain the object which the speaker had in view. Not relying on one ground, he cunningly groups two or three reasons together in order to enlist a greater number on his side. The craftsmen are reminded that the prevalence of the gospel means loss of employment, and starvation for themselves and their families: the zealous idolaters are told that the temple of the great goddess will be despised: and the patriotic citizens are warned that with the decadence of the temple, the supremacy which Ephesus enjoyed among the neighbouring provinces will certainly disappear. The prosperity of the city depended on the popularity of the Diana-worship. The religious capital of Asia will dwindle into insignificance if Paul’s doctrine prevail.
This inflammatory address was successful. The meeting was stirred into rage. Indications appear in the narrative that the preachers were gaining adherents among the cultivated classes. The town-clerk and some of the Asiarchs were, if not positively believers in Paul’s doctrine, at least favourable to free discussion.
After the speech of Demetrius, the multitude rushed tumultuously into the theatre. Ancient theatres were
The Uproar in Ephesns. entirely different in structure from the edifices known by the same name in modern times and more northerly latitudes. They were immense structures shaped like the hull of a ship, without roof, having a level space of oval shape at the bottom for the performers, and seats in tiers for the spectators.
Paul’s impulse was to go into the theatre, and speak in his own defence. His friends, however, by a friendly constraint, prevented him from risking his life in that excited mob.
A certain Jew named Alexander was put forward by his countrymen to address the crowd. Probably he was selected as spokesman in order to show the Greek population that among Paul’s own countrymen there were many who did not take his part. But whatever may have been the policy of the leaders in selecting this man, it signally failed. The people would not listen; they hooted him down. This was the commencement of a violent uproar. For two hours the living contents of the vast amphitheatre heaved like the sea in a storm, shouting in chorus, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” This extraordinary commotion was at length quelled by the presence and authority of the town-clerk, a magistrate who, by right of office, was accustomed to read all public documents in the assemblies of the people. Yielding to habit, the assembly settled down into quietude when this great officer presented himself. His address was sensible and moderate. He gently flattered the populace. Having soothed them into a calmer spirit, he skilfully insinuated some cogent arguments against their riotous proceedings. A plain hint of possible penal consequences for this outrage on the liberty of peaceable inhabitants finally brought the rioters to reason, and the assembly was quietly dismissed.
Some incidental statements and allusions in the speech of the town-clerk are worthy of attention here. A prevailing tradition that the rude little wooden image preserved in a particular shrine of the temple had originally fallen down from Jupiter (or the sky, for the same word has both meanings), he skilfully assumes as an acknowledged fact; although it is very doubtful whether this trained official had faith in it. It is a general rule in all forms of idolatry, that those idols are most reverenced that are covered with the rust of antiquity, and encircled with miraculous legends. This seems inconsistent with the apology usually given by Romish controversialists for the veneration of images. They are accustomed to represent that the devotees do not worship the image before which they kneel; but employ it as a help to raise their conceptions to the being whom the image represents. If that were true, the best executed likeness would be most effective in aiding the spirit of devotion. But practically this is not the case. The most ungainly and repulsive representations which enjoy a reputation for sanctity, are frequented in preference to the most perfect results of the sculptor’s art. The worshipper is moved by a conception that there is something sacred in the image itself. This is the nature and the fruit of all idolatry. If we disregard the letter of the law, we shall inevitably transgress its spirit: “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them.”
“These men,” continues the town-clerk, “are neither robbers of churches nor blasphemers of your goddess.” It would appear from this that Paul had proceeded at Ephesus with the same caution which he had displayed at Athens. He effectually undermined all idolatry by preaching Christ; but he did not fly in the face of what his audience considered sacred. His argument was always grave and considerate. He would not needlessly trample on the prejudices of the heathen.
We obtain here a glimpse of the regular method in which the law was administered in the Roman Empire. The town-clerk was able to say in the public assembly that the courts of justice were open, and that every citizen who had a grievance was at liberty to bring his case in a regular way before the judge. The Roman power allowed a large measure of spontaneous action to the municipalities of conquered provinces in the regulation of internal affairs; but they would not tolerate tumults that endangered the public peace. Thus the apostles were again delivered by the legitimate action of a regular government. The powers that be are ordained of God. The shields of the earth are his; and he knows how to throw now one and now another around his servants to preserve their lives for subsequent usefulness. He sits king on all these floods; and will make the tumults of the people turn out for the furtherance of the gospel.