Ancient Pergamos
Pergamos is the 3rd of the seven churches listed in Revelation 1:11. The Pergamos church era seems to have been predominant from c. 450 to 1050 A.D. Jesus had the Apostle John write about it in Revelation 2:12-17. Those of Pergamos were praised for holding fast, despite being where "Satan's throne" was. But they had problems accepting Nicolatian and Balaam doctrines--what were they? Those of the Pergamos era were called names like Paulicians, Bogomils, Vaudois, Nazarenes, Cathars, Patarenes, Albigenses, Bougres, Publicans, Lombardists, and Henricans, though they tended to refer to themselves as Church of God Christians. Some were in the British Isles and Celtic records showed them holding doctrines in opposition to the Church of Rome. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Fred Conybeare (Key of Truth), Eastern Orthodox, and various Armenian records gave us information about their beliefs. The faithful during the Pergamos era claimed apostolic succession for the See of Ephesus, opposed crosses, kept the Sabbath, opposed Sunday, claimed apostolic succession, opposed Christmas, kept Passover on the 14th, were binitarian, opposed Greco-Roman mass, were pacificists, opposed purgatory, were iconoclasts, had prophets, opposed Augustine, and suffered a lot of persecution because of having aspects of 'Judeo-Christianity.' Yet, even Catholic sources suggest that they were descendants of the original Christians: "Since Gibbon the Paulicians have often been described as a survival of early and pure Christianity, godly folk who clung to the Gospel, rejecting later superstitions, who were grossly calumniated by their opponents." Catholic sources also point to the Paulicians as the originators of the "papal-antichrist theory." Why? What were changes that got them to do so? Dr. Thiel goes over beliefs and problems of the Pergamos church era and ties some in with early apostolic Christianity and present day Christianity.
A written article of related interest is available titled "The Pergamos Church Era" URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/pergamoschu...
A free online book is also available titled "Continuing History of the Church of God" URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/continuing-...
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