<P> Some historicists typically interpret the seven churches as representing seven different periods in the history of the Western Church from the time of Paul until the return of Jesus Christ . Scofield states that "these messages by their very terms go beyond the local assemblies mentioned ." He is of the opinion that the letters have a prophetic purpose disclosing the seven phases of the spiritual history of the Church . Other writers, such as Clarence Larkin, Henry Hampton Halley, Merrill Unger, and William M. Branham also have posited the view that the seven churches preview the history of the global Church . </P> <P> Historicism has been criticized by the Eastern Orthodox Fr . Dimitri Cozby, who writes that historicists take a greatly oversimplified view of church history: "Since dispensationalism is Protestant in origin its' Church history' is strictly Western . The dispensations take into account almost nothing of Orthodox history after the period of the early councils which we share with the West ." </P> <P> Chapters 2 - 3 of the Revelation have specific messages for each of the seven churches . The message of each of the seven letters is directed to the angel of the particular church that is mentioned . </P> <P> Origen explains that these "angels" are the guardian angels of the churches, a view upheld by Henry Alford . But Epiphanius explicitly rejects this view, and, in accordance with the imagery of the passage, explains it of the bishops . </P>

Where are the seven churches of revelation located today