In preparing to begin work on this year’s DVD for Talbot’s Bible Lands trip, I tried to summarize what we did each day on our trip. While this is somewhat of a repeat, what follows is my feeble attempt at brevity. Feeble because I couldn’t fit it all on one page. I do hope this gives you a quick glimpse of traveling in the “other Holy Land” the next several weeks. The daily email reports I sent while on the trip have more information and a photo for each day. I recently moved them to another location in the site. You can access them by clicking here. I would appreciate your prayer about this DVD. It is always a huge project and tends to become the “tail wagging the dog.”

Monday-Tuesday, December 29-30: Sky high

With individual check-in at AirFrance everyone expected for Talbot Bible Lands’ LAX departure was on-time, as was our layover, and departure in Paris. There wasn’t sufficient time to tour the city so we enjoyed the inside of our terminal which is modeled after the inside of an airplane wing. Who knew? Next stop, Istanbul. “Günaydin,” our guide reassured, “welcome and good day, everyone,” is a traditional Turkish greeting as well as a prayer for one’s well-being.

Wednesday, December 31: Istanbul (cultural)

Istanbul is the only city in the world that straddles two continents Asia and Europe. Here East meets West. Just across the Marmara Sea was a whole new old world. But Istanbul was having a blue day. The blue sky was covered by light sleet. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque has only been around since 1616 A.D. (about the same time the King James Bible was completed). The interior is decorated with 24,000 individually hand-painted Iznik tiles with the beautiful shade of blue the French called “Turkiye blue” (turquoise). The blueprints of the Hagia Sophia showed the first time a circular dome was used in a square building. The Hagia Sophia is now a museum that was converted from a mosque in 1935, then converted from an Eastern Orthodox Church in 1453. The building was rebuilt in 537 under Emperor Justinian’s supervision because the original 4th century structure was destroyed. The Grand Bazaar succeeded in making us blue in a grand way.

Thursday, January 1: Istanbul (historical)

On the first day of 2009 the blue sky returned and blood was splattered on the tire of our bus (a Turkish tradition wishing health and success). We strolled past the St. Irene Church, the only church in Turkey never converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and site of the Third Ecumenical Council that expanded the teaching on the Holy Spirit in the Nicene Creed and addressed a theological heresy (Arianism) related to the body and soul of Jesus Christ. The Archaeological Museum has more artifacts displayed than can be enjoyed at one time. However, significant displays include Alexander the Great’s sarcophagus, the Gezer Calendar, an altar dedicated to an “unknown god,” and the Gihon Spring inscription from Hezekiah’s Tunnel in Jerusalem. The sky was the limit in our cross-country flight to Adana in the late afternoon.

Friday, January 2: Antakya (Antioch-on-the-Orontes); Seleucia Pieria
From Mt. Silpius, high above the valley floor, we were given a bird’s eye view of Antakya to the Mediterranean Sea. Antakya is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious international city. In the Bible, the progressive church at Antioch-on-the-Orontes had an international focus, befriending and discipling the formerly zealous murderer, Paul. The largest mosaic museum in the world showcased typical mosaic floors from wealthy first century houses in the area. The Seleucia Pieria harbor is where Barnabas and Paul set sail for Cyprus on their first missionary journey.

Saturday, January 3: Tarsus; Lystra

The next morning we arrived in Paul’s hometown of Tarsus. In Tarsus we walked through Cleopatra’s Gate, climbed on the foundation remains of what may have been a 2nd century Roman Temple, and saw a first century street (did Paul play there?). Tarsus came under Roman control in 66 B.C. and is the capital of the Cilician province. An ancient inscription identifies Tarsus as a “free city,” which guaranteed it’s citizens special privileges from Rome (like paying no taxes). Paul enjoyed a kind of double Roman citizenship. We ascended the mountain pass known as the Cilician Gates that Paul walked through to reach the interior plateau of Biblical Galatia. We later discovered that our 350 mile drive is the same distance Paul once walked. While the highway was clear, the tel at Lystra, Timothy’s hometown, was covered, giving us nothing more to “tel.” A tel is a conglomerate of rocks, soils and ancient building materials which, over many years have formed a mound. Tels provide a key to answering questions of what life was like and when.

Hello Everyone,

[Rome. St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls Church (where the remains of Paul's body awaits the resurrection).]

When in Rome, most tourists make a point to visit the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. There is much to see in art and learn from history there. The Sistine Chapel is always a favorite. Our guide excellently explained the choice of the Biblical scenes painted in the chapel, generated some doubt about our (misinformed) assumptions, and introduced some of the historical controversy around the paintings and how those controversies may have be sketched in portions of them.

My most traumatic moment in St. Peter’s was learning that Pope John XXIIIs corpse is now—how can I say this?—displayed for viewing. I do not understand the reasoning behind displaying this type of “relic.” For a man who died more than forty years ago, he looks mighty fine. I wondered where his soul might be.

There are other monuments and sites of interest outside Vatican City as well as churches which have historical significance. One church that I read about only days before we departed on our trip is the Scala Santa (Holy Steps). Just inside the huge doors of this building is a marble staircase with something like forty steps. The legend is that this staircase came from Jerusalem, being the actual steps where the blood of Jesus dropped as He walked to the place of crucifixion. On each Good Friday the Pope ascends these steps in the same way others ascend throughout the year, not on their feet but on their knees. On each step there is a prescribed prayer to be recited as you progress. My curiosity wasn’t in the legend. I wanted to see the place where a monk in the 1500s, while following the ritual, came to faith in Jesus Christ alone after reciting Habakkuk 2:4 (“the just shall live by his faith”). His conviction about this truth eventually challenged the (non-Biblical) doctrines that the Church promoted. That monk was none other than Martin Luther, who unwittingly became the architect of what is historically called the Reformation.

There are other church buildings that commemorate events related to the Scriptures. The two churches of interest to us is the Church of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls and the Church of the Three Fountains.

While the Bible doesn’t record the details of Paul’s death, his execution is documented in historical texts. Paul was beheaded according to Roman law outside the city limits on the site where the Church of the Three Fountains stands today. The legend says that when Paul was executed his head bounced three times. Where his head touched the ground, a spring of water came up. The best feature of this church is the long walk from the street to the building. Behind the thick walls and garden decor the city noises fade as the possibility of meditating on God amplifies. I have thought it unfortunate that church architecture in the last couple of centuries didn’t allow some distance between the parking lot and the building. That two hundred yard walk, in essence, separated us from “the cares of the world” and prepared us to “touch the face of God.” The return walk was also complementary. Having been restored and refreshed we resume our responsibilities refocused and ready to serve.

St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls Church was originally built in the 4th century A.D. over the traditional site where Paul’s bodily remains were buried. This was the world’s largest church building until St. Peter’s Basilica was constructed. Interestingly, the decoration of the frieze inside the current building features a portrait medallion for each of the Catholic Popes, beginning with Peter. While the current Pope is illuminated with light, Paul, who was never Pope, is hardly noticeable anywhere. Our guide took a few minutes to talk about four of the Popes. He told of their tenure and a couple of their accomplishments. In those moments, these Popes became less glamourous and more human as we heard about their character, their opposition, and the circumstances they encountered. Position and prestige, especially after long periods of time, tends to make people larger-than-life. While intending to de-humanize the powerful, the disgruntled merely succeed in further idolizing their adversary. Sometimes we need to be reminded that even the Popes, these men, were merely human and not immune to an occasional shoe lobbed their way.

Jim