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St Paul includes the names of the married couple Aquila and Priscilla to the list of his intimate co-workers in the work of evangelization. St Paul calls “co-workers” only seventeen people. Aquila and Priscilla are “co-workers” at the same level with Timothy, Luke, Titus etc. In the Acts of the Apostles Prisca is called “Priscilla”, a nickname, while in Paul’s letters she is called Prisca. The house of Aquila and Priscilla is often mentioned as the place where the local Church gathers. Aquila and Priscilla are a model Christian couple willing to become leaders in the praying and evangelizing early Christian communities.
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What we know of Aquila and Priscilla
Aquila and Priscilla were Jewish tentmakers, who lived and worked in Rome, where there was a large Jewish community. Aquila was from Pontus, near the Black Sea. The time and place of their conversion to the faith is not known. Most probably they became Christians in Rome (it is likely that Priscilla was a Jewish lady in Rome, where she accepted Jesus’ Gospel). We know that in Rome there was already a Christian community before the arrival of the apostles Peter and Paul.
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The Roman historian Suetonius (ca. 110) reports that Emperor Claudius (41-54) in the year 49 or 50 issued an edict of expulsion of Jews from Rome because of “disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus” (an apparent misspelling of “Christus” (Christ). Conflicts between Jews and Christians were not uncommon in the earliest days of the church, particularly since Christianity was, at that point, viewed as a sect of Judaism, and the beliefs of Christ’s followers would have been viewed as blasphemous by mainstream Jews. Aquila and Priscilla were among the Jews who left Rome. They settled in Corinth. It could have been a business decision based on good economic opportunities in Corinth. Corinth had been destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C. over a series of perceived insults to Rome by the Corinthians, but it was re-established in 44 B.C. by Julius Caesar and colonized primarily by freedmen. As one of the fastest-growing cities in the empire, located at the strategic crossroad between Rome and the West, Corinth was a real boom town. Corinth also had a reputation as one of the most immoral cities in the empire. With a reported thousand prostitutes serving at the Temple of Diana, its name became synonymous with fornication.
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| 1b. |
In about the year 51, Paul arrived in Corinth during his second missionary journey. The Acts of the Apostles relates: “Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.” (Acts 18:1) Paul sees in Corinth good prospects for Evangelization. He decides to remain there longer.“Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.” (Acts 18:11) “There Paul became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had been expelled from Italy as a result of Claudius Caesar’s order to deport all Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.” (Acts 18:2-3) Aquila and Priscilla’s house is not only the place where the local “Church” assembles, it is also Paul’s working place. The couple learn from Paul’s style of life, his completely selfless dedication to his mission. Paul knows that full time Evangelizers have the right to be supported by the community of believers, but this is how he explains his choice to the community of Thessalonica: “We were never lazy when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so that we would not be a burden to any of you. It wasn't that we didn't have the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.” (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9) Paul remained in Corinth for about eighteen months, probably staying with Priscilla and Aquila during the entire time. For a time, he worked with them at tent-making, but when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, he devoted himself entirely to preaching the Gospel. “When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 18: 5)
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| 1c. |
Aquila and Priscilla undoubtedly had many opportunities to learn from Paul, and they soon became trusted friends and full fledged co-workers. When Paul left Corinth in about the year 53, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him to Ephesus. Paul remained in Ephesus for only a few weeks, and when he proceeded on to Syria, he left Aquila and Priscilla behind. It is apparent that he did so to establish a beachhead for the church pending his planned return. Paul understood that he could not shepherd all the churches he had established in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), and Macedonia and Achaia (modern Greece). For the churches to remain strong and for their influence to spread, they required strong Christians he could trust. His faith in Aquila and Priscilla speaks volumes. “Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila…They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila.” (Acts 18: 18-19) Paul has complete trust in Aquila and Priscilla. They will accomplish their mission in an excellent way. Paul continued his journey back to Antioch, from where he will begin his third missionary journey. While Paul is on his third journey, something extraordinary happens in Ephesus. Suddenly a Jew coming from Alexandria of Egypt, arrives in Ephesus and begins preaching about Jesus Christ. His name is Apollos. He was a very learned man. He knew the Bible well, but his knowledge of Jesus Christ was rather rudimentary. He only knew the baptism of John, but he was very zealous. It is moving to see the warmth and the gentleness with which Aquila and Priscilla dialogue with Apollos. “Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.” (Acts 18: 24-26) Apollos must have been very happy with Aquila and Priscilla. Apollos wants to continue his mission and we find him having a very good success in Corinth. “When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 18: 27-28) Apollos’ effectiveness in Corinth shows that the instruction he received from Aquila and Priscilla bolstered his ministry.
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| 1d. |
When Paul returned to Ephesus during his third missionary journey, he could work once again with his close friends Aquila and Priscilla. Paul remained in Ephesus for a long time, almost three years (54-57). From Ephesus Paul wrote to the Corinthian church about the problems reported to him by a delegation from Corinth, who came to Ephesus. In his letter Paul includes the greetings of Aquila and Priscilla, who had worked in Corinth: “The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.” (1 Corinthians 16: 19-20) The life of Aquila and Priscilla must have been very hectic. After Nero replaced Claudius as Emperor in the year 54, the edict of expulsion of the Jews from Rome was lifted. Sometime thereafter, we know that Aquila and Priscilla returned to their former city of Rome because Paul greets them in his letter to the Roman church, written from Corinth in about 58. “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.” (Romans 16: 3-5) It is likely that Aquila and Priscilla returned to Rome at Paul’s urging. He had long hoped to visit the capital, but he knew nothing of the church there. What more effective way to gain information than to send his trusted friends back? In the last biblical reference to Aquila and Priscilla, Paul, writing from Rome around the year 66, greets Aquila and Priscilla in his second letter to Timothy. Paul had sent Timothy to Ephesus to combat some false teachers there (1 Timothy 1:3). For some reason, perhaps to escape Nero’s severe persecutions of Christians as scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome in the year 64, Aquila and Priscilla left Rome and returned to Ephesus. “Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus.” (2 Timothy 4: 19)
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Aquila and Priscilla’s legacy
The missionary journeys of Aquila and Priscilla: from Rome to Corinth, then together with Paul to Ephesus. From Ephesus back to Rome and then back to Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla are citizens of the city. They lived and worked in cities. This must have been a very important common ground with Paul. Paul’s vision was to establish strong Christian communities in the major cities of the Roman empire, from which Jesus’ Gospel would eventually ring out throughout the whole adjacent region. Paul’s evangelization in Ephesus “went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the Lord's message.”(Acts 19:10) Paul tells the community of Thessalonica: “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it.” (1 Thessalonians 1: 7-8) From the biblical record of Aquila and Priscilla, we can glean a number of important lessons from their life.
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They worked together as a couple
With the exception of Luke’s notation of Aquila’s origins (from Pontus), Aquila and Priscilla are always mentioned together, both in their church activities and their vocation. Sometimes the order of writing their names is inverted: instead of Aquila and Priscilla we find Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18: 18). The fact that Priscilla (the wife) is at times mentioned before Aquila (the husband), which is contrary to the norm of the time, may simply indicate that Paul and Luke refused the concept that one was more important than the other.
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| 2b. |
They were willing to move to serve the Gospel
Some may also be surprised by the amount of travel Aquila and Prisca experienced, supposing that such relocations would have been unusual in the ancient world. While it is true that most people were born, lived, and died within the same city, others traveled extensively. It was common, for example, for the sons of Roman citizens to be sent to tourist attractions as part of their education, and other citizens traveled to major events, such as the Poseidian Games just outside of Corinth. Sea travel was relatively safe in the First Century and not particularly expensive. The Roman navy had cleaned most of the pirates out of the Mediterranean a century earlier, and passage aboard cargo ships (if one was willing to ensure open-air accommodations on the deck) was cheap and easy to find. If one was motivated to travel, as early Christians certainly were to spread the Gospel, such travel would not be unusual. We may add that Paul’s example of travelling for the Gospel must have been a great incentive for Aquila and Priscilla.
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| 2c. |
They practiced hospitality
Aquila and Prisca opened their homes on numerous occasions.They hosted Paul for eighteen months during his first visit to Corinth, and one can imagine (although we’re not told so) that Timothy and Silas stayed with them too when they arrived. While their leather-making vocation would place them in the middle class of society, their houses were probably not large, so the presence of others would have impinged significantly on their privacy. In fact, like the vast majority of people, they may have lived in apartments (insulae).
Furthermore, from Paul's letters, we know they hosted churches in their home in both Ephesus (1 Corinthians 16:19) and Rome (Romans 16:3). They are a model married couple, who are willing to transform their home into a “domestic Church”. Their hospitality reaches the dimension of the “two or three brethren, who gather in Jesus’ name” to become a praying and evangelizing Church. For the first centuries of Christian history, the house of some of the believers was the privileged place where the local Church assembled. Aquila and Priscilla showed their leadership by offering their house as the meeting place of the local Church.
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| 2d. |
They were prepared to risk anything for the Gospel
In Romans 16:4, Paul tells us that Aquila and Priscilla “risked their lives for my life.” The literal meaning of the Greek word translated with “risk” (hupotithemi) is “to lay down.” This is not some trivial willingness to put oneself in possible danger, but a very real act of selfless protection of another. We don’t know exactly what happened, but Paul’s comment suggests that were it not for them, he would have died. We know that Paul faced a number of threats during his ministry, but perhaps the most dangerous was the riot of the silversmiths in Ephesus. Luke tells us that the crowd was “filled with rage” (Acts 19:28) and later that the town clerk advises them they should “do nothing rash” (Acts 19:36). Faced with a serious loss of income because of Paul’s condemnation of the idols they produced, the crowd of silversmiths, joined by others, appears to have been in the mood for a lynching. Perhaps Aquila and Priscilla protected him at this time at their own peril.
In addition, their move from Rome to Corinth represented a considerable risk.
Corinth, the center of immorality in the empire, would seem a hostile environment for the moral imperatives of the Gospel. If Aquila and Priscilla made that decision as Christians, which seems likely, it is a courageous one that affirms their commitment to Christ Jesus.
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| 2e. |
They were bold in protecting right doctrine but discrete in their correction
When Apollos came to Ephesus, he was unfamiliar with Christian baptism, knowing “only the baptism of John” (one of repentance but not of associating with Christ Jesus). They must have seen Apollos’ potential as an effective preacher of the Gospel, so they took him aside and “explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26). Aquila and Priscilla are very positive in dealing with Apollos. They are conscious of their mission to remain faithful to Jesus’ teaching and at the same time very sensitive to the need for Christians to remain united. Aquila and Priscilla set a wonderful example of how lay missionaries can help each other. Aquila and Priscilla are willing to share with Apollos all they had learned from St. Paul, and Apollos is happy to learn more.Apollos is determined to carry on his Evangelization work, and all the believers encourage and help him.
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| 2f. |
They were reliable and trustworthy
The Greek term “sunergos sunergos” (co-worker) implies that Paul considers Aquila and Priscilla his equals in evangelizing the world and in shepherding the church. He brought them to Ephesus to establish the church, he may have sent them back to Rome to help the church, and he may have even asked them to return to Ephesus to assist Timothy. Between Corinth and Ephesus, Aquila and Priscilla spent at least three years working alongside Paul, and Paul’s greeting suggest a distinct personal warmth. It must have been very difficult for them to remain in Ephesus when Paul sailed for Syria. It must have been even more difficult for them to return to Rome. This truly remarkable couple was probably quite ordinary before they encountered the Gospel. Through their association with other believers and their devotion to God, they accomplished extraordinary things. They were part of the earliest churches in three of the most important cities in the Roman world. Their example is one which teaches us that God can use our ordinary lives to accomplish extraordinary things.
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