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LABTECH767
reply to post by UxoriousMagnus
The churches are not gone but at the conclave of niceane most of them were merged under constantine into a single state church to facilitate a religion to tie his empire together but the Syriac orthodox church with I believe was one of these or rather had direct link's is still in existence as well, these churches were small community's of christian's in these city's and the letters were to make them turn back from corrupt and gnostic teaching's which were leading them astray as well as pagan practice's, in essence each letter to each church is to be applied to all churches today as in the unity of the sacrament we are all family in christ.
The best point is that these were not different denomination's as we have today but they were different group's by location and some of the named locations such as ephesus were later abandoned due to war and the fall of the roman empire as well as climactic fluctuation, Ephesus is a point in question along the Ionia coast it should have weathered these but religious change and war all had there impact and it's remarkable ruin's still stand to this day, another point is the lord warned them he would take there star away which meant they would be removed from the church as a whole if they did not ammend there way's, the small size of the early church magnified any errors and made them more fundemental as these early church enclaves were at the very root of the modern churches but have no doubt if the position in history was reversed the modern church would probably have had it's star removed but then it is the grown tree now so better to tend it and treat it than burn it down.
edit on 8-3-2014 by LABTECH767 because: (no reason given)
ketsuko
reply to post by UxoriousMagnus
The groups of believers are not gone. The church is everyone who believes. The letters are to different types of believer. Look at what they are all warned against. All of the warnings are things that are still relevant to Christians today.
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Sk8ergrl
reply to post by LokiToo
That's interesting cos my birth chart is the star of david just like jesus christ's birth chart
this pic has been outlined to show the seal of david better
Sk8ergrl
reply to post by LokiToo
That's interesting cos my birth chart is the star of david just like jesus christ's birth chart
this pic has been outlined to show the seal of david better
edit on 8/3/2014 by Sk8ergrl because: (no reason given)
.... All twelve Jewish tribes are marked by God against attack, conceivably signifying the moral majority foundation they beg...
Plotus
Perhaps your making it overly complex..? I know for me you did. No doubt there is merit in your analytical deductions. For me, I would understand the 'letters' to carry down through the ages. . I would think of it in a simplistic way... such as... "Where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there also" and ...(sorry for inexact scripture wording)... go throughout the entire world and spread the gospel. Those who received the letters would share them to my way of thinking, and would take them and the rest of the gospel to the farthest reaches of the world ie. missionaries
ketsuko
reply to post by UxoriousMagnus
If that were the case, every denomination would have to be millennialist, and nowhere near all of them are. I was brought up in a denomination that isn't. My own millennialist beliefs are due more to my own gut instinct than any church teachings or preachings. The very most I was ever taught out of the Book of Revelation was the bit about Jesus coming soon, but it was always done in a vague way as though it could happen at some point in the next 10 years or the next 1,000 or never. Certainly it was never the "selling" point of the church to get people into the pews.
ketsuko
reply to post by UxoriousMagnus
And yours is just one of the schools of thought. There are several.