Pergamos

Seven Church Ages: Introduction • Ephesus • Smyrna • Pergamos • Thyatira • Sardis • Philadelphia • Laodicea • CAB • Last Messenger?

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Pergamos (Greek: Πέργαμος, meaning "height or elevation", modern day Bergama in Turkey) was an ancient Greek city, in Mysia, northwestern Anatolia, 16 miles from the Aegean Sea, located on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus (modern day Bakırçay), that became an important kingdom during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 282-129 BC.

The Attalids were among the most loyal supporters of Rome among the Hellenistic successor states. For support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor.

The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi, Delos, and Athens. They defeated the invading Celts. They remodeled the acropolis of Pergamos after the Acropolis in Athens.

Notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the Acropolis include: a Hellenistic theater with a seating capacity of 10,000; the Sanctuary of Trajan (also known as the Trajaneum); the Sancturay of Athena; the Library (the second best in the ancient Greek civilisation after that of Alexandria); royal palaces; the Heroön; the Temple of Dionysus; the Upper Agora; and the Roman baths complex. When the Ptolemies stopped exporting papyrus, partly because of competitors and partly because of shortages, the Pergamenes invented a new substance to use in codices, called pergaminus or parchment after the city. This was made of fine calf skin, a predecessor of vellum.

When Attalus III died without an heir in 133 BC he bequeathed Pergamum to Rome, in order to prevent a civil war.

Religion in Pergamus

The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The base of this altar remains on the upper part of the Acropolis in Pergamus. This altar to Zeus is thought by some to be the 'seat of Satan' (Wycliffe Dictionary of Biblical Archeology).

Close to the city was a sanctuary of Asclepius, the god of healing (represented by a serpent entwined around a pole). In this place people with health problems could bath in the water of the sacred spring, and in the patients' dreams Asklepios would appear in a vision to tell them how to cure their illness. Archeology has found lots of gifts and dedications that people would make afterwards, such as small terracotta body parts, no doubt representing what had been healed. The 'seat of Satan' was also thought to refer to the worship of Aesculapius, as his emblem is a serpent wrapped around a pole and, as he was thought to take the form of a serpent, live snakes were also kept in this temple (Strong's Greek Lexicon).

Pergamon's other notable structure is the Serapis Temple. There is evidence that an early Christian congregation met in part of this temple to worship. Serapis was invented under the reign of Ptolomy Soter, under instruction in a dream from the "unknown god", as a mix between the Egyptian and Greek gods Orisis and Zeus, in order to please both populations. Serapis was often accompanied in art with Cerberus, the Greek version of the god Anubis, a three-headed dog with a serpent as a tail. A letter to the Emperor Hadrian notes that the worship of Serapis was often confused with the worship of Christ in some parts of the world (noteably Egypt):

The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly light-minded, unstable, and blown about by every breath of rumour. There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer. Even the Patriarch himself, when he comes to Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, by others to worship Christ. (Augustan History, Firmus et al. 8)

Historical accuracy in the Church Age Book

1. The Plagiarized Timeline

William Branham claimed that God gave him the exact dates and timelines of the Seven Church Ages by divine revelation. In his sermon series, he assigned the Pergamean Church Age to the period between AD 312 and AD 606, and chose Martin of Tours (c. AD 316 to 397) as its messenger.

The Chronological Clash: Martin of Tours was born in AD 316. But William Branham said that God ALWAYS sent the messenger at the end of the age. OOPS!

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2. The Pontifex Maximus Myth

In Chapter 5, paragraphs 11 and 13 of the Church Age Book, Branham presents a highly dramatic historical pedigree to explain the rise of "Mystery Babylon". He claims that when Babylon fell, the pagan priesthood, led by "priest-king" Attalus, fled to Pergamos. He then asserts that Attalus III willed this spiritual and physical Babylonian kingdom to Rome, allowing Julius Caesar and subsequent Roman Emperors to take the pagan title "Pontifex Maximus" and act as Babylon's priest-kings, which eventually passed to the Pope of Rome.

When we test this claim against historical records, we find that it is a complete fabrication:

• The Hellenistic Reality: Attalus III was a Greek (Hellenistic) king of Pergamos. He was not a Babylonian priest-king, and he had no connection to Nimrod’s ancient line. The kingdom of Pergamos was Greek, not Babylonian.
• A Purely Roman Office: Julius Caesar did not become Pontifex Maximus because of Attalus's will. The office of Pontifex Maximus was an ancient Roman political-religious office that existed in Rome since the foundation of the Republic in 509 BC, nearly four hundred years before Attalus III willed his kingdom to Rome in 133 BC.
• The Source of the Fallacy: William Branham copied this entire narrative almost word for word from Alexander Hislop's 1853 book, The Two Babylons. Hislop’s work has long been discredited by historians as a collection of logical fallacies, conspiracy theories, and historical errors. To build an entire eschatological doctrine on a historically fabricated pedigree of priesthood transfers is an error of monumental proportions. It is a False Premise Fallacy used to support a False Analogy.

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3. The Trinitarian, Monastic Messenger

Branham argued that the True Church and its messengers must be "unorganized," bitterly opposing any form of episcopal hierarchy, centralized church government, or human authority. He picked Martin of Tours as the messenger to Pergamos to represent this anti-establishment, "unorganized" true vine.

But this argument is completely self-defeating:

• A Catholic Bishop: Martin of Tours was not a dissident rebel operating outside the church. He was a consecrated, ordained Catholic Bishop of Tours who worked in full communion with the structured church of his day.
• The Father of Monasticism: Martin is historically famous for founding and organizing the first monastic communities in Europe, including the Ligugé Abbey and Marmoutier Abbey. Monasticism is one of the most highly structured, organized forms of religious life in Christian history.
• A Dedicated Trinitarian: Martin was a student and close friend of Hilary of Poitiers, who was one of the premier defenders of Nicene Christianity and the doctrine of the Trinity against the Arian heresy. Martin spent his entire ministry defending the doctrine of the Trinity.
• The Logical Contradiction: In his sermon The Sardisean Church Age (December 9, 1960), paragraph 171, Branham declared that the doctrine of the Trinity was "of the devil" and a "Satanic heresy". If this is true, then his chosen "messenger" of the Pergamean Age was a dedicated defender of a Satanic heresy who spent his life organizing Catholic monasteries. The argument destroys itself.

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4. The Priscillianist Perversion

To illustrate the "two vines" of church history, Branham recounts the tragic story of the Priscillianists, who were executed at the Synod of Treves in AD 385. In Chapter 5, paragraphs 11, 13, and 117 of the Church Age Book, Branham characterizes the Priscillianists as "true believers" of the "true vine" who were slaughtered by the "false vine" of the formal church because they stood for the pure Word of God.

This represents a severe Category Error and a profound historical and scriptural misinterpretation:

• The Gnostic Heresy: Priscillianism was not a "pure gospel" movement. It was a highly heterodox Gnostic-Manichaean sect. Priscillian denied the real, physical incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ, teaching a form of Docetism. He condemned marriage as sinful, claimed the human body was a prison created by the devil, and taught that our physical bodies are ruled by the twelve signs of the zodiac. He also denied the resurrection of the physical body.
• Defending Docetism: By defending Priscillian and his followers as the "true vine," Branham was endorsing heresies that undermine the very foundation of Christian redemption. If Christ did not have a real physical body and did not physically rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain.
• The Real Opposition: Martin of Tours and Ambrose of Milan did oppose the execution of the Priscillianists. However, they did so because they believed the church should not employ the death penalty, not because they endorsed Priscillian’s Gnostic theology. Martin was a staunch Trinitarian who fought Gnostic heresies his entire life. By portraying Priscillian as a saint and Martin’s spiritual brother in a "non-Trinitarian true vine," Branham fabricated a historical narrative that never existed.

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5. The Monarchical Pastor Contradiction

In Chapter 10 ("A Resume of the Ages") of the Church Age Book, Branham condemns the "Nicolaitane" system of a "monarchical episcopate" (having a single bishop or pastor rule over a local church) as a satanic organization that "subjugates the laity" and strips them of their spiritual freedom.

Yet throughout his ministry, Branham insisted on this exact same structure of local church government:

"The pastor is always the head of the church, the pastor is always. That’s God’s elder... there's no higher order in the Bible than the elder of the church... which is the pastor." (Sermon: The Ephesian Church Age, December 5, 1960, paragraph 54)

This is a classic Ad Hominem and Circular Contradiction. He bitterly condemned the very structure of local pastoral supremacy in history that he enforced in his own tabernacle. If a single pastor ruling a local congregation is a Nicolaitane heresy when Ignatius of Antioch suggested it, why is it a divine order when William Branham practiced it?

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Conclusion

When we are forced to look at the facts, we realize that the rules of logic and historical integrity are not an optional, academic game. They flow from the very rational, truthful nature of God Himself.

A prophet's message cannot be built on plagiarized timelines, historically fabricated pagan transfers, and deep theological contradictions. Martin of Tours was a Trinitarian bishop who organized monasteries. The Priscillianists were Gnostics who denied the physical incarnation of Christ. These are not debatable opinions; they are documented historical facts.

When a minister tells you to completely bypass your own mind and accept his illustrations without testing them, he is not asking for deep faith. He is asking for blind submission. The Bible never tells us to shut off our understanding. It tells us to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

My first priority is Jesus Christ, and my walk with Him. If the Message is true, it can survive these questions. If it is not, we must have the courage to walk away. Accuracy always beats comfortable illusions.

External Links

• Rosa Valderrama, "Pergamum": brief history
• Pergamon art
• Photographic tour of old and new Pergammon, including the museum
• Pergamon pictures
• This information is based on material from Wikipedia. As a result, this article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License which governs this website as well.

Links to other articles in the series

This article is one in a series of studies on the Seven Church Ages - you are currently on the topic that is in bold:

• Introduction
• Ephesus
• Smyrna
• Pergamos
• Thyatira
• Sardis
• Philadelphia
• Laodicea
• CAB
• Last Messenger?

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