Lydia of Thyatira Trivia Quiz

Answer: a seller of purple

"Purple" in this sense refers to purple cloth, or perhaps a purple dye made from the madder root. It was unusual in those days to find a woman running such a business on her own. And since her husband is not mentioned, scholars have speculated that she was a widow who had taken over her late husband's business.

Purple cloth was an expensive commodity because the dye was made from snails and it took a quarter of a million mollusks to generate an ounce of dye. And because a pound of purple wool cost as much as a yearly wage of a common person it was associated with the very wealthy and royalty. Since Lydia also had a house and "household," which was baptized with her, she was probably wealthy.

Answer: What place or tribe she is from

In Roman times slaves were often given the same name as the place they were from, although Lydia does not seem to have ever been a slave. Nonetheless, she came from the ancient region of Lydia, since the Bible refers to her as "Lydia, of the city of Thyatira." Thyatira was known as a source of purple dyes and is probably where Lydia learned her trade.

Answer: Asia Minor, i.e. Turkey

Also spelled "Thyateira", a Greek word meaning "daughter", it was named by King Seleucus I Nicator, after being informed that his wife had given him a daughter while he was at war. Previously the city had been known as Semiramis, and prior to that, Pelopia. During Roman times, it was a center of the purple dye trade.

It also had a major Christian church and was mentioned as one of the seven Churches of the Book of Revelation.

Answer: Macedonia, i.e. northern Greece

Macedonia, in northeastern Greece today, was the home kingdom of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, whose Hellenistic culture was established when he conquered "the known world of his day," as we history teachers like to say.

Answer: Philippi

Philippi was originally known as Crenides, meaning "Fountains". It was renamed by Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, in 356 BC, and abandoned in the 1300s when the area was conquered by the Ottomans. Currently there is a village named Filippoi located near the ancient ruins of the city best known today because of the New Testament's Letter to the Philippians.

Answer: Paul

Along with Silas and Timothy, Paul was traveling through Macedonia, having received a vision while in Troas, on Asia Minor's Aegean coast. In this vision Paul was requested to come to Macedonia. Philippi is described as "the chief city in that part of Macedonia."

Answer: Acts of the Apostles

Lydia's story is found in Acts chapter 16 verses 11-15. The first ten verses of Acts describes Paul's travels through eastern Asia Minor's provinces of Phrygia, Galatia, and Mysia prior to his vision in Troas. It is not long after Paul's experience in Philippi that he and Silas find themselves in prison. After their release from prison, they return to Lydia's house.

Answer: dyers and workers with fabric and textiles

Originally from western Turkey, Lydia established herself as a successful businesswoman in the first-century Greco-Roman world.

Answer: She is considered to be the first European Christian convert.

Lydia also opened her home as a meeting place for the early Church. According to the Society of St. Lydia, Pope Benedict XVI refers to her in his encyclical "The Door of Faith" as an example of faith and evangelization.

Answer: 3. August

Lydia's feast days in the Orthodox Church are March 23 (Slavic usage) and May 20 (Greek usage). A baptistry has been built on the holy site of her baptism on the Zygaktos River.