Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

What Was So Attractive In Artemis/Diana Worship, And What Was The Rationale For Christians Not To Follow Pagan Ideology?, Georg Filippou

Seminary Scholarship Symposium

The last few decades of archaeological research in Ephesus have revealed new insights into the context of Paul’s writings. In the past many commentators have assumed that the Artemis cult was sex-saturated at the time of Paul, and therefore interpreted the biblical texts from that perspective. However, more recent scholarship has suggested the opposite. Mystery religions elevated the status of women. In the creation narrative of Artemis, the woman was born first. In refraining from everything that is part of a marriage, women could reach salvation. It is therefore not surprising that Paul addressed issues connected to women (creation, marriage, …