Priscilla and Aquila

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Priscilla and Aquila (also: Priscilla and Aquila ) are among the early Christians and were missionaries of early Christianity in the region of a few communities in Asia Minor and Corinth . The names of the couple are mentioned in the order - striking for the time - with both Aquila and Priscilla first. Priscilla is called in the Acts of the Apostles in the form of the name Priscilla (Greek: Πρίσκιλλα, Prískilla ), in the Pauline letters Prisca (Greek: Πρῖσκα, Prĩska ). Her feast day is July 8th (Catholic) or July 14th or February 13th (Orthodox) or February 13th (Protestant: LCMS ). In medieval legends of saints, her story was mixed up with that of the young martyr Prisca of Rome .

Life

Aquila was a Jew born in Pontos in Asia Minor ( Acts 18.2  EU ), who had settled with his wife in their profession as a tent maker as an independent craftsman in Rome . Priska (Priszilla or Priscilla is a diminutive of the Roman name Prisca ) may even come from the city. Their Roman names probably suggest that they were born free and enjoyed Roman citizenship . Presumably they came to believe in Jesus Christ in Rome .

When Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49 because of a dispute over a certain "Chrestus" - or at least those who believed in Jesus Christ - they moved to Corinth. During his second missionary trip , the apostle Paul lived there with them and worked with them (Acts 18: 1-3), which, however, was barely enough to make a living.

From Corinth, Priska and Aquila accompanied Paul to Ephesus (today an excavation site near Selçuk ) and stayed there while Paul moved on ( Acts 18 : 18-19  EU ). Here they worked independently as missionaries and took in Apollos from Alexandria, a later collaborator of Paul, in their home. Since Apollo's an ardent supporter namely Jesus Christ , connoisseurs of the Tanakh and preacher was, but so far only the baptism of John knew, they taught him (Acts 18:26), probably the fact that the baptism in the name of Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of sins addition also means the reception of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 19: 1-4; 2.38). In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians , written from Ephesus, they too sent their greetings (1 Cor. 16, 19).

In Rom. 16 : 3-4  EU , Paul describes them not only as his co-workers, but also as those who “stuck their necks for my life”. He is probably referring to the threat described in 2 Cor 1 : 8-10 EU , perhaps the dispute with Demetrios, the merchant of  devotional items at the Temple of Artemis during his later visit to Ephesus ( Acts 19 : 23-40  EU ). So Priska and Aquila supported Paul during persecution and a prison stay and thereby also put themselves in danger. After the death of Emperor Claudius in 54 they returned to Rome. There, as in Corinth and Ephesus before, their house became the meeting place of a house church , which Paul greets in Romans (Rom. 16: 3-4).

If Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy was actually written by Paul to his colleague Timothy in Ephesus shortly before his death , which is generally considered unlikely in research, Priska and Aquila were again in Ephesus at this point ( 2 Tim 4 , 19  EU ).

timeline

Approximate times according to the Pauline chronology :

  • 49 Expulsion of the Jews from Rome by Emperor Claudius. Priscilla and Aquila left Rome.
  • 50 Foundation of the church in Corinth by Paul with Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18)
  • 51 Gallios decision in Corinth that the problems the Jews had with Paul were not a matter of Roman law over which he had to decide.
  • 51 Journey of Priscilla and Aquilas with Paul to Ephesus (Acts 18: 18-19)
  • 54/55 Priscilla and Aquila, together with Paul, sent greetings to the Corinthians from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:19)
  • 56/57 Priscilla and Aquila received greetings in Rome from Paul, who was staying in Corinth (Rom 16: 3-4)

meaning

The fact that Priska is mentioned as a collaborator of Paul, i.e. as the preacher of the Gospel before her husband, suggests that her contribution to the spread of Christianity was seen as more important than that of Aquila. It is also an indication of the important role women played in early Christianity .

Adolf von Harnack suspected that Priska and Aquila were the authors of the Epistle to the Hebrews , a hypothesis that hardly anyone followed.

The fact that John Paul II established a new cardinal title in honor of Aquila and Priscilla on November 2, 1994 shows their newfound importance in post-Vatican Catholicism. The seat church was built in 1971.

Adoration

The main church of the two saints is the Santi Aquila e Priscilla in Rome-Portuense, a titular church of the Roman Catholic Church .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Lampe : The city-Roman Christians in the first two centuries. Investigations on social history, WUNT II 18, Tübingen 1987; P. 5
  2. ^ Suetonius , Claudius 25.4; see. Acts 18.2
  3. ^ Lamp: Die Stadttrömischen Christians , p. 7
  4. ^ Lamp: Die Stadttrömischen Christians , p. 160
  5. ^ Adolf von Harnack, Probabilia on the address and the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, Zeitschrift für die Neue Testamentliche Wissenschaft 1 (1900), pp. 16–41.
  6. ↑ a b → it: Chiesa dei Santi Aquila e Priscilla , it: Santi Aquila e Priscilla (titolo cardinalizio)