THE TIME OF PERGAMOS

The message to Pergamos starts in Revelation 2:13, 'I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed amony you, where Satan dwells.' The Church in the Eastern Roman Empire migrated to the regions in and around Armenia. This was close to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire.

The phrase in verse 13 - 'where Satan's throne is' - implies that the Church was located at the seat of Satan's government. The city of Pergamos, representing this era, was the centre of the Babylon Mysteries Religion in Asia Minor. Anciently, this region had been the northern areas of Nimrod's Kingdom, and also the homeland of Balaam, one of the many priests of this mystery religion.

Antipas the faithful martyr was probably Constantine of Mananali, the first leader of the Paulicians - a group of faithful followers devoted to the writings and character of the Apostle Paul. Many followers of false creeds and religions were either converted to the truth or were 'sympathizers to the cause' of the Paulicians. Constantine was stoned to death by a traitor named Justus at the order of a Roman officer named Simeon, despatched by the Byzantine Emperor to squash the Paulicians. Simeon was so moved by the reality of the faith of Constantine and his followers that he was converted to become a faithful believer of the truth, much like the Apostle Paul. After having continued the work of Constantine for about three years, Simeon was betrayed by Justus before Emperor Justinian II and burned at the stake.

In the decades and centuries that followed, the Paulicians flourished under able and dedicated leaders such as Paul, Genesius and Joseph. However, many of the original writings of the Paulicians were destroyed and burnt. Only the Key of Truth, hidden for centuries was preserved. Sadly, they were mistranslated centuries later by Gnostic and Catholic writers that negatively corrupted some of the writings of the orthodox fathers from which many Protestant literatures were influenced. For example, the Paulicians rightly believed the the devil is the ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; Rev 12:9), and that human nature is dominant on earth. Unfortunately, either through ignorance or duplicity, many of the orthodox fathers like Origen, Eusebius and Athanasius (student of Origen) and Jerome wrote that the 'god of this world' to mean the 'God of heaven'.

A summary of the Paulicians' doctrines, found in the Key of Truth, can be summarized here as follows:

1. They baptized only adults, citing Christ's example. He was 30 years old when baptized.

2. They did not baptize in a font, but by immersion.

3. They believed that Christ, although crucified for man, did not command adoration of the cross.

4. They did no believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary, the mother of jesus, nor did they consider that she was a mediatrix.

5. They were characterized by their obedience to the Ten Commandments and believed that a Christian knows Christ and keeps God's Law.

6. They rejected the Catholic mass, communion and confession.

7. They believed that the Church was not a building, but a body of believers.

8. They believed that true repentance was a prerequisite for baptism.

Christ's warning to the church in the Pergamos era went on in Revelation 2:14-15, 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolatians, which thing I hate.' The 'prophet Balaam' was used to practise things that are in defiance of God - to the extent that he thought he could get away with. The doctrine of the Nicolaitians was that of unrestrained indulgence. Practices like attending mass and other Catholic rituals eventually cause them to let their guards down and soon many would revert to the values and practices of this world. The doctrine of the Nicolaitanes went even further where the practices of Balaam had let off - even to extent of wholesale abandonment of God's law!

Another significant group that constitute the true church of God within the 1,260 years of the Church in the wilderness (Rev 12:6) is the Bogomils. They are located in the Balkans, and Bulgaria in particular. They opposed Mary worship, infant baptism and all the Catholic rituals. Like the Paulicians, they strongly opposed the doctrines of the trinity and transubstantiation - the Catholic belief that the bread and wine of the communion became the real flesh and blood of Christ. They believed that Christ came to overcome Satan and hence qualified to rule the world after His Second Coming to set up the Millennial Kingdom. Intense persecution was a daily occurrence as it was for those brethren who had gone on before them.

One of the great leaders of the Bogomils was Basil. Together with his twelve ministers, they had great success in evangelizing the region of the Balkans. So successful were they that Emperor Alexius Comnenus from Constantinople felt threatened that he plotted to entrap Basil and his ministers. Eventually, Basil and many of his faithful disciples were burned alive for refusing to renounce their beliefs and way of life. Subsequently, their remnants became known as the Paterines who continued the work of the true Church of God.

For the next few centuries, the work of the Church of God was focused in the south and western part of France, northern Italy and Switzerland which would then usher in the Thyatira Era.