ne is worth the price of £9.95.Book
Review
Ephesus
to Laodicea
by Clifford & Monica Hill.
The Handsel Press 2005. ISBN
1 871828 65 1.
We
mentioned this book in our article on a visit to the Seven Churches of
Revelation in the Magazine issue 40, It is a
beautifully presented study guide to the history, archaeology and spiritual
significance of this area of Turkey. In addition there is a CD ROM with many marvellous
photographs of the seven sites together with Colossae, Hierapolis and Miletus,
as well as two PowerPoint presentations of the slides with notes. In fact the CD ROM alone is worth the price of £9.95.
Part 1: Background and Introduction gives the history of the region; the story of the Early Church in the Roman Empire; and the biblical context which links what John wrote in Revelation to what was happening on the ground at that time.
Part
2 takes each of Christ’s messages to the Seven Churches as relayed by John,
and describes the archaeology of the present site, an exegesis of the text and
the ongoing relevance of the message for today. 
Part 3 asks: What can we learn? The authors emphasise that the Book of Revelation was written for the contemporary generation in the Early Church and that the apocryphal, symbolic style of writing was used so that its message would be unintelligible to those who were hostile to the Gospel On the other hand there is much in the message that is very relevant to our own situation today. We too have churches with congregations that are persevering but loveless like Ephesus; physically alive but spiritually dead like Sardis; and lukewarm in their faith like Laodicea. But there are also those who are poor but spiritually rich and faithful like Smyrna.
The message of Revelation and its implications and repercussions are all skilfully portrayed in this study guide, but it is not enough to read about the churches and their congregations, you really need to go there. To see the ravaged beauty of what was once the great city of Ephesus, or feel the evil, brooding presence of the satanic Altar of Zeus overlooking Pergamum is to put yourself in the sandals of those early Christians, praying and worshipping together, often in secret, ever fearful of the fateful knock at the door. This book is the indispensable guide for the modern, Christian pilgrim.
Brian Newsom.