The Seven Churches
The book of Revelation can be summarized as a sequence of apocalyptic visions that the apostle John experienced around 95 AD while in exile on the Greek island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea.[i] The visions, while confusing and unusual on their surface, were given to John by God to warn Christians about the persecutions they would face over the centuries, help them to identify the deceptions of Catholicism, and encourage them to remain faithful.
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The earliest church writers tell us that John, the apostle and one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, wrote Revelation. One of John’s disciples, Polycarp, told his disciple Irenaeus that John had written the book, and Irenaeus preserved this knowledge in his Against Heresies. Before Irenaeus, another early Christian writer, Justin Martyr, also confirmed that John was the author of the book of Revelation in 155 AD.[ii]
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Jesus had a special relationship with his twelve disciples, whom the Bible says he personally called to follow him. Jesus also had this unique connection with Paul, whom he chose as an apostle in a vision on the road to Damascus.[iii] The authorship of Revelation by an apostle lends additional credence to the divine inspiration of the book and the power of its prophecies.
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Domitian, the emperor of Rome from 81 AD until his assassination in 96 AD, was fond of exiling those whom he believed were “atheists.” He used this charge against one of his own cousins, a consul of Rome named Titus Flavius Clemens, and Clemens’ wife, Domitilla. As punishment, he executed Clemens and banished Domitilla to the island of Pandeteria. According to the Roman historian Cassius Dio, “The charge brought against them both was that of atheism, a charge on which many others who drifted into Jewish ways were condemned.”[iv] Dio’s reference to “Jewish ways” suggests Clemens and Domitilla were punished for converting to Christianity.
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After Domitian’s assassination in 96 AD, the same ancient writer tells us his successor, Nerva, “restored the exiles.”[v] Irenaeus likewise wrote that John was released from his exile in Patmos and moved to western Anatolia, the region of modern Turkey where Revelation’s seven churches were located. He evangelized there until his death early in the reign of Trajan, which began in 98 AD.[vi]
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Revelation is a highly structured book. The first chapter is essentially an introduction. It begins with a three-verse prologue followed by a greeting to the seven early churches in Anatolia and concludes with a depiction of John’s first vision of Jesus. In the second and third chapters, Jesus provides several sentences for John to deliver to each of these seven churches. He applauds them for what they are doing well, rebukes them for their failures, offers advice on how to improve, and promises a reward if they succeed.
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Jesus’ evaluation of the seven churches had two purposes. The first and more obvious objective was to guide the first-century Christians in each city. The second, less obvious intent has implications for us today. Theologians often apply these churches’ lessons to seven distinct ages throughout church history. The order in which Jesus lists the seven churches in Revelation aligns chronologically with these eras.
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This second interpretation adds even more credibility to the Historicist view of Revelation. If Jesus provided messages for each era in Church history, why would he ignore these eras in the rest of the book and only give warning signs for the seven years that precede his second coming? While the Futurists generally support the view that the messages for the seven churches are also intended for each church era throughout history, they believe Revelation’s other chapters only apply to the final seven years before Jesus’ return. These two contradictory opinions further weaken the justification for Futurism. On the other hand, Preterists generally believe that there is no second meaning behind these messages. In their view, they were only meant to guide the seven churches in John’s time.
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The Seven Churches of Revelation​
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[i] Irenaeus. 1872. “Book V, Chapter XXX, Section 3.” In Five Books of S. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons Against Heresies, translated by John Keble, 521. Oxford: James Parker and Co.
[ii] Martyr, Justin. 1846. “Section LXXXI.” In Justin Martyr’s Dialogue With Trypho the Jew, translated by Henry Brown, 181. Cambridge: Deightons, MacMillan, Barclay, and MacMillan.
[iii] Acts 26:14-18 (KJV), Rom. 1:1 (KJV).
[iv] Dio, Cassius. 1925. “67.14.1-3.” In Roman History, Vol. VIII, by Cassius Dio, 349-351. London and New York: William Heinemann and G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
[v] Dio, Cassius. 1925. “68.1.2.” In Roman History, Vol. VIII, by Cassius Dio, 349-351. London and New York: William Heinemann and G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
[vi] Irenaeus. 1872. “Book III, Chapter III, Section 4.” In Five Books of S. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons Against Heresies, translated by John Keble, 208-209. Oxford: James Parker and Co.
