Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ
We may also want to discuss Lee’s equating each church as being symbolic of consecutive church ages
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I would never say that certain of the churches do not better represent the collective situation at certain times. But it is not so complete a comparison to declare that the first three take us up through a sequence for the first 300 years or so then end, then the next 4 come successively but stay for the rest of history.
For example, anyone who says there is no real persecution of the church in this day and age (and in all ages) has their head in the sand. Yet no matter how much we feel put upon in the US, there is no real persecution happening here. But there is much persecution in parts of the Middle East and Asia that ranges up to fairly severe. So any claim that the first churches are really some now-distant point in time is soundly debunked.
So the more meaningful thing to learn from the 7 churches is not how they align with periods in history, but how they are relevant today. And in varying degrees how even all can be present in a single assembly.