Priscilla (Christian)
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[edit] General
Prisca, also known as Priscilla, was one of the earliest evangelists of Jesus Christ in Rome. Priscilla is a Greek diminutive, or nickname, for Prisca.
According to Acts 18:2-3, Aquila and Prisca were tentmakers, as Paul of Tarsus is said to have been. Priscilla and Aquila had been among the Jews expelled from Rome by the Roman Emperor Claudius in the year 49 as written by Suetonius. Prisca and Aquila ended up in Corinth (Greece). Paul lived with Prisca and Aquila for approximately 18 months. Then the couple started out to accompany Paul when he next went to Syria, but stopped at Ephesus (in modern Turkey).
Priscilla (also Prisca) of Corinth is not the same Priscilla of the Roman Glabio family married to Quintus Cornelius Pudens who hosted St. Peter circa AD 42.
[edit] Timeline
AD 49 Claudius expels Jews from Rome due to uprisings. Priscilla of Corinth and Aquila of Pontus leave Rome.
AD 50 Council of Jerusalem
AD 51 Foundation of Corinthian Church by Paul with Priscilla and Aquila (ACTS 18)
AD 52 Gallio in Corinth judges that the Jews’ problems with Paul are not a matter of Roman law for him to ajudicate
AD 54 Priscilla and Aquila meet Apollos in Ephesus Acts 18:24-28
AD 56 Priscilla and Aquila in Rome are sent greetings by Paul who is in Corinth (Romans 16)
AD 57 Priscilla and Aquilia send greetings to Corinthians along with Paul from Ephesus (1 Corinthians)
[edit] Actions as an evangelist
In Acts 18:24-28, a powerful evangelist in Ephesus named Apollos is mentioned, who "taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately." In other words, Priscilla, assisted by her husband, is the earliest known teacher of Christian theology after Paul.
In 1 Corinthians 16:19, Paul passes on the greetings of Priscilla and Aquila to their friends in Corinth, implying that the couple were in his company. Paul founded the church in Corinth around 51; this makes it clear that Priscilla and Aquila were two other of the church's founders. Since 1 Corinthians discusses a crisis deriving from a conflict between the followers of Apollos and the followers of Cephas (possibly the apostle Peter), it can be inferred that Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria, accompanied Priscilla and Aquila when they returned to Corinth. This presumably happened before 54, when Claudius died and the expulsion was lifted.
In Romans 16:3, written in 56 or 57, Paul sends his greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and notes that both of them "risked their necks" to save Paul's life.
She is regarded as a saint by several Christian churches, including the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, which holds a commemoration for her on February 13 with Aquila and Apollos.
