31/08/2024
later, (Julius and Augustus), Caesar became both emperor of Rome and Pontifex Maximus of the religion of the empire. He was given divine honours, which he handed down to his successors, (later rejected by the Christian emperor Gratian 380 A.D.). These were later assumed by the popes, (firstly by Pope Damasus, thus its transferral to the Church of Rome), the supreme pontiffs of ecclesiastical Rome. Thus Pergamos became the connecting link between the two Babylons, the ancient and the modern. The papal system is patterned after that of Babylon and Rome. This is another reason for the statement of Jesus that Pergamos was the place where Satan dwelleth.β The Seven Epistles of Christ, Taylor G Bunch, pgs 149, 150. Bracketed words are added information. See also notes on seat, power, and great authority in Revelation 13:2.
Holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith - Even amidst the changes that were taking place in the Church, with its sudden and drastic change from intense persecution to popularity and privilege, some did not compromise, some maintained the truth in its purity and continued to hold aloft the name of Jesus.
Antipas - βIt is supposed that Antipas was not an individual, but a class of men who opposed the power of the bishops, or popes, in that day, being a combination of two words, 'Anti,' opposed, and 'Papas,' father, or pope; and many of them suffered martyrdom at that time in Constantinople and Rome, where the bishops and popes began to exercise the power which soon after brought into subjection the kings of the earth, and trampled on the rights of the Church of Christ. And for myself, I see no reason to reject this explanation of the word 'Antipas' in this text, as the history of those times are [is] perfectly silent respecting such an individual as is here named.β William Miller, Evidence From Scripture and History of the Second Coming of Christ, pp. 135, 136.
Revelation 2:14 βBut I have a few things against you, because you have there them