Books to help follow Paul’s Greek journeys

Before coming to Greece to follow in Paul’s footsteps, we were encouraged to read Luke’s account in Acts 16-18. I wanted to supplement that with additional resources. Below is a review of what I read. I found all of the physical books on Amazon. All of them were easy reads and very useful in different ways. They were good to read in preparation for the trip, while at the sites, and I look forward to reading them in the future. They all help bring Paul’s journeys to life.

A Biography of Paul

The Apostle: A Life of Paul by John Pollock is a biography written for a general audience. The third edition was published in 2012, with the first edition from 1969, yet it reads like a modern book. In thirty-six chapters and just less than three hundred pages, the text follows Paul’s life from Tarsus to Rome. Pollock explains that he has “not burdened the narrative with the arguments that led to my conclusions.” This makes it an easy read. John Pollock is recognized as an accomplished biographer of Christians ranging from William Wilberforce to Billy Graham and his rich style captivates the reader. It’s great for getting closer to Paul’s experience, for example highlighting the pain and suffering that Paul suffered from being stoned and beaten. However, even though Pollock quotes passages from scripture, he does not provide any references to chapters and verses. He weaves the narrative which is strongly supported by scripture with his interpretation of “the gaps” with little discussion of the uncertainty. He inserts sections from his letters at various points of the biographical narrative which enriches but the context may be inaccurate. I tried to follow the narrative through Acts and Paul’s letters but struggled at times.

In summary, this is a great book to bring Paul’s journey to life, but one should bear in mind that some parts of the narrative are unsupported by the biblical text or other evidence.

A robust guidebook

In A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey, Clyde E. Fant and Mitchell G. Reddish describe seventeen sites in Greece, twenty-four sites in Turkey and two in the area of Cyprus. For each site, the authors describe the site’s location and history, biblical significance, and how to visit the site. This would be extremely useful for the independent visitor and complements the guide on a group tour, helping the visitor get an overview of each site and providing useful maps to stay oriented while visiting. The authors include some black and white photos which might bring back memories from a visit.

The book’s chapters are in alphabetical order. So, if reading the book before a visit to follow Paul’s steps, it’s wise to read the Acts 16-18 and 20 accounts and map out his journey (Google Maps is good for that). The book does not cover the non-biblical sites that we visited, like Meteora or Mount Olympus. However, this was the most practical guide for visiting Greece’s biblical sites.

Linking the New Testament with Ancient Greek Culture

Greece, A Biblical Tour of Greek Historical Sites provided “77 Insights into Ancient Greek Culture that Make the New Testament Come Alive” the book combines a Bible verse with one page mini-lectures to teach the reader about seventy seven connections between the Ancient Greek culture and the New Testament. Published in 2022, Eric Larson captures these wise nuggets that Costas Tsevas provided on his tours. Most of it connects with Paul who traveled in Greece when the Ancient Greek culture was the fabric of society, surrounding Paul and influencing his language. For example, it explains how the Greek text of Acts 16:16 describes the fortune-telling slave girl as having the spirit of python, which contemporaries would have linked with the Oracle of Delphi but would be lost on modern readers, and hence why English translations don’t mention the python.

I loved Costas’s nuggets. Understanding the link between the New Testament and the ancient Greeks adds another dimension to the biblical texts. It complements the above guidebooks, while also including maps of sites and some general background.

I found this book less interesting before traveling to Greece, but during the tours, it was brilliant as we learned more about Ancient Greek and could connect the dots. Our guide Maryanne had this book and I recognized some of her descriptions as coming from this book. If I had only been allowed one book, this would have been it.

At a rest stop during our travels, Maryanne introduced me to Costas Tsevas who had come out of his retirement to guide a group. He was humble and gracious, and pointed me to the four-page bibliography in his book that supports his mini-lessons.

A supplemental guide to Greece

I looked for another guidebook to help me decide what side trips to do before and after the group tour of the biblical sites. Normally, the Lonely Planet guides are my preference but the Amazon reviews of their Greece guides were poor. My research led me to Rick Steves’ Greece: Athens & The Peloponnese, published in May 2023, and I was very pleased with it. He provides many practical tips to help visiting with a range of budgets, while emphasizing the options that provide the most authentic local experience. He provides multiple great self-guided tours of Athens and helped me during our visit to Delphi’s museum. His book encouraged us to visit Hydra which we enjoyed greatly. Steves’ book is less important on a group tour, and this book did not cover northern Greece, but it is very useful for independent travel in the areas that it covers.

I also bought In the Steps of Saint Paul by Peter Walker but returned it as it was redundant.

Conclusion

I enjoyed having all four books, and used their content to enrich my visits and my blog reports of each site. The visits, and subsequent blogs, were also enhanced by our guide Maryanne, talks by our professor from Liberty University, Dr Ben Laird, and Wikipedia! I hope that the book descriptions above help you choose which book(s) to buy, whether you are an armchair traveler, are planning a trip, or reminiscing your visit.