Pergamos

Location

Pergamos (also spelled Pergamum) was a great Greek and Roman city in the western part of Asia Minor, about fifteen miles inland from the Aegean coast in modern Turkey. It was the political and religious capital of the Roman province of Asia in the early empire and famous for its enormous altar of Zeus, its library of two hundred thousand volumes, and its temple of Asclepius (the healing god).

Biblical importance

Pergamos is the third of the seven churches in the Revelation (Revelation 2:12-17). To it Christ speaks as the one 'which hath the sharp sword with two edges,' and warns of the doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. He calls it 'where Satan's seat is' — perhaps a reference to the Great Altar of Zeus or the imperial cult centered there. Yet even here Antipas was faithful unto death (Revelation 2:13).

Important biblical events

• Revelation 2:12 (KJV) 'And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.'
• Revelation 2:13 (KJV) 'I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr.'
• Revelation 2:14-15 (KJV) The doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans is rebuked.
• Revelation 2:16 (KJV) 'Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.'
• Revelation 2:17 (KJV) 'To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.'

Related People

• Christ Jesus — the sword-bearer of Revelation 2:12.
• Antipas — the faithful martyr of Pergamos.
• John the Beloved — the seer at Patmos.
• Balaam — the Old Testament prophet whose doctrine is rebuked.

Connected Places

• Ephesus — the first of the seven churches, sixty miles south.
• Smyrna — the second of the seven, thirty miles to the south.
• Patmos — the island where the Revelation was received.
• The Great Altar of Zeus — the archaeological wonder now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Christian tradition

• The martyrdom of Antipas is remembered in the eastern Church on 11 April.
• The ruins of Pergamon (modern Bergama, Turkey) are visited by pilgrims and scholars to this day.
• The Great Altar of Zeus was excavated by German archaeologists in the nineteenth century and reconstructed in Berlin.

Household reflection

Pergamos teaches the household that faithfulness is possible even in the shadow of what pretends to be greater than Christ. The household lives in its own Pergamos — an age with its own altars and its own libraries. Antipas held fast the name of Christ where Satan's seat was. Any household can do the same, quietly, one week at a time.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Revelation 2:12-17. Say each of Christ's names in the passage aloud.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray for one Christian household somewhere in the world where holding the name of Christ costs something today.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — Choose one small habit that will not bend to the age's noise — a Sabbath meal without screens, a psalm before bed.
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus' (George Duffield Jr., 1858).
• Learn (Workshop) — Study Numbers 22–24 — the story of Balaam, whose doctrine Christ rebukes at Pergamos.

Further reading

Revelation 2:12-17 in the KJV.

Numbers 22–25 — Balaam.

Revelation 2–3 — the seven letters.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Ephesus
• Smyrna
• Patmos
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.