Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
If you are imposing your preconceived thoughts to the text that the church in Sardis prefigures the Protestant/Evangelical/reformed churches, you are merely applying eisegesis to the text. Some theologians interpret the seven churches as the total blueprint of the churches of all generations.
There's simply no warrant for it in the text. Now one of the seven churches may provide lessons regarding Catholicism, another may provide lessons regarding the Reformation, etc. Those seven churches were real, extant churches to whom John wrote, and the Lord inspired the letters to address those people in those places at that time.
Certainly we today can learn from those letters, as indeed from all of Scripture. But to say that X church represents Y historical thing is reading into the text.
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The Plymouth Brethren, who developed this historical-prophetical paradigm of the seven churches, interestingly claimed that they were Philadelphia. Nee and Lee followed this pattern, except they claimed that Philadelphia depicted their followers.
Interesting, don't you think?