The Church in Antioch, 35-47 a.d. (Acts 11:19 to Acts 13:3)
19-26. Extension of the Church to Antioch. Admission of Gentile members. Antioch in N. Syria ranked next to Alexandria, as the third city in the Roman empire. It was beautifully situated on the Orontes, about 15 m. from the sea. Its port was Seleucia. The bulk of the population was Syrian by race, but the language and culture were Greek. There were also numerous Jews, who had gathered round their synagogues a remarkable number of proselytes. Antioch was the capital of the province of Syria, and the seat of the Roman governor, so that here Christianity came into contact for the first time with Greek and Roman civilisation. Antioch remained a great Christian centre: among its honoured names were Ignatius and Chrysostom: its school of theology and exegesis was famous, and its bishop was one of the four patriarchs. Here Christianity was first preached on any large scale to Gentiles (see on Acts 11:20). It is probable, however, that most of them were, like Cornelius, in some way attached to the synagogue. St. Paul seems to have been the first to appeal to Gentiles pure and simple: see Acts 14:27.