3rd Church Pergamos

The Seven Churches of Asia Minor
(Go back to main Menu)

Studies have been made that the seven churches of Asia Minor have proven to represent seven church ages or periods. It doesn’t mean that the other categories don’t exist, but the church that is dominant is represented. For example the first century had mostly churches which had a remarkable love towards God, like the church in Ephesus, as described in Acts 19. But that doesn’t mean there were no churches who have suffered persecution or have been indifferent. But rather the mentality and character of the church of Ephesus has been dominant in the first century and the first church age.


The Church in Pergamos

What represents the age of the church of Pergamos is the Byzantine period which lasted about 1000 years, at least the walls of Constantinople lasted from the 5th-15th century. But Constantine who was Ceasar moved his throne to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople (meaning continuing city perhaps a type of the New Jerusalem). However the Byzantine Empire fell into struggles in the 7th century as Islam had become a threat. The Byzantine Empire struggle was mostly by Islamic nations. It started with the Rashiduns and ended with the Ottomans' Mehmet II. There were some periods of victories, but eventually Constantinople fell to the Islamic Turks.

Jesus warned that he will fight against those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans with the double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. And when Islam rose up they called their might the sword of God (and Jesus is God who gave Pergamos this warning). Not only Anatolia (which is the present land of Turkey) but the western nations who were Orthodox Christians according to the Byzantine Rite fell as well or they joined the Catholic countries in Western Europe. Perhaps the one exception is Russia who throughout the 17th-19th centuries had their wars with the Ottoman Empire as well.

The Middle East or the Levant was conquered by the Rashiduns the first Caliphs right after Emperor Heraclios introduced the doctrine of Monothelitism. Both the Middle East, Syria and Armenia who accepted this heresy fell under Islamic rule. And this doctrine, which was resisted elsewhere was dropped.

Whereas the Byzantine monarchs had the interest in joining the Catholic Church, in other words renouncing their traditions and accept the Catholic Rite the people chose to live in a foreign authority who allowed them to practice their rite freely. This was also done to the Parthian Christians before the rise of Islam as the rulers were Zoroastrians but there were Christian communities throughout the Parthian/Sassanid empire. Some these churches are known to be compromising churches which is descriptive of the church of Pergamos (perverted marriage).

The 3rd Church Pergamos (Church 31)

Revelation 2 - Listen 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan's seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].

Comment on the church in Pergamos

The third Church Age is the church who compromises.

The end of this church or population, as a judgment, faced the sword of the LORD. God used Islam to avenge their compromise. Islam however calls it as the sword of Allah and of Mohammed.

Notice that Jesus says that he will fight against “them”, referring to the “them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans”. There is no introduction as to who are the Nicolaitans. But the name is a compound word where Niko means “to conquer” and Laitans is referring to the “laity” the laymen. Therefore this is referring to the structure of this church, which is a compromised system against whom when Islam swept the Middle East and then North Africa and up to the battle of Tours near France was God’s judgment. And over the years Spain recovered it’s land in Middle Ages.

-----

Byzantine Papacy

The Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna combines Western and Byzantine elements.

The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine (Roman) domination of the Roman papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine (Roman) Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii(liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Byzantine Syria, or Byzantine Sicily. Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in the Gothic War (535–554) and appointed the next three popes, a practice that would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Papacy

-----

Charles Martel the Frank confronted the Muslims from the land of Spain who were called the Moors.

And looking into the meaning of France:

Political meaning

In a first meaning, "France" means the whole French Republic. In that case, "French" refers to the nationality, as it is written on the French ID card: "Nationalité : française".

The etymology and meaning of the word "France" and "French" have had strong bearings in the abolition of slavery and serfdom in France.

Indeed, in 1315, king Louis X issued an edict abolishing slavery and proclaiming that "France signifies freedom", that any slave setting foot on (metropolitan) French ground should be freed.[2]

This decree served as the basis for a group of crusading lawyers at the parlement of Paris, many of whom were members of the Society of the Friends of the Blacks, winning unprecedented emancipation rights in a series of cases before the French revolution, which (temporarily) led to the complete abolition of slavery on French territories and colonies in 1794 [3] until Napoleon, propped up by the plantation lobbies, re-introduced slavery in sugarcane-growing colonies.[4]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_France

But this Church age spanned from Constantine’s edict in 325AD to the beginning of the Middle Ages.



-----




Also check the page of the Biblewheel and the 7th Century for the rise of Islam.