Faith and mythology
Ephesians and the Early Church
Key answer
Ephesus was a leading centre of early Christianity because it was a leading city of the Roman east. A New Testament letter is addressed to its community, it heads the list of seven churches in Revelation, and centuries later it hosted an ecumenical council.
Historical Evidence
Why a port city mattered
Ephesus was the leading city of the Roman province of Asia, with a harbour and road links across the region. Ideas, letters and people moved through it, which is why an early religious movement based on travelling teachers and written correspondence took hold there.
The same infrastructure that made Ephesus rich made it a hub for the early church.
Historical Evidence
The letter to the Ephesians
The New Testament contains a letter addressed to the Ephesians, and Ephesus appears in Acts and in the Pauline correspondence more than almost any other city outside Jerusalem and Antioch.
The letter is a text that exists and can be read. Questions about its authorship and original audience are debated by scholars, and this guide does not settle them for the reader.
Tradition
Councils, churches and later memory
In 431 an ecumenical council met at Ephesus, and tradition places its sessions in the Church of Mary beside the harbour road. Later Byzantine building on the Ayasuluk hill shows how firmly the city's Christian identity was established.
The council is documented; the exact meeting place, like several other site identifications here, is traditional.
Common questions
The Christian community in the Roman city of Ephesus, addressed in the letter to the Ephesians and named first among the seven churches in Revelation.
An ecumenical council held at Ephesus in 431, best known for affirming the title Theotokos for Mary. Tradition places its sessions in the Church of Mary inside the archaeological site.