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In\nRevelation chapters 2 and 3 God has messages for seven Churches in Asia\nMinor. There were many more churches, but God picked out these seven as\nexamples of what the New Testament Church was like. But God\u2019s message\nis actually to us: \u201cWhere do we stand? To which of these seven churches\ncan we compare ourselves? Read Revelation 2:12-17...

Pergamos\nwas one of the oldest cities in the region. It had served as the\ncapital of the Roman province of Asia Minor for over twenty five years\nand was the official seat of the Roman government. It was also an\nimportant religious centre for a number of pagan cults. Pergamos was\nthe first city in Asia to build a temple to Caesar and it became the\ncapital of the cult of Caesar worship. Of the city, an ancient writer\nonce said; \u201cit was given to idolatry more than all Asia.\u201d And this may\nhave been referring to the 200 foot-high alter to Zeus in the city\ncentre.

The book of Acts makes no mention of the founding of this church. According to Acts 16:7-8,\nPaul passed through the region of Mysia, where Pergamos was located, on\nhis second missionary journey, but there is no record that Paul either\npreached the gospel or founded a church there during that time. Most\nlikely, Paul founded this church during his ministry at Ephesus (Acts 19:10) when the gospel was preached throughout Asia. Doctrinally, this was a compromising church.