From Artemis to Virgin Mary
The apostle Paul visited Ephesus several times. In 57–58 AD, during his third missionary journey, he stayed there for over two years. (Acts chapter 19.) Paul was very successful in spreading the gospel in Ephesus, and some people were turning away from the cult of Artemis and converting to Christianity. Some Ephesians were also turning away from magic: “A number who practised magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins” (Acts 19:19).
This defection from Artemis threatened the businesses of the people, because Ephesus was famous for its silversmiths who were making shrines of Artemis, miniature replicas of the temple and amulets inscribed with magic words. One of them was a wealthy silversmith named Demetrius. Concerned that he would lose his livelihood, Demetrius addressed his fellow artisans: “And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be scorned, and she will be deprived of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her” (Acts 19:27).
Demetrius started an uprising, and for two hours the angry crowd shouted: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:34). The town clerk then quieted the crowd speaking about the unique relationship the Ephesians had with their goddess: “Citizens of Ephesus, who is there that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven? Since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash” (Acts 19:35).
For Ephesians, Artemis was Queen of heaven, mother, healer and saviour. It was such a deep and strong reverence, that after her temple was destroyed and Christian churches were built on top of her sacred places, her citizens brought forward the only female character in the new religion, the Virgin Mary, and re-named her Theotokos, Mother of God, at the Council in Ephesus in 431. A fusion between the ancient worship of Artemis in Ephesus and the elevation of Mary to Theotokos was probably not something that church initiated to convert the Ephesians; it seems that Ephesians made the early church accommodate their traditions of Artemis by reinterpreting the authority of the Virgin Mary.
It is interesting that, after they became Christians, Ephesians did not destroy the remains of old cults… There is a very nice example of the statue of Artemis carefully buried in the prytaneion in Ephesus. Archaeologist found it during excavations in the 50s and now it is among the statues displayed in the Ephesus Museum.
In Revelation it is written ''But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.'' There are various interpretations about this message. What do you think, can it be understood also as a message to Ephesians, who forgot that Mary was the mother of Jesus and started to worship her as they had worshiped Artemis, as a goddess?
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