ephesus

This is a picture of the theater of Ephesus. It could hold 25,000 people and was one of the largest theaters in the ancient world. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city (later Roman) on the west coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). It was one of the largest cities on the Mediterranean, and was also famous for the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The apostle John lived here at the end of his life, and St. Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus around 60 A.D. The epistle of Ephesians found in the New Testament is a letter written from the Apostle Paul to the church of Ephesus. Ephesus went on to become an important center for Early Christianity.


"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—  to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."     (Ephesians 1)


+++