(Brief) Essay on Turkish History

The History of the Early Christian Church...

 ... mostly took place in Turkey "Asia Minor."

Revelations talks about the Seven Churches.  Saul (St. Paul) came from Tarsus.  Many of the letters in the "New Testament" were written to these communities.  The first seven ecumenical councils were held in cities in Asia Minor.  The Council of Nicea from which arose the Nicene Creed was hammered out in Nicea. This history resonates with me and is one of the attractants that call me back to Tűrkiye.  

Bold then/Not bold now

Pergamun      Bergama         Nicea      Iznik

Thyatira        Aksihar           Tarsus    Tarsus/Mersin

Smyrna          Izmir               Constantinople    Istanbul         

Sardis            Sart

Phildelphia   Alaşehir   

Ephesus        Efes

Laodicea       Denizli

Three councils (the second, fifth and sixth) were held in Constantinople (in the Hagia Sophia). The fourth council met in Chalcedon (modern Kadikoy), which lies across the Bosphorus from the city. Only the third council, which is not as widely recognized by all churches, met further away in Ephesus.  (Source)

Tradition holds (for Protestants and for Greek Orthodox) that Mary Mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were brought to Ephesus by St. John, the apostle and (by tradition) writer of the Gospel of St. John.  This was the son of Zebedee, the one called "the Beloved" to whom Jesus on the cross gave the care of his mother.

Tradition further holds that this same John not only wrote the gospel by his name but also the later books in the New Testament by his name and the book of Revelations.

Wikipedia holds:  Some modern higher critical scholars have raised the possibility that John the Apostle, John the Evangelist, and John of Patmos were three separate individuals.^[18] These scholars assert that John of Patmos wrote Revelation but neither the Gospel of John nor the Epistles of John. For one, the author of Revelation identifies himself as "John" several times, but the author of the Gospel of John never identifies himself directly. Some Catholic scholars state that "vocabulary, grammar, and style make it doubtful that the book could have been put into its present form by the same person(s) responsible for the fourth gospel".

Basilica of St John. 

The ruins of this basilica were just up the street and around the corner from our hotel.  The basilica was built in the 6th Century by Justinian and replaced a 4th Century structure  built during the reign of Theodosius.  That structure had replaced the simpler church and tomb that housed John's remains.

Or did it?  John was said to have predicted that he would die the following Sunday.  After preaching he went down into the cave below the church.  The cave was filled with a bright light and the followers could not proceed.  When the light vanished, so did John.  His assigned resting place continually emitted puffs of dust, indication that he was only asleep.  This dust was collected for its healing powers and called "manna."  This was sold in flasks bearing the saint's likeness to the many pilgrims who came to the site.

When Constantine had the grave opened, no remains or relics were found.  This was taken as a sign that he had bodily ascended into heaven.  Curiously, of all the saints whose relics have been hawked, sold and resold over the centuries, only the remains of St. John have never been displayed or claimed.

This irrational silliness aside,
It is enough for me to be able to stand in the amphitheatre at Ephesus and know that St. Paul spoke there.