Commentary on the Revelation . he that hath the sharp two- Under this fearful imagery the condition ofsouls finally lost is represented. The promisehere is, that those who in their fidelity do notshrink from even that death which wickedpersecutors were about to inflict, under theinstigations of Satan, shall have sure deliver-ance from that other more fearful death—thedeath of the soul. Instead, they shall receivethe crown of life. We are not to under-stand that by such fidelity they procured sal-vation to themselves; but that such fidelity under the name of Pergama, has now a popu-lation of be
Commentary on the Revelation . he that hath the sharp two- Under this fearful imagery the condition ofsouls finally lost is represented. The promisehere is, that those who in their fidelity do notshrink from even that death which wickedpersecutors were about to inflict, under theinstigations of Satan, shall have sure deliver-ance from that other more fearful death—thedeath of the soul. Instead, they shall receivethe crown of life. We are not to under-stand that by such fidelity they procured sal-vation to themselves; but that such fidelity under the name of Pergama, has now a popu-lation of between twenty and thirty thou-sand, of whom about two thousand are nomi-nal Christians. Anciently, the city—whichmust not be confounded with Pergamos, thecitadel of Troy—was noted for three things:its wealth, its literary distinction, and its idol-atry. The art of preparing skiiis for writingwas here improved to such an extent, thatthe name of the city was given to that speciesof manufacture, which, as •parchment^ this. PEEGAMOS. was a testimony to the genuineness of thatfaith in Christ, through which, as united tohim, they became partakers in the salvationhe achieved for them and in them. In alater age, the crown of martyrdom was toomuch regarded as certain to become thecrown of life. This was the effect of con-founding the evidence of being in a state ofsalvation with that state of salvation itself. 12-17. To THE Church in Inscription. Pergamos for Perga-mum, both forms are found). This city, product still bears. There was here a li-brary of two hundred thousand volumes, orparchment rolls, carried afterward, by MarkAntony, to Alexandria, in Egypt, as apresent to Queen Cleopatra, and centurieslater (a. d. 6-42), destroj-ed along with thecelebrated Alexandrine Library, by the ca-liph Omar. (So Dr. Schaff states; othersclaim that the library was destroyed bycertain fanatical Christians, in A. d. 391).Pergamos was also noted for the prominenceit gave to the wo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbible, bookyear1884
