Historical References

The Seven Churches of Asia Minor

• Ephesus:The City of Change

• Smyrna: The City of Life

• Pergamum: The Royal City: The City of Authority

• Thyatira: Weakness Made Strong

• Sardis: The City of Death

• Philadelphia: The Missionary City

• Laodicea: The City of Compromise

• The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia and Their Place in the Plan ofthe Apocalypse by W. M. Ramsay, Professor of Humanity in the University of Aberdeen. (Offsite Link)

“The marked and peculiar character of the society and population of the great Asian cities, amid which the local Churches were built up, is present in the writer's mind throughout the Seven Letters; and it is necessary to form some conception of this subject. Disregarding differences, we shall try to describe briefly the chief forces which had been at work in those cities during the last three centuries, and the prominent features that were common to them all about AD 90. Some of them were ancient Greek colonies, like Smyrna and Ephesus, some were old Anatolian cities, like Pergamum and Sardis; but all these had recently experienced great changes, and many new cities, like Laodicea, Philadelphia, Thyatira, had been founded by the kings” (Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, Chapter 11).

Israelite.Info - History and prophecies of the Two Houses of Israel, by Christian, Messianic Hebrew, and Jewish scholars. (Offsite Link)

The Seven Churches of Asia Minor:

• Maps Of Asia Minor - Look for thumbnail of Seven Churches of Asia Minor map. Offsite Link)
• Seven Churches of Asia Minor- Large View (Offsite Link)
• Seven Churches of Asia - Map, plus photos  (Offsite Link)

On our Holy Days 2000 Page, by following the Pentecost 2000 links, you may access both audio and transcripts relating the significance of these cities to church history from the time of the apostles to the present. This series by Fred R. Coulter is entitled The Seven Church Harvest.

For a good perspective on locations in Asia Minor during New Testament Times, visit the Turkey In Bible Times site. (Offsite Link)

• A wonderful Interactive Map of the regions of Italy, Greece and Western Turkey may be accessed.  (Offsite Link)