This article is about the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. For other uses, see Seven Churches (disambiguation).
Map of western Anatolia showing the island of Patmos and the locations of the cities housing the Seven Churches
The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Seven Churches of Asia, are seven churches of early Christianity mentioned in the Book of Revelation, part of the New Testament. All of them were located in then-Greek-speakingAnatolia, and currently sit within the borders of present-day Turkey.
The seven churches are named for their locations. The Book of Revelation provides descriptions of each Church.
Ephesus (Revelation 2:1–7): known for having laboured hard and not fainted, and separating themselves from the wicked; admonished for having forsaken its first love (2:4)
Smyrna (Revelation 2:8–11): admired for its tribulation and poverty; but for which it is foretold that it will suffer persecution (2:10)
Pergamon (Revelation 2:12–17): located in a city where 'Satan's seat' is; needs to repent of allowing false teachers. Admonished for eating "food sacrificed to idols" and "sexual immorality". (2:16)
Thyatira (Revelation 2:18–29): known for its charity, whose "latter works are greater than the former"; admonished for tolerating the teachings of a false prophetess.
Sardis (Revelation 3:1–6): admonished for being spiritually dead even though it had a false public reputation of "being alive". Cautioned to fortify itself and return to God through repentance (3:2–3)
Philadelphia (called Alaşehir since 1390; Revelation 3:7–13): known as steadfast in faith, keeping God's word and enduring patiently (3:10)
Historicism has been criticised by the Eastern Orthodox priest Dimitri Cozby, who writes that historicists take a greatly oversimplified view of history: "Since dispensationalism is Protestant in origin its 'Church history' is strictly Western. The dispensations take into account almost nothing of Orthodox history after the period of the early councils which we share with the West."[9]
Angels of the churches
Chapters 2–3 of the Revelation have specific messages for each of the seven angels of the seven churches. The message of each of the seven letters is directed to the angel of the particular church that is mentioned.
John's vision of the Son of Man walks among seven lampstands and has seven stars in his right hand. Revelation 1:20 states that "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." The comparison of a teacher to a star is scriptural.[12]
Augustine of Hippo's reason for interpreting angels of the churches as the prelates of the church is that St. John speaks of them as falling from their first charity, which is not true of the angels.[13][14] Others would say that the falling away relates to the churches, not to the messengers, as each of the seven letters conclude with the words "He who has an ear, let him hear what Spirit says."
In the New Testament, the Greek term άγγελος is used for all messengers, whether divine or not, such as John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27) and God's prophets (Revelation 22:8–9)[15] C.I. Scofield has noted that "The natural explanation of the 'messengers' is that they were men sent by the seven churches to ascertain the state of the aged apostle.
The Seven Churches of Asia by Alexander Svoboda
In 1869, the London publishing firm Sampson Low, Son, and Marston published Alexander Svoboda's The Seven Churches of Asia.[16]The Seven Churches of Asia is divided into three primary sections: an introduction written by English clergyman and Biblical scholar H. B. Tristram, Svoboda's personal travel account visiting the Seven Churches sites, and an itinerary detailing Svoboda's route. The book also includes twenty full-page photographs of the Seven Churches sites, photographed by Svoboda. These images are the first produced and published photographs of the Seven Churches. Photographs from Svoboda's Seven Churches project were exhibited in the rooms of the Arundel Society in London in 1868.[17]
↑John (1994). Aland, Barbara; Aland, Kurt; Karavidopoulos, Johannes; Martini, Carlo M.; Metzger, Bruce M. (eds.). The Greek New Testament. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
↑Walter Bauer (1979). Arndt, William F.; Gingrich, F. Wilbur; Danker, Frederick W. (eds.). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. University of Chicago Press.
↑Svoboda, A. The Seven Churches of Asia: with Twenty Full-Page Photographs Taken on the Spot, Historical Notes, and Itinerary. Introduction by H. B. Tristram. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1869.
↑"Photographs From the Seven Churches of Asia". The Art Journal. 74: 29. February 1868.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Apocalypse". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
