Philadelphia
Philadelphia is a city of Asia Minor, about one hundred and eight miles from Smyrna, containing a population of about twelve thousand, two thousand of whom are Greeks and the rest Mohammedans. It is now called Allah Shehr, “the exalted city.” It was founded by Attalus Philadelphus, king of Pergamos, about 200 B. C. Its walls are still standing, inclosing several hills, upon the sides of which the town stood. They are built of unhewn stone, massed and cemented together with fragments of old buildings. Some immense remains of buildings, huge square stone pillars supporting brick arches, are also standing and are called the ruins of a Christian church. It was to the angel of the church of Philadelphia that Jesus said through John in the book of the Revelation 3:7–12: “I know thy works:behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it:for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. * * * Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly:hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out:and I will write upon him the name of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God:and I will write upon him my new name.”
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