Italy/Greece – Day 6 – May 16th

Sail to Mykonos Island

We sailed this morning on Celestyal Cruise Line on the ship Discovery from  Athens to the quaint isle of Mykonos, called the island of windmills. We disembarked and strolled the beautiful waterfront lined with cafes and made our way to an area known as “little Venice”. We also made our way through a maze of white-washed buildings lined with beautiful shops. As I told Steve, one of our leaders, cannot imagine that Santorini, which we will be visiting later, can be any more beautiful.

Elizabeth and I had not been on a cruise since our 20th anniversary to Bermuda. And when we returned to the ship to enjoy a nice sit-down dinner with Amy and John, who are also celebrating their 40th anniversary, the four of us reminisced about our 10th anniversary cruise to Bermuda that we took together with the Dyers so many years ago. Like this trip, that trip created such special memories with our friends. These types of experiences with family and friends are presents you do give to yourselves. 

Speaking of traveling with friends and companions, I would like to give a little more background on the apostle Paul. He is the reason we are on this special trip in the first place. If it were not for him, Christianity most likely would look very different from what it is today. 

Let me just start out by saying that due to this trip, I have learned so much about Paul, early Christianity, known as The Way, early Judaism, known as The Law, and the New Testament. I want to thank our friend Jim Cannon, who, many years ago, gave my father-in-law a book written by Jim’s father. Because of this trip, I finally read it. It is an historical fiction novel based on Paul’s real life. Combined with reading Acts, other books, and listening to several scholarly podcasts, I now know enough about Paul to be dangerous. But I do want to share a few of my observations. Although Jewish, Paul grew up in Tarsus with wealth, allowing him to become a Roman Citizen. It is believed that his father owned and operated a very successful tent and leather-making Business. Educated in the best schools, he was exposed to Greek and Roman culture, history, and philosophy.

He then went off to Jerusalem to go to what we might think of in modern terms as University. There he studied at the best Jewish school and learned The Law and became a Pharisee priest. The Pharisees were considered religious conservatives during the time of Jesus. They were known for their strict adherence to traditional Jewish law and their emphasis on upholding the religious practices passed down from previous generations. They stood against what they perceived as innovative or unorthodox interpretations of the law. This is important to remember. 

So, Paul was very worldly, had been exposed to many western philosophers, knew the law as well as anyone at the time, and was very energetic and ambitious. 

Jim Cannon, in his book, even goes as far as to suggest that persecuting the early followers of The Way may have been Paul’s idea! Whether it was his idea or not, he took on the role with gusto. So much so, he was selected, maybe even volunteered, to supervise the stoning of Stephen. This is described in Acts 7:54-60, which recounts how Stephen, a deacon and leader in the early church, was stoned by a mob. Who knows, maybe the way that stoning went down and Stephen’s grace while dying could have deeply effected Paul.

Afterwards, Paul (who at this point is known as Saul), sets off to Damascus to chase down more leaders and followers of The Way, intent on wiping out this fringe Jewish sect with its blasphemous and crazy ideas. Remember, Paul (Saul) is about as conservative as you can get. 

And on his way, one of the most famous passages in the Bible (Acts 9:1-19),   the “Road to Damascus – recounts Saul’s dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his “conversion.” Paul uses that encounter many times in defending himself and The Way while spreading the “Good News” of The Way.

And that famous encounter, not only changes Paul’s life, but changes the trajectory of The Way and Christianity forever. And I will make the argument that Saul, later known as Paul, may have been the only Jew at the time who was particulary blessed with the combination of personal traits and cultural and educational background to spread the message of The Way to Jews and Gentiles alike. He could walk comfortably in both worlds and debate and argue with the best of them. He even had a useful skill – building tents – to earn some money during his travels!

And on the rest of our trip we will be visiting some key places where Paul spread the message of The Way both orally and in written word. And he would do this during four big missionary trips. And I will do a quick summary of each on a later date. We are now on our way to Turkey!