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PERGA
City probably of very early Greek origin and the religious capital of ancient Pamphylia. In the second century BC, the Romans overthrew a Syrian garrison there, and thereafter the city apparently had a substantial degree of independence from external control.
On their first missionary journey, Paul and his colleagues passed through the city on their way to Pisidian Antioch. The Acts of the Apostles reports no preaching activity on that occasion but notes only that it was at Perga that John Mark left his companions and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13-14).
If we assume that Luke would have recorded the fact that Paul had preached during this visit, we can only speculate why he did not do so. The presence nearby of a renowned temple of Artemis, an Anatolian nature goddess, would surely have challenged rather than deterred him. The apostle may have been ill (some commentators suggest a possible connection with the reference in Gal 4:13), but in that case we might have expected Barnabas to have taken his place. It has been suggested that at this point the group had disagreed about outreach to and acceptance of Gentiles, and that it was his differences with Paul (and perhaps his resentment at the latter’s leadership) that precipitated John Mark’s departure.
On the homeward journey, however, Paul and Barnabas “preached the word in Perga” before going on down to Attalia, where they took a ship to Antioch of Syria (Acts 14:25-26). The results from that preaching are not known, but it is evident that Christianity did not flourish in Perga, as it did in other cities of Asia Minor.