The Topeka state journal., 1921-10-07

WHICH, the OEONu hOucu WI
Within the Greek lines of the pres
ent fighting in Asia Minor lie the ruins
of the City of Ephesus, as well, indeed,
as the remains of all the cities which,
in the Book of the Revelation, are
called "The Seven Churches of Asia"
That word ASIA as used in the New
| Testament, does not mean the whole
continent, but the Roman province,
comprising the western portion of
what we now call Asia Minor. Ephesus
was the capital of the province. In
deed, practically gil of what was in
Paurs time ProconsuIar Asia is now
within the territory occupied by the
Turkey these days has a peculiar re-
| lation to the current Sunday School
| lessons.
AS remember Ephesus, deem it
one of the great sights of the ancient
world, tho now a complete ruin and
uninhabited. Standing on the hill
where tradition says the Apostle Paul
was imprisoned, one gets a rare pam
Drama, Lying below, in form like a
griddle, still green with swamp growth,
| is the clear outline of the ancient har-
| Dor, which once was fOreSted with the
masts of a worlds commerce. The
| channel and harbor, now entirely silted
up, extend a mile from the sea, and
the place is no longer a possible port,
even if it had inhabitants.
| EGIenQlng from the great stone
docks to the magnificent ruins of the
theater, is a marble highway, lined
with the broken fragments of forgot
ten splendor. Here once the wise and
wealthy, the famous and the mighty,
tstrolled and rode. in arrogant pride.
The remains of this theater are the
most impressive have ever seen in all
my travels; and it was in this, very
place that the Ephesian citizens. Ntn a
frenzy of mob spirit. gathered for the
space of two hours, crying, in throaty
clamor, Great is Diana of the Ephe-
sians!'
''Vox Populi' Not 'Vox Del"
| Some Whimsical fancy seized me, as
I wandered about that marble waste
which once had been Ephesus. In
vain I had looked for traces of the
| splendid Temple of DIANA once
worlds wonder, adorned by the great
est artists and sculptors and architects
| of Greece; not even fragment of the
| countless little images, such as Deme-
| trius made, could I find. So, as I
unused in the theater, open to the rich
blue of an Oriental sky, 1 lifted my
voice in mockery, and cried, Great is
Diana of the Ephesiansi" The only
response was from a lazily .circling
| bird, - annoyed to have the silence of
| this desolation broken.
| Once a milling mob of gesticulating,
| yelling, sweating, excited Ephesians, on
this very site, had maintained the cry
for the space of two hours-"Great is
Diana of the Ephesians!' Surely, this
| was 'VoX pOpuli." If there is anything
| in a popular vote, Diana had it. All
the tumult and the shouting was for
| her. Even challenge of her eternal
! supremacy by wandering Jew was
sufficient to create this civic furore.
Now, as I, a far-faring American
newspaper man, repeated the ancient
/ slogan, it was in the consciousness that
| in all this wide world there is not liv-
| ing a single worshipper of the great
| Diana; none is so mean as to do her
reverence! What a reversal of ''vox
populi!"
So, today, uncounted millions, in all
| lands, are studying as a Sunday school
lesson the Ephesian experience of this
victim of mob law, Paul, the mission
up is the Nazarene. AS Emperor Ju-
| liam the Apostate cried,
| 20 pale Galilean, Thou hast con-
quered!"
A City's Great Name.
Edward Box has given a fund that
will yield an annual prize of ten thou
sand dollars to the citizen who does
the most within the year for the city
of Philadelphia. The benefaction is a
singularly good one, and it should be
widely copied, for its aim is the prac-
teal stimulus of good citizenship. 1t
also raises a healthful discussion as
to what is the best service that can
be rendered a community. Who did
most for old Ephesus, Diana or
Christ?
That question is answered in the
asking. The worship of Artemis, or
Diana, surely once brought travel and
trade and wide repute to Ephesus.
Her temple was one of the show places
of the ancient world. The craft of
T
means insignificant The cult of this
many-breasted goddess or fertility was
an important factor in the prosperity
and fame of the brilliant and corrupt
capital of Proconsular Asia. A city's
religion always means more to it than
appears in the Chamber of Commerce
reports.
/ With the advent of this ambitious
Christian missionary, Paul. whom the
city was ultimately to try to lynch
in its center of public assem- bly,, the
hour of doom struck for Diana. A
new era opened for old Ephesus. Even
in Paurs lifetime he made the capital
the center of a widespread Christian
propaganda, which reached out to all
the neighboring Seven Churches of
Asia. The three years he spent in
Ephesus were a period of wide seed
sowing. As a result. the city became
one of the principal centers of the
| Christian religion. Paul's profoundest
writing was addressed to the Ephesian
christians, who were so mature in
mind and spiritual experience that
they were expected to understand it.
The Apostle John followed Paul,
| spending his later life in Ephesus, and
consolidating the work that the latter
had begun. Timothy also was bishop
of Ephesus The best preserved of
all the ruins on the site of the city to-
day is the Church of st. John the Di-
vine. Later. Ephesus became the seat
of one of the great church councils;
and its place in early Christian history
is one of shining Importance. Chris
tianity did far more for Ephesus than
ever the worship of Diana had done.
A Man and City.
"Of course you know Mr.. Bland, of
your city" said Maine citizen to me,
pointing to the imposing house of a
summer resident. I had to confess I
had never heard of him before; he
u --l-l-