Turkey day 7

The lovely view outside of the bus! This country is SO beautiful. I really want to visit again/live here someday. I've never seen such beauty!

The skies were always swathed with clouds and the sun always shone through them. It was so beautiful! Art was in the sky every day.

Nicea

This should be a familiar word to most Christians. The leaders of the early Christian Church gathered to debate about the nature of Christ and formed the Nicene Creed. So I'll tell you a little about that.

In the early 4th century AD, a Christian theologian from Alexandria Egypt named Arius taught that Jesus was "of like substance" with the Father--meaning separate from, created by, and therefore subordinate to the Father. Other Christians sharply disagreed, fearing that Arianism implied that they worshipped a being who was not divine. In response, the Emperor Constantine invited about 300 bishops from around the empire to Nicea to discuss the issue in the First Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church (AD 325). They gathered in Constantine's palace, the remains of which are now submerged right off the shore of the lake. The Council of Nicea was the first of seven Ecumenical Councils. It condemned Arianism and began the formulation of the Nicene Creed (finished at Constantinople in 381), which concluded that Jesus was "of one substance" with the Father, and therefore fully divine.

In the late 8th century, the Emperor Constantine VI and his regent mother, Irene, convened at Nicea the Seventh and final Ecuemical Council. Over 300 bishops gathered at the Hagia Sophia Church built by Justinian in the 6th century in the middle of town (NOT to be confused with the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, also built by Justinian) in order to discuss iconoclasm (the destruction of religious icons and statues). The council concluded that veneration of Christian icons and statues was permissible. 

This is the Hagia Sophia church where they held the Ecumenical Council! Where some of the most faithful Christian minds gathered so they could attempt to better understand the nature of God.

It's been turned into a mosque, I think, as indicated by the carpet. I think lots of holy places get turned into mosques. We're all trying to share the holy sites of our forefathers :)

The ceiling is so ancient and gnarly! you can also see the little cavity made by the dome and windows.

Maybe this is where the members of the Council sat as they debated. Who knows? It was a cool feeling to be in this place. I am also seeking to understand God and His mysteries, though in a different way than they are. 

There are just a few remnants of some really beautiful wall paintings. You can imagine what they would have looked like in their glory!

These are some of my closest friends here! I spend a lot of time with them :) Michelle, me, Erika, and Emily! They are amazing girls and really nice to put up with me :)

So I decided to cause some mischief as we were touring :) People were getting a little sleepy and grumpy, and that's no fun on a tour! So I made this little sign and stuck it to Tyler's backpack, waiting to see who would take the offer :) 

Alas, he discovered it before anybody kissed him, but that didn't mean that the sign was useless....

Matt had an interesting time when Ashley and Kirstin tried to kiss him.

Mitchell was also tagged as a desirable man to kiss. 

Ben got his chance.

And even though I didn't get a picture, David got an attempted smooch from Kate. Ha ha, I'm so funny. I think it's my calling in life to be a matchmaker :)

I am standing on all that remains of Constantine's Palace, where the First Ecumenical Council took place! What an incredible privilege, to see the place where these men sought to learn more about the nature of God!

This is all that's left--a bunch of rocks. So sad.

It really was a beautiful place to have a palace. We were there on a day where it was very cold and stormy, but the beauty is still evident. Constantine's palace was built on the shores of Lake Iznik, which you can see here.

We had a devotional here that was really meaningful to me. The first Ecumenical Council took place at this palace to discuss the nature of the Godhead. A couple of days before we went to this site, Dan sent me an email about it and his thoughts on the council.

"It's interesting what took place with the Nicaean Creed and what was decided would be the tenants of what "Christianity" beliefs would entail. I can't be mad at what I'm sure mostly good men were trying to organize. It makes me think grateful however for what I know about Revelation and the true Nature of the Godhead. Such things weren't understood by those men. What happened to Joseph Smith would be constantly running through my mind as I would think about that location and what happened there. What a neat place it would've been for you to ponder and think as well about the miracle of having the Holy Ghost. To be a member of the Savior's church as He established it anciently. To know that you have access to such incredible covenants and blessings!"

Dan had some really excellent insight that got me thinking. Our trip had been super packed with fun things, and so I found it difficult to slow down and contemplate the spirituality of a lot of the places we were going. I'm really grateful for what Dan said and how it prepared me to come to this place and really think about what had happened here.

Brother Judd, coincidentally, talked about almost everything that Dan had been thinking about. What good men they are :) First, we talked about Nephi's prophecies about the "great and abominable church" (1 Nephi 14). The great and abominable church is NOT the Catholic Church. Brother Judd was very adamant about fixing this mindset that is so common among Latter-day Saints. He said that the great and abominable church is wicked because they took the plain and precious truths out of the Bible. The Bible, he said, was changed hundreds of years before the Catholic Church was organized. The Bible was changed by early Christian apostates early on in its existence, not by the Catholics. I'm glad he cleared that up, because I really love the Catholic Church. I think there are incredibly righteous and wonderful Catholics, and they love Jesus Christ with all their heart and believe that He is the Savior. I feel like too often we are in the mindset that everybody else is wrong and we are the only ones that are right, but that isn't true. Like President Hinkley said, we can only add upon the good that other people bring. Especially since being here in Jerusalem where there are dozens of different sects of Christianity, it has been made very evident to me that there are incredible and righteous people of all faiths. We should not forget that we are all children of God, and we all worship and love the same Jesus Christ.

We then talked about the First Vision and the nature of the Godhead. 1 John 5:7 is the scripture that people generally use to say that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one personage:

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. "

Brother Judd told us a little about the history of this scripture, and how the phrase "and these three are one" has been added into the original scripture. I Googled it for more information, and found this story about it!

In the 16th century, Erasmus, who was from Rotterdam but was living in Switzerland at the time, and Cardinal Ximenes of Spain both undertook to compile a Greek New Testament from the fragmentary manuscripts and copies that were then extant. Ximenes came out with a nicely-bound, scholarly, and expensive version, but Erasmus ran away with all the sales because his edition was less expensive and the first to come out. Until Erasmus’ manuscript came out, anyone in the West who wished to study the New Testament in the original Greek had to slog from library to library to examine all the pieces, and they would have to resolve minor differences in wording for themselves. So Erasmus’ New Testament made it possible for serious Bible students to circumvent the Vulgate (the fourth-century translation of the Bible into Latin) and get back to the Greek, and it quickly became a standard.

Erasmus originally left the extra wording out of 1 John 5:7-8, because even though it was traditional, he could not find it in any of his Greek sources. This caused a great controversy, because many people were using this verse as a proof-text for the Trinity. So Erasmus caved in to popular pressure and stated that if anyone could produce a Greek fragment of 1 John that contained this wording, he would include it in the next critical edition of his Greek text.

Well, someone found such a fragment. Erasmus was not convinced of the genuineness of the Greek fragment, but being true to his word, he amended his text under protest.
The King James Version contains the extra wording because it was based on this later edition of Erasmus’ text.

We read the account of the first vision found in Joseph Smith History, 1:16-17.

"...I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which had me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

How lucky we are to have this modern day revelation to quell doubt about the natures of our Father and His Son. I am so grateful for the mercy of the Lord to re-establish His church in the latter days so that we can have the fullness of the gospel in its plain and precious nature. I know that Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son, and that they are two separate beings with one purpose. I am grateful for the valiant men of the past who have sought to understand the mysteries of God, but I am grateful that God has given us the Holy Ghost so we don't have to solve those mysteries by ourselves. If we are faithful, we can have all things revealed to us in time. I believe that! I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the instrumental hand it has in my life. I love Heavenly Father for the mercy that He constantly bestows on me, and for letting me be a part of the restored church of Jesus Christ!

We had the most delicious dessert here! Oh my heck, it tasted like rice pudding but it was like creme brulee! I was freaking out. It was so so delicious. I was completely full but I ate the whole entire dessert anyway and was happy the rest of the day :)

"Stop" in Turkish is "Dur." HA HA HA HA HA HA HA :) :) :)

Hagia Sophia

To help our group stay together, we had Mr. Sparkle come and be a visual to keep track of. It was the extreme privilege of one of the students to hold Mr. Sparkle aloft each day, and on the last day of the trip, I got the privilege. Mr. Sparkle and I became great friends while walking around Istanbul. Oh, and that's Jeff in my picture. He's a really funny kid :)

Walking up to see the Hagia Sophia! This is the site I was most excited to see in Turkey! One of the most famous pieces of architecture in the world! I'll tell you a little about it!

Hagia Sophia is Greek for "Holy Wisdom". The church was constructed in the mid 6th century AD by the Emperor Justinian. It is really close to the Blue Mosque! After its construction, the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world for nearly a thousand years, and it is still one of the greatest buildings on earth.

It was the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity for almost one thousand years. The building combines the architectural elements of a traditional basilica (some of the columns are from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus) with the addition of smaller half-domes that hold up a huge central dome (180 feet high). Following a series of earthquakes, the central dome collapsed more than once and had to be replaced. Eventually, flying buttresses were added on the outside walls in order to support the weight of the domes. The Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453  and converted the building into a mosque, adding four minarets to the exterior. The building was secularized and opened as a museum in 1935.

The church originally contained extensive Christian mosaics and paintings. During the Middle Ages, Imperial portraits were added to some of the walls, as well as a huge mosaic of Christ as Pantokrator ("Ruler of All") in the central dome. When the Ottomans converted the building into a mosque in the 15th century, they covered the Christian art with plaster (which ironically preserved it rather than destroyed it), in order to not expose human images.

The Hagia Sophia was the site of Ecumenical Councils in 553 and 680-81, both dealing with the nature of Christ as both human and divine. it was confirmed that Jesus had a divine nature and a human nature, but his human will was in subjection to his divine will.

So now let's look at what I saw :)

This is the ceiling of the corridors outside the main room of the mosque. You can tell how incredible the workmanship of the place is.

Here's just a baby peek of what the inside looks like. Do those huge disks look familiar? Each one has a different name of Allah written on it (I think). 

The columns are marble from...Egypt, I think Yasemin said? And all the decoration and fluting at the top of the column is caved into the solid rock. Absolutely amazing! You can see the Islamic decoration in the background of the picture.

We got to see the most well-preserved of the mosiacs from the Christian part of the building's history. This is a mosaic of Mary, the mother of Christ (right), Christ himself (center), and John the Baptist (left). How lucky that the faces were all preserved! It was so beautiful.

I spent a long time looking at this mosaic. I am so glad that people across the ages have loved Christ so much. All the artwork depicting Him as our Savior and Redeemer is absolutely beautiful. 

A close up of the face of Christ. Our guide said that this is the finest mosaic that she's ever seen. It is done so well that it almost looks like a painting instead of a bunch of colored glass. 

Another view from the second floor of the interior.

More beautiful mosaics, this time of one of the queens of the time. Her husbands kept dying mysteriously, so they had to keep redoing the face of the King to keep up with the times :)

Another mosaic! This is Christ, as you can tell by the cross in his halo and the letters on either side of him. I do believe that a king and queen are surrounding him, but I'm not sure which ones they are. Because I definitely don't read that language. :)

These were the lamps that were lighting the whole place. They were awesome! And Mr. Sparkle is in the picture too, because the lamps look like flowers and he is a flower, so I thought they'd be cute together!

Trying to get a shot of the huge ceiling! The place is simply giant. No camera can grasp that concept.

Some more of the beautiful stone work of the columns!

We went down onto the main level and I got to see the dome from the floor. it was SO high above my head! It was almost as tall as the sky :) This is the main dome, and you can see some smaller domes supporting it and coming down the sides.

Just a little taste of what the windows look like.

Another incredible stained glass window, with Arabic writing visible in the glass.

A view of the huge shields with the names of Allah and some smaller domes. In the upper left hand corner, you can see a depiction of the seraphim mentioned in Isaiah, the ones with six pairs of wings.

I think that in a cathedral, this portion is called the asp. It is where the altar is. Since being turned into a mosque, I think this ornate thing is pointing the way toward mecca. And on the side, you can see the minbar (? is that what it's called?) where the Imam gets up and preaches to the worshipers. You can see the enormity of the building and the absolute beauty of it all.

My camera did a really good job of zooming up and getting that picture. It's Mary holding the Christ child. You better believe that those mosaic tiles are real gold!

Another view of the interior.

So, words can't really describe anything that I experienced on this trip. It really was one of the most incredible, beautiful, and eye-opening experiences that I have ever had. I fell in love with Turkey and its beauty and history. I hope that my readers have grasped a little of the experience that I had here. I would go back again if I could. I'm sitting here and trying to think of things to say about it, but there aren't any words. There isn't really a way you can describe what it's actually like to be there, in person, and see it all. You can see pictures of mountains, but you can't feel the wind or smell the air. You can see the interior of mosques and churches, but you can't smell the dust or hear the chanting or see the sunlight streaming through the windows. And above all, you can't feel the ancientness and history of the city fill your entire body. I felt older as I walked through these places, seeing the ages of time pass before my eyes. I definitely understand why people travel, and how it opens your eyes to new people and cultures and ways of life. There is something about learning the history of the world in school, and then seeing it first hand. I remember learning about the history of Europe and the Middle East in 10th grade, and I saw a lot of it on this trip. Holy cow. :) Simply put, the trip to Turkey was amazing, and I absolutely loved it.

This was our guide for the entire trip, Yasemin. She was a wonderful guide! She knew SO much about everything, and was so willing to answer all of our questions. I made friends with her and she told me about her boyfriend, Chaltai! At the end of the trip, as I told her more about Dan, she agreed that he was a normal person and that we would be good together. :) I really admire her and all that she does, because she says that it is very hard to live in Turkey. I'm glad that I got to meet such an incredible individual!

At the airport, as we were wandering around before our red-eye flight, we saw these smokes for sale. Look at those warnings! Wow, those should be put on cigarette cartons in the United States!