the church of Thyatira

[NewCreation435]

I have been listening the last several weeks to Ray Stedman's sermon series on Revelations

Revelation: The End -- and a New Beginning

The reason many have difficulty in understanding this book lies not only in interpreting the symbols, but also in failing to take note of the suggestions that are given in the first eight verses.

www.raystedman.org

I think it is interesting how he says that these 7 churches mentioned in Revelations represent both 7 types of churches that exist in the church and also 7 periods of time of church history. He says that Thyatira represents the church in the Dark Ages. They had some very positive qualities, but also tolerated worldliness and sexual immorality identifying a certain person as "Jezebel" referring to the Old Testament person by that name and some characteristics of her.
I know this forum has not usually been filled with a lot of discussion on the book of Revelation, but I was wondering what you thought about this idea that these church represent types of church and 7 periods of time.

 

[Particular]

I have addressed the lunacy of the ages theory when addressing rockytop in another topic thread.
The ages theory has been entirely debunked. I suggest people pick up Robert Mounce book on Revelation to get an excellent, historic, understanding of the seven churches in Revelation.

The Book of Revelation

This contribution to The New International Commentary on the New Testament is a revision of Robert Mounce's original entry on the book of Revelation and reflects more than twenty additional years of mature thought and the latest in scholarship.

books.google.com

Meanwhile, let us dump this hocum being bandied about with the age theory. It is a slap in the face to the thousands of martyrs who have died in this past decade.

 

[Lamb]

I have addressed the lunacy of the ages theory when addressing rockytop in another topic thread.

Who is rockytop?

 

[Particular]

Who is rockytop?

Oops...wrong site. I am on Tapatalk with both sites and got mixed up with where I was posting.
rockytop is a poster who teaches the ages theory regarding the seven churches. It is a very prevalent theory in US fundamentalist churches. I may be mistaken, but I suspect a dispensationalist preacher was studying a Western Civilization textbook and then created a false connection to subjective periods in Western Civilization and Church history to claim that each church in Revelation corresponded to a time period in Western Civilization history. Start with the church of Ephesus and end with Laodicea. Laodicea is therefore just before the theory of a rapture followed by a seven year tribulation.
Only fundamentalist dispensationalists teach this view, that I know of.

 

[Lamb]

Oops...wrong site. I am on Tapatalk with both sites and got mixed up with where I was posting.
rockytop is a poster who teaches the ages theory regarding the seven churches.

I was wondering if it was something like that I remember a similar member from a different site and thought maybe he had come here at some point and I couldn't remember.

 

[NewCreation435]

Oops...wrong site. I am on Tapatalk with both sites and got mixed up with where I was posting.
rockytop is a poster who teaches the ages theory regarding the seven churches. It is a very prevalent theory in US fundamentalist churches. I may be mistaken, but I suspect a dispensationalist preacher was studying a Western Civilization textbook and then created a false connection to subjective periods in Western Civilization and Church history to claim that each church in Revelation corresponded to a time period in Western Civilization history. Start with the church of Ephesus and end with Laodicea. Laodicea is therefore just before the theory of a rapture followed by a seven year tribulation.
Only fundamentalist dispensationalists teach this view, that I know of.

I have heard this teaching only once and it was from Ray Stedman, so not sure if one particular group teaches this. It isn't a major point and certainly isn't going to save anyone and I don't really even know that it is that important. I just hadn't heard it before and so wanted to check with everyone else and get their thoughts

 

[Particular]

I have heard this teaching only once and it was from Ray Stedman, so not sure if one particular group teaches this. It isn't a major point and certainly isn't going to save anyone and I don't really even know that it is that important. I just hadn't heard it before and so wanted to check with everyone else and get their thoughts

You're right, it isn't a major theological sticking point.
Since I am a Particular Baptist, I have had contact with a variety of Baptist and/or Fundamentalist groups. I found that the Conservative Baptists, GARBC and IFCA all trend toward the ages theory of the churches in Revelation. They all tend to be dispensationalist or hyper-dispensationalist churches. Ray Stedman falls in that camp. I wouldn't be surprised if an old teacher like J Vernon McGee didn't also teach the ages theory.