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Jesus’ Letter to Philadelphia

Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

Jesus’ Letter to Philadelphia

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write… Revelation 3:7 NIV

Philadelphia was the sixth of the seven churches in the book of Revelation to whom the Apostle John wrote letters. The only preserved remains of Philadelphia are the pillars of a 6th Century AD Byzantine church located on a city block in what is now the modern city of Alasehir, Turkey. Philadelphia was founded in 189 BC by King Attalus I of Pergamum as a military outpost to protect the junction where two major trade routes intersected. It also was strategically located near the border of Phrygia, where the Greco-Roman world of the West met the “uncivilized” barbarian world of the East. As such it was also intended to be a kind of mission base for spreading the civilized worldview of Hellenism and the Greek language.

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Jesus’ Letter to Sardis

Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

Sardis was the fifth of the seven churches in the book of Revelation to whom the Apostle John wrote letters. Sardis is located near the village of Salihli, Turkey. Extensive 20th century archeological excavations have unearthed the ruins of the acropolis with the Temple to Artemis, a Roman era gymnasium complex with baths, Jewish synagogue, and Byzantine era shops. Settled in 1400 BC on the wide fertile plain of Hermus along the banks of the river Pactolus, Sardis developed into a prosperous city known for its fruit, wool and pagan temples of Delphi, Artemis, and Didyma. It became a center for trade as a crossroads of major north/south, east/west trade routes and the western terminus of the Royal Road that linked Sardis with Susa, the capital of Persia.

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Jesus’ Letter to Thyatira

Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write. Revelation 2:18 NIV

Thyatira was the fourth of the seven churches in the book of Revelation to whom the Apostle John wrote from the Isle of Patmos. Located in the modern day city of Akhisar, Turkey, the only significant remains of the ancient city are preserved in a fenced area the size of a city block near the center of town. The two major features of the site are the ruins of a Roman columned street and the walls of a 6th century administrative building which is thought to have at one time served as a church. That would not be unusual as the city of Thyatira was almost completely Christianized by 200 AD and continued with a strong Christian presence onward for centuries. Bishops from Thyatira are known to have attended the Councils of Nicea in 325 and of Ephesus in 432. This strong Christian presence and witness endured for nearly two millennium, right up until 1922 when the last vestige of Christianity, the Greek Orthodox population, was deported by the Turkish government.

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Jesus’ Letter to Pergamum

Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write. Revelation 2:12 NIV

Pergamum was the third of the seven churches that Jesus addressed in His letters dictated to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. It is located adjacent to the modern day city of Bergama, Turkey, approximately 70 miles north of Smyrna (Izmir). Pergamum, or Pergamon to which it is sometimes referred, was at its zenith a city of 200,000 inhabitants and was briefly the Roman capital of Asia Minor before the capital was moved to Ephesus. Indications are that there was a small Jewish population in the city from which undoubtedly an embattled band of believers grew, in spite of the oppression of the worship of pagan idols and the pursuit of worldly wisdom that engulfed the city.

Pliny the Elder declared Pergamum “the most famous place in Asia” and it was not without reason. At the time the city could boast of being the world center for the worship of the deities Zeus (king of the gods), Asclepius (the god of healing), and Athena (goddess of wisdom).

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Jesus’ Letter to Smyrna

Church History, Overcoming, Relationship with God / Tom Stuart

Smyrna was the second of the seven churches that Jesus addressed in His letters dictated to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. Located on the Aegean Sea just 40 miles northwest of Ephesus, Smyrna (modern day Izmir) was a major seaport city with a population of 100,000 people at that time. It was a very beautiful city, resplendent with civic and sacred districts (Roman cult worship), schools of science and medicine, agoras, theatres, gymnasia, and a stadium. The famous poet Homer was said to have made his home there. Smyrna contested with Ephesus and Pergamum to be the “First of Asia in beauty and size.” This phrase was boastfully imprinted on some of its coins. Today, only the ruins of a portion of the three level agora (marketplace), forerunner of a modern day mall, and an accompanying small area of the acropolis, where civic buildings and temples once stood, have been unearthed. The agora is thought to have been the largest in the ancient world and is the best preserved example of an ancient marketplace in Turkey. There are excellent views of it in the video posted above.

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