The later missions of Sts.
Peter and Paul
St. Paul’s third great missionary journey began once more from Antioch, in
53 AD. He made his way directly westwards, through Tarsus, Iconium and
across to Ephesus. St. Paul settled in Ephesus for two years, teaching and
preaching in the “hall of Tyrannus”, laying the foundations for the Church
in the most important metropolis of Asia. From Ephesus, St. Paul also
strengthened the Faith in many of the surrounding cities and sent St.
Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia, as well as three (or even perhaps four)
epistles to the Corinthians.
St. Paul’s success in Ephesus was so great that “the name of the Lord Jesus
was extolled” among both Greeks and Jews. Books on magic arts to the
value of fifty thousand pieces of silver were brought by converts and
burned in public. The silversmiths of the city, believing that the whole of
Asia was turning away from the worship of Diana, feared for the imminent
financial ruin of their idol-making businesses: “‘And there is danger not
only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple
of the great goddess Diana may count for nothing…When they heard this
they were enraged, and cried out, ‘Great is Diana of the Ephesians!’” The
ensuing riot lasted for two hours, after which St. Paul decided to depart
Ephesus for Greece. Revisiting the churches of Macedonia and Corinth, St.
Paul confirmed the brethren in the Faith.
While in Corinth, he wrote his masterpiece, the epistle to the Romans in
late 57 AD. this epistle, St. Paul greets many in Rome, though he makes no
mention of St. Peter. Neither does St. Paul mention St. Peter in any letters
written while detained in Rome during 61-62 AD. St. Peter had probably
returned to the capital of the Empire from northern Asia Minor in 55 AD,
the year after Claudius’ murder. There, he would remain for nearly three
years, during which he ordained Linus and Cletus as bishops and
commissioned St. Mark to write his Gospel. Sometime during 57 AD (and
before the composition of the epistle to the Romans), the Fisherman
decided to return to Asia Minor to work again among the churches of
Bithynia, Pontus and Cappadocia. This second missionary visit would be a
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