What Are The Seven Churches In Revelation?

[Paladin D]

Title says all. :mellow:

[Paladin D]

Doh, I'm gonna move this thread elsewhere.

[Jake Huether]

The seven churches (buildings...parishes...) are all Catholic Churches, just in different locations. I'll have to dig further to explain why it was only 7 (maybe that's as many as there were at that time???). But they were all Catholic. Like different Parishes.

Protestants sometimes use that to show that there were many Churches (capital "C"). But in reality, they all believed in the Eucharist, intercession, infant baptism, etc. They were simply under different Bishops (who were under Peter, or the second Pope).

[cmotherofpirl]

Here is a general overview of revelations:

http://ewtn.com/library/SCRIPTUR/REVSTRUC.TXT

Encyclopedia:

Revelations 2:1-3:22. The Epistles, to the seven Churches. The Churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The Epistles are short exhortations to the Christians to remain steadfast in their faith, to beware of false apostles and to abstain from fornication and from meat offered to idols.

[ICTHUS]

They are all churches in Asia Minor. They would have been in the Episcopate of John the Apostle, which is why St. John is giving them warnings in Revelation - the Angel knew that John was the Bishop of those churches..I think (that's what Scott Hahn said)

[Sammy Blaze]

Apocalyptic literature contains number symbolism, (at least that's what I learned in college!!!! )

for example;

1 - unity, independant existence

2 - strength, courage, confirmation, energy

3 - the divine

4 - cosmic, the world

5 - human completeness (doubled to 10)

6 - evil, falls short and fails

7 - sacred (possibly union of earth and heaven 4+3)

12 - symbol of organized religion in the world

1000 - totality, full completion

3.5 - incomplete, imperfect, temperary

(1260 days, 42 months = 3.5 years)

so seven could be meant not only for the churches under heavy persecution, but also the sacredness of Christ's church on earth....Or maybe, since it was written so only the early Christians facing persecution could understand it...it could have another meaning. well those are my thoughts

~S.

[phatcatholic]

good work soldiers