Acts 19:27

so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth.

At that same time, when the apostle had sent Timothy and Erastus ahead to Macedonia, a tumult of no small proportions was started in Ephesus on account of the way which Paul taught, the Gospel proclamation with all it included. For in the city lived a certain man, a silversmith, Demetrius by name, the master of the guild for that year, as some think. An ancient inscription even makes it probable that he was the president of the city board of magistrates at that time. The silversmiths of Ephesus did a lucrative business in those days by selling small models of the shrine of the goddess Diana, of the great temple of Ephesus, as souvenirs. This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, 425 by 220 feet in size, and gloriously beautiful with its white marble columns supporting the roof. Some of the porphyry columns now in Santa Sophia at Constantinople are said to have been taken from it. "The temple was venerated over all of western Asia Minor. To it came many pilgrims every year, to whom Ephesian silversmiths sold little replicas of the temple. It was because Christianity became so popular through the preaching of Paul that the profitable sale of these shrines was interfered with, that the riot in Ephesus occurred. " "These 'shrines' were not mere statuettes of the goddess, but were probably miniature representations of the temple shrine which were sometimes dedicated to the goddess as votive offerings, sometimes, doubtless, kept in the homes, or placed in graves by the side of the dead. " Naturally, this business brought a great deal of money to the silversmiths, and, just as naturally, anything that tended to interfere with this business and thus touch the craftsmen in their most sensitive spot, the question of income, was denounced with great resentment. The speech of Demetrius to his fellow-craftsmen, a formal meeting of whom he had called, contains the charges in a very frank way, namely, that Paul was hurting their business, and that he was interfering with the worship of Diana. They all knew that they were making a very comfortable living out of this business. And now they saw it before their eyes and heard it daily that the activities of this man Paul were not confined to the city of Ephesus itself, but that he had, in almost the entire province of Asia, persuaded and turned away a great multitude from the ancient form of worship, because he said that those figures which are made by the hands of men are no gods. This testimony out of the mouth of one of the enemies, although it must be discounted to some extent as an exaggeration with the purpose of making an impression, still paints an impressive picture of the success of Paul's labors. If the amount of business had been reduced to such an extent that all the members of the craft felt the effects, the number of converts to Christianity, together with the moral influence of their outspoken or implied disapproval, must have been very large. But Demetrius skillfully puts his emphasis on the second charge. He implies that the loss of their income might be borne yet, that the danger which was threatening this branch of their trade in bringing it into contempt was not the most serious aspect of the situation, but this he urges as his real complaint, that the sanctuary of the great goddess Artemis (Diana) would fall into bad repute, would no longer be regarded, and that she would even be deposed from her magnificence, and her majesty, glory, and praise be lowered, although, as the speaker points out, all of Asia and the whole world worshiped her. Both the Greeks and the Romans Revelation red this goddess very highly, and though only the people of Asia Minor made regular pilgrimages to this temple, it was known in every part of the civilized world, and was duly given the homage which the average heathen gave to the gods about whom he received instruction. The speech of Demetrius was that of a shrewd demagogue, who knew well how to play upon the passions of the people by touching upon their most sensitive points: love of money and religious superstition.