The Altar Of Paul At Berea, Greece

by David Padfield

 

In 168 B.C. the Romans defeated Macedonia and made Berea the capitol of one of the four republics into which they divided the kingdom. In addition to the Macedonians, a fairly large number of Romans and Jews lived in Berea. Around 50 A.D. the apostle Paul visited Berea and, according to custom, went into the synagogue of the Jews. Here, no doubt to his surprise, he found that these Jews were more "fair minded" than their brethren in Thessalonica, for they "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily" to find out if the things Paul preached were true (Acts 17:11). As a result of their study of the Scriptures, "many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men" (Acts 17:12).

In Berea today you can see The Altar of the Apostle Paul, a modern monument the Bereans erected to remind them of Paul's visit to their city nearly 2,000 years ago.