The Seven Churches of the Apostle Paul

In The Beginning

Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.—2 Corinthians 11:28

Near the end of the first century of the common era, the apostle John saw the visions that formed the prophecy of The Revelation, the last book of the Bible. The opening chapters of that book deal with prophetic letters to seven churches in Asia Minor—Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sar­dis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Most Christian students of The Revelation apply these to seven successive time periods in the Christian (or Gospel) age.

The apostle Paul, similarly, wrote a number of letters to seven churches in the early Christian establishment. His letters, however, were very real epistles meant to be read to the ecclesias involved, and dealt with real problems of that day. His group of churches was in both Asia Minor and in Europe: Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus (or Laodicea—see article for details), Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica. Both sets of epistles, however, contained messages for the church in general and are preserved in the canon of Holy Writ.

In these letters we read not only the words of the great apostle, but get an insight into his heart and his love and care for these seven churches, many of which he had personally founded. It is the epistles to these seven churches of the apostle Paul that form the theme for this issue of The Herald magazine.

The authors of the various articles in this series have tried to accomplish three goals: to give a brief outline of the city in which the recipient church existed, to shed light on the church itself and the problems it faced, and to recap the message which Paul sent to that particular church.

We hope that our readers will be able to grasp not only a better picture of the early Christian church, but how its problems are ­mirrored in the church of our day, and thus ­appreciate the care of the apostle for all the churches, throughout the age. And thus we are pleased to present these articles on “The Seven Churches of the Apostle Paul.”