Who turned away from Paul in Asia?
All who were in Asia turned away from Paul. Phagellus and Hermogenes are named as the leaders. Asia here means Asia Minor, the western half of Turkey, where Paul had established churches, including Ephesus, Thyatira, Pergamos, Derbe, Lystra, and Antioch, Pisidia.
Les teaches from Paul's statement that all they who were in Asia had turned away from him, and he identifies Phagellus and Hermogenes as the leaders of that departure. Les explains that Asia in Paul's terminology was the western half of Turkey, where Paul had established many churches, including Ephesus, Thyatira, Pergamos, Derbe, Lystra, Antioch, and Pisidia. He notes that these congregations, founded in Paul's gospel of grace and the knowledge of the mysteries, had now turned aside. Les calls this heart-wrenching, especially after Paul's years of privation, and he marvels that but for the grace of God Christianity would never have gotten off the ground because it was constantly under satanic attack. He adds that even today the fundamentals of Christianity are under constant attack from within and without Christendom. The context also places the writing around 60 AD, with 1 Corinthians around 59 AD.