Antioch

Sixteen cities by this name were founded by Seleucus in honour of his father, of which two are mentioned in the New Testament.

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1) Syrian Antioch, the most famous of the sixteen, was situated in what is now south-east Turkey, on the Orontes River but open to navigation with its port at Seleucia (Acts 13:4) on the Mediterranean coast.

The city fell to the Romans in 64 BC and became the capital of the Roman province of Syria, and growing by early 1st Cent AD to become the third largest city in the Empire. Renounced for its culture (and bad morals), it, nonetheless, became the most important cities for the spread of the Christian faith in the early days of the church. An Antiochian convert, Nicolas, was one of the earliest deacons appointed in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). Luke also reports that "those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch" (Acts 11:19-22). Here too Paul was brought soon after his conversion (vv25-26) by Barnabas. Here, for the first time, the disciples were called Christians (v26). Prompted by the Holy Spirit, the church in Antioch became the first missionary church to the Gentiles through the commission of Paul and Barnabas to the task (Acts 13).

The church in Antioch became, until the rise of Islam, a major centre of influence in shaping the doctrinal and theological contours of the Christian church.

2. Antioch in Pisidia, on the other hand, was a minor city, important only because it sat astride the main trade route between Ephesus and Cilicia. The city, however, was one of the first cities to be visited by Paul and Barnabas on their First Missionary Journey (Acts 13). Though welcomed by the Jews at first, opposition soon set in; in response Paul and Barnabas turned their attention to the Gentiles (vv 45-46).