Anatolia (Turkish: Anadolu) is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part (96 %) of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (4 %) (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia).

The following saints, bishops and martyrs were either born, or lived, or martyred in Asia Minor, leaving their names in the Christian History.

Biblical References...

Biblical Aisa Minor in Glossary...

The first Jews are estimated to have settled in Anatolia in the 6th century B.C., making the Jewish community in Turkey one of the oldest in the world. 

Sites of the Apostolic Fathers in Asia Minor

Maps of Ancient World...

Facts About The Bible...

Maps of St. Paul's Journeys...

Apart from Acts, the letters of St. Paul to the churches he had founded or with which he was familiar are the other main source for our knowledge of his apostolic work and of course, for the Apostle himself.

Although St. Paul in the letters he addressed to the churches in Greece, Macedonia and Anatolia frequently refers to the persecutions he suffered it is difficult to guess what exactly these persecutions were and where he suffered them.

The church in Ephesus (2:1-7) was commended for its hard work and perseverance. The church encountered much spiritual opposition from the temple of Artemis as well as from the fourteen or more other Greek deities that were worshipped.

The church in Smyrna (2:8-11) had experienced great pressure from the Jewish authorities, called the synagogue of Satan. No archaeological evidence exists today for such a synagogue.

The church in Pergamum (2:12-17) existed in the place where Satan had his throne. This reference probably does not refer to the altar of Zeus that sat atop the thousand-foot acropolis that towers over the lower city.

The church in Thyatira (2:18-29) was plagued by a false prophetess symbolically named Jezebel after the evil queen of Israel who worshiped idols.

The church in Sardis (3:1-6) had become dead in spite of its reputation. Twice before the city's acropolis had fallen because Sardis had fallen asleep and let down her guard.

The church in Philadelphia (3:7-13) stood at an important junction of the imperial post road that ran from Rome through Troas, Pergamum, and Sardis on through to Tarsus and the East. They had an open door through which to share the gospel.

In the Book of Revelation St. John does not give any detailed information about the cause of his exile. He merely says that he was exiled to Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Christ (Rv 1:9).

Knowledge of the life of St. John of Patmos (also known as the Theologian or the Divine), the author of the Book of Revelation, which includes the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, mostly comes from apocryphal stories recorded after his death.

The persecution that broke out after the murder of Stephen is often cited as the occasion for John coming to Ephesus.

Some manuscripts read in this passage "the Seven Churches which are in Asia"; but the added words are certainly an interpolation from the introduction, verse 4, "John to the Seven Churches which are in Asia."

Revelation Churches...

The doctrine about the Person of Jesus had troubled both the common believer and the theologian from the very beginning of Christianity but had not surfaced until the time of Constantine.

Although the First Council of Nicaea had condemned the Arian belief and reasserted the dogma that the Father and the Son were of the same substance, some theologians believed that the...

Another question which disturbed the Church during the last quarter of the fourth century concerned the interpretation of the relation between the divine and human natures of Christ.

Although Pope Leo I, the Great, asked Theodosius II to summon a council for the definition of the orthodox doctrine once more, to bring an end to the ecclesiastical chaos, his request was refused.

During the following period while some Christian theologians sought new formulas to bring the Monophysite East (Egypt, Syria and Palestine) into the body of the Church, the quarrels and fights between the Chalcedonians and the Monophysites continued.

Heraclius (610-41) took over an empire which had been losing ground against its enemies in the north (the Avars and Slavs) and in the east (the Sassanians who would soon be supplanted by the Saracens).

The Second Council of Nicaea was prompted not by a doctrine about the nature of Jesus but by the iconoclastic controversy.

Biblical Sites in Turkey...

Biblical Sites in Greece...

Two of the four rivers in the Creation account have their source in eastern Turkey. 

Old Testament Sites in Turkey...

The prophet Daniel saw a vision portraying four successive kingdoms, likened to four beasts, that would rule the ancient Near East...

The origin of the church in Turkey goes back to the events immediately following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Judea.

New Testament Sites in Turkey...

New Testament Timeline in Turkey...