IZMIR - RUINS OF ANCIENT SMYRNA Today, Anne and Jackie are off to Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey, situated along the beautiful shores of the Gulf of Izmir. It is the city that is called Smyrna in the Bible, or as we might say here in Central Florida, "Old Smyrna" since here we have New Smyrna, just up the road.
Even though the city has been officially Izmir since 1930, I think it may be helpful to keep the Smyrna name in mind. The city has a long history, more than 3500 years of it. Smyrna is mentioned in the Bible, in fact in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. (Revelation, like Daylight Saving Time, has no s at the end of it). Smyrna was one of the cities that had churches to which the scroll in Revelation 1:1 was to be sent:
“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” The message in the scroll was not what we might call a fortunate one:
8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown."
Izmir today is a city along the lines of Long Beach or Miami, with glittering high-rises along the coast. As then, so today, it is a center of trade and a bustling metropolis. The church in Smyrna was a faithful church, but beset by slander--by those who from the outside looking in, were calling it a church of Satan. Even today, some Christians cast aspersions at others, and claim that this or that particular church or denomination is going to hell in a hand basket, as my Grandmother would have put it. But despite the claims, John the Apostle and Evangelist knew that the church in Smyrna was true to God and to Christ-like ways. Would that we had John writing to the churches of Smyrna and New Smyrna and everywhere else, today, to set the record right!
Because Anne and Jackie are bound there, I wondered whether one could find out about the early church in Izmir, or Smyrna... If anything remains. I know that when they get to Ephesus (yes, one of the other seven churches) they will see archaeological marvels. What about Smyrna?
Even though the city has been officially Izmir since 1930, I think it may be helpful to keep the Smyrna name in mind. The city has a long history, more than 3500 years of it. Smyrna is mentioned in the Bible, in fact in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. (Revelation, like Daylight Saving Time, has no s at the end of it). Smyrna was one of the cities that had churches to which the scroll in Revelation 1:1 was to be sent:
“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” The message in the scroll was not what we might call a fortunate one:
8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown."
Izmir today is a city along the lines of Long Beach or Miami, with glittering high-rises along the coast. As then, so today, it is a center of trade and a bustling metropolis. The church in Smyrna was a faithful church, but beset by slander--by those who from the outside looking in, were calling it a church of Satan. Even today, some Christians cast aspersions at others, and claim that this or that particular church or denomination is going to hell in a hand basket, as my Grandmother would have put it. But despite the claims, John the Apostle and Evangelist knew that the church in Smyrna was true to God and to Christ-like ways. Would that we had John writing to the churches of Smyrna and New Smyrna and everywhere else, today, to set the record right!
Because Anne and Jackie are bound there, I wondered whether one could find out about the early church in Izmir, or Smyrna... If anything remains. I know that when they get to Ephesus (yes, one of the other seven churches) they will see archaeological marvels. What about Smyrna?
In the Book of Revelation (no "s" please), Smyrna is one of the seven churches and only one of two that receives encouragement and praise without criticism. They are to have a period of ten days (interpret that as years) of persecution but are to stay faithful. Their work and faithfulness are known as is their "poverty" (which probably means they are not wealthy) but they are truly "rich" (which probably means their faithfulness). Smyrna's church was most likely founded by John himself and John appointed Polycarp as the succeeding Bishop of Smyrna. There is extra-Biblical evidence of the church there as early as 93 A.D. The church was said by Terutullian to be the true church, as far as its faith and practice goes.
Those slanderers and blasphemers who claimed that the Christians in Smyrna were otherwise, are often simply called "Jews" yet the text of Revelation make it clear that they were some Christians who had distorted the Gospel and looked to the strictures of the Jewish Law as their narrowed-down focus for faith and practice. It would not be incorrect to say that they were Pharisaical hypocrites, who slandered the church of Smyrna, who, per Revelation, were true, hard-working and faithful. That is to say, the criticisms against the Church of Smyrna were in the wrong.
Today, except for the several buildings comprising the Agora, modern Izmir has more or less built itself up upon ancient Smyrna, so what lies beneath, including any possible leads as to the location of the first Church of Smyrna, remains unseen.
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