Philadelphia was a city in the region of Lydia, in Asia Minor, founded in the 2nd century BC by Attalus II, king of Pergamum, who gave the city the same nickname he himself had earned for his loyalty to his older brother and predecessor on the throne, Eumenes II: Philadelphos, friend of his brother.
The city stood in a fertile volcanic area, but one also subject to frequent and violent earthquakes, which kept its residents in constant insecurity.
In the Bible, Philadelphia is one of the seven churches of Asia to which the apostle John, exiled on the island of Patmos, was sent to write in the book of Revelation.
Alongside Smyrna, it is the only church that receives nothing but praise from Jesus, with no rebuke at all. He acknowledges that it has little strength, but it has kept his word and has not denied his name.
Because of this, Philadelphia became known as a symbol of the faithful church in the midst of weakness. What matters before God is not the size or apparent power of a church, but the faithfulness with which it keeps the word of Christ.
