The Letters to the Seven Churches

“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” And so began John of Patmos’s letter to the seven churches of first century Asia Minor. The study of these letters contained within the Book of Revelation has continued ever since. What do the seven churches stand for? Are they still relevant to the churches of the modern day? These are questions that have been asked time and time again about this book of the New Testament that occupies a central place in Christian eschatology. Sir William Ramsay unlocks the meaning of John’s letters by placing them within the historical context in which they were written. Evaluating what letter writing meant to the Early Church, the imagery used within the letters and the influence of the Early Church in first century Asia Minor. Analysing each letter and city: Ephesus, City of Change; Smyrna, City of Life; Pergamum, City of Authority; Thyatira, City of Weakness Made Strong; Sardis, City of Death; Philadelphia, Missionary City; and Laodicea, City of Compromise, Ramsay goes far to explain the origins of this central text. John’s letters also provide a fascinating insight into the Graeco-Roman culture during the first century. The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia and their place in the plan of the Apocalypse is a fascinating piece of church history, perfect for anyone interested in the theological underpinnings of the early church as well as the history of Christians in the Roman Empire. William Mitchell Ramsay(15 March 1851 – 20 April 1939) was a Scottish archaeologist and New Testament scholar. By his death in 1939 he had become the foremost authority of his day on the history of Asia Minor and a leading scholar in the study of the New Testament. His other works include The Church in the Roman Empire, St Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen and Was Christ born at Bethlehem?