This would be your homework, then, to read these letters, slowly, repeatedly, until you have such a facile understanding that you can freely recognize yourself in each of them, whichever applies, as we do in fact change, and sometimes dramatically, and sometimes daily, and and there is spirit, and there is flesh, and we need ALL of the Bible the divide between these.
Much love!
First off, tmyour post is one I can appreciate and deal with. So I will (with a bit of caution) welcome it. It is true that the Church age theory works with the western Churches. Let's quickly define that as westen Europe and the America's. Even so, I do believe it touches Eastern Europe as well as well as far western Asia.
But that's where it was going. While the Apostles are rumored to carry the gospel as far as India, we don't hear of it in the Bible. Nor did it make a major impact when it did spread to Eastern Asia.
So the notion you make that it only works in the west proves that it does work. Simply because that's where the action was.
Well for someone who doesn't know much about them, you sure did bring them up alot. We shouldn't forget them though. I don't get the beer commercial reference either.
Neither do I. Revelations was written to God's servants. It says so in Ch 1. Furthermore, there were not 7 letters to 7 Churches. It never says that. John was told to write to the ANGELS of each Church. But it was never 7 separate letters, but one letter to God's servants.
I don't agree with you that history lesson cheapens the book. An Incredible history lesson is given in Ch 12, but many fail to see it. The book of kings, Samuel and Chronicles are history. The Gospels tell a history of Jesus. Genesis is history, as is Exodus. Revelation is no different. It's telling us a history while also laying down some teaching.
It's what we should've been doing all along. Unfortunately, it'll have to wait. But one thing is that all these churches had strong points and faults until you get to Leodicea. Are they character traits of Churches, or of people? I think both. Thus I like you theory, but also the Church age theory.
We will talk later.
Sorry if this gets strange, but I am reading your post from bottom to top and responding that way. Sorry, but it is getting late.
Lets say I find reducing the letters to a history lesson cheapens Revelation. That would clarity my thoughts.
One letter, yes we agree. So my question centres around the application. Because it is in apocalyptic style it would logical follow that an interpretation is that the letters are specific instruction for the apocalypse. That is my stance. They are definitely useful for teaching and such... but because of their placement if the narrative if follows that the are instructive in the broader narrative. ie. in an end-time story giving advise for the end-times.
Others keep bringing up the church ages theory and that does not work for all churches. There may be some instructional value in it, but to a persecuted Chinese church the idea of being in a lukewarm phase would be quite insulting (but that is just personal conjecture). Maybe my way of phrasing it looked like I had a particular axe to grind.
"I am Canadian" was a very famous line from a beer commercial... Canadian Beer is the name. I'm an old dad and these are my old dad jokes. A danger of getting old.
"That's were the action is" is a bit insulting to the USSR church, China church, churches in Islamic states. They went through a lot more action then the "West" did.