Day 7

Bob’s Sabbatical

Day 7, September 6, 2009

 

            Today
was an interesting day of contrasts and similarities.  We are in Cappadocia, which is famous for
horse breeding.  They once (still – I
haven’t seen any?) were the white horses that the Romans once sent their troops
to be trained on and brought back as the elite horses in the Roman Legion.

            Cappadocia
is even more famous for the three “Fathers of the Church.”  During the 4^th Century, Basil,
Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa (Basil) all lived in this area.  These three “Cappadocian  Fathers” greatly influenced the Church, and
especially the understanding of the holy Spirit.  Note that the title of the course I am taking
is “St. Paul and the Early Church in Turkey.”  Most of our focus will be on Paul, but this
area has had other influences on the Church as well, and today we spent some
time thinking about that.

            Soon
after Paul died, at 73 years old in 66 AD, the Christian Church began to suffer
various forms of persecution until after the Emperor Constantine issued the
“Edict of Toleration” in 313 AD, then embraced and made Christianity legal
after seeing a sign of the Cross.  In 325
the Council of Nicea made it the official religion of the realm.  We reflected today on what it would cost to
be believers in a time and place where our faith was declared illegal, and
where one could be put to death for professing it.  Few of us in our day have been put in such a
position.  Paul, and others who planted
Churches, and passed on their faith to others gave a great gift by laying a
foundation that would last through centuries of persecution.  Unfortunately, after Christianity became
legal, it did not always live up to our Lord’s title, “Prince of Peace.”

            Anyway,
today we visited or saw three very different types of community.  We saw one place where people literally cut
their living quarters into the sides of hills – communities of thousands of
people who “hid” in the hills.  It was
called “Goreme.” (see: http://www.goreme.org/
)

 There were many
chapels, with paintings and frescos. 
Much of the damage was done during the Crusades.  Some restoration was done by the Greek
Orthodox in th 18^th and 19^th Centuries.  We saw where people, even today, live inside
basalt cones, “fairy huts” because of the likeness to fairy hats, and we went
to one of 6 underground cities which have been found in this area.  There are probably many more.

            The
common thread throughout these various patters of living is security.  The communities built into the hillsides were
done so to hide from invaders.  The
people who lived in the domes hoped they would be passed by, and the
underground cities were built specifically to be secure from Arab
invaders.  The place we visited was built
in either the 5^th or 6^th Century AD.  It could hold a thousand or more people.  We had to crawl through some of the passages,
and they were prepared to stay for long periods of time.  A thousand people could live there, in
sleeping quarters, worship spaces, kitchens, dining rooms, storerooms,
etc.  I was intrigued with the security
system.  There was a stone “door” which
could only be opened from the inside.  It
is a large round stone, set at an angle, so that there is no way it can be
moved from the outside.  It can be easily
pushed open or closed from the inside. 
There is a 6”/6” hole in the center, so that they could shoot arrows at
attackers, who would then pile up and block the way for further intrusion.  See: http://www.anadol.com/kaymakli.htm

 

            The
lesson, or question for the day is, “What is the cost of discipleship?”  What would we face, stand up for, stand
against in order to proclaim our faith?

 

            I’m
having a big problem with pictures.  It
takes forever to upload them.  I will try
to continue to put some in the blog, and some on the Album section of the blob
site, but I cannot wait for hours to upload 20 pictures a day, so I may just
put a few up, and figure out another way to share them later.  Thanks for your patience, and keep me in your
prayers, as you are in mine.

Peace,

  Bob