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Literary structure and the seven letters

December 9, 2009 by William Higgins

In the first message I noted  the  literary structure in each of the letters, what I have outlined as five parts:

1. The address – “to the angel of the church in”

2. A description of Jesus – “the words of”

3. Jesus’ review of the church – “I know your”

4. A call to hear – “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”

5. A description of the reward – “the one who conquers”

Sections #4 and #5 are reversed in letters 4-7.

The letters themselves seem to be arranged in an inverted outline (chiasm):

A. Ephesus – the whole church is lax and is threatened with extinction

B. Smyrna – the whole church is faithful under suffering

C. Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis – some are faithful and some are not

B. Philadelphia – the whole church is faithful under suffering

A. Laodicea – the whole church is lax and is threatened with extinction

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