Review of Seven Churches on Trial

[John Owen]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Seven Churches on Trial" by Joseph Patrick.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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In Revelation 2 to 3, the Bible tells of Jesus' message to seven churches that were in Asia Minor, including the Church in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. ("Church" occasionally signifies the Bride of Christ in this review, rather than the physical building, "church"). Depending on their characteristics, such as faithfulness (shown by the churches in Philadelphia and Smyrna) and apostasy (in the church in Pergamum), Jesus Christ gives admonishment, rebuke, and encouragement. There has been a lot of debate around this. Was the message only directed to those specific churches at that specific time? Or are these churches symbolic of different Christian believers? Or do they represent a certain age/dispensation that the Church has gone through or will go through?

"Seven Churches on Trial" by Joseph Patrick attempts to shed light on the above issue. It relates the seven churches' characteristics to the various types of Christians we have had or have, shares about the various Christian ages the Church has gone through — right from the era of the apostles during the Church's conception to the present Christian age we are in — which forms the basis of the dispensationalists' school of thought, and attempts to analyze what will happen before, during, and after the Great Tribulation, among others.

This book dove into so much information I didn't previously know, which left me beautifully amazed. I was surprised by the impeccable knowledge the author had about the Church's evolution. I had known a few things like the Azusa Street revival that brought the "Later Rain/Later Glory" wave of revival, but it was amazing to read a ton of so many other things I totally had no idea of. I also knew about the Constantine reign, the Roman Empire, among others from history readings, but I didn't know some of these events were fueled by religion — or that they were connected to the Church. This book does a good job of explaining all this.

I think the interpretation of the Great Tribulation timelines and order of events is subjective. I think the Two Witnesses prophesied in Revelation would come much earlier than this book projects. However, the best thing is to live righteously in accordance with God's will and instructions than useless schisms. I was also surprised that when discussing modern pastors and prophets, the author didn't mention Prophet Dr. David Owuor, who is quite popular and is claimed to preach repentance and holiness and preparation for the coming rupture and Messiah. I think maybe he hasn't heard of him, but he has been around since 2007. These are my personal observations though.

I rate the book 5 out of 5 stars. Even though I have personal observations, they are unrelated to the book's quality. This is an insightful, in-depth, and well-written book overall. While I think it is more suited to Christians who want to expand their knowledge of the end times, those interested in the history of the Church and eschatology are a possible audience. They should note that the book is based on the Bible and references the Bible often though.

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Seven Churches on Trial
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[Rebecca Niala Gam]

By going through and reading each line of paragraphs, the title just caught my attention.I really love to read such mysterious books that will help me and guide me through my Christian life journey.Such and amazing book I think this will be my first book to read and do review on this book.

[Ruth Shirk]

I felt this book missed it on so many levels, but it is well documented. I agree that the virgin birth, Christ's diety, the atonement and the resurrection are essential.