This summer I had the opportunity to visit Turkey and walk through many of the ancient places where the Apostle Paul traveled and ministered. It was a powerful experience to visit sites like Ephesus, Antioch and others where early Christians first heard the gospel proclaimed. 

As I visited the remains of the ancient latrines in Ephesus, I had to chuckle as I imagined the possibility that Paul might have needed to visit that very place after a long day!

Many of the texts in the Book of Acts gloss quickly over the geographical aspects of the story. For example, Acts 13 narrates the journey of Paul from Perga to Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:13-14) and then from Antioch to Iconium (Acts 13:51). 

Aside from these brief identifiers, the text pays little attention to the relevant geography and instead devotes the majority of the narrative to capturing Paul’s speech at Antioch (Acts 13:26-41) and the consequences of that speech (13:42-52). A casual reader might be excused for not paying much attention to the geography that is named, since these locations are given little more than passing mention.

However, what the text does not say is that it took me roughly five hours by car to retrace Paul’s journey here. By foot, this same path would have taken nearly 70 hours of walking over steep terrain and uneven roads. Having nearly twisted an ankle on the remains of one of the roads where Paul would have journeyed, I can attest that this kind of travel is no small feat. 

My experience in Turkey reminded me of how very human the great heroes of the faith really were and how rooted they were to the physical worlds around them. 

I became newly aware of the incarnational aspects not only of Jesus’ life but also the lives of the apostles and disciples who carried on his work. 

Paul probably would have caught his toe in a crack between the stones of the rough roads between cities or accidentally slipped on the wet marble streets in Ephesus. He would have used the communal latrine.

Standing in these places, I was reminded that Paul, like me, was only human. Just as today’s social–media-saturated culture can create the impression that everyone else has their lives together, the Bible’s scant attention to the geography and physical circumstances of the early Christians could make it seem as though these heroes of the faith were somehow superhuman. 

Just listen to that powerful sermon Paul preached! Just look at the faithful response of many who heard him (Acts 13:48-49)! We might be tempted to suspect Paul had something we’re missing.

The truth, though, is that Acts (like other parts of the Bible) gives us only a summarized version of the story. The narrator offers only the briefest mention of the ways in which geography informs the story, even though these physical places would have had a profound impact on the people involved. 

Although the Bible does not provide details about how Paul’s experiences in ancient cities shaped his theology, these places undoubtedly impacted his view of the world, just as our own geographies influence us.

A narration of my life today would, like Acts, also probably gloss over geographical notes. My usual path for walking my dogs or the route I take on the commute to my office would not likely feature prominently in my biography. Yet, as for Paul and the other apostles, this geography matters. The people and places I pass each day shape both my view of the world and my view of God.

In this season when vacations have ended and school years begun, what would it mean to pay more attention to our own geographies? Where are the places that we frequent, and how do those locations mold our perspectives? Perhaps the geographies of the heroes of our faith might inspire us to attend more closely to the places that shape our own lives.