The Persecution of the Christians by Domitian, 94, seems to have been bloodless. We know the most prominant Christian leader was exiled to Patmos and famously wrote the Apocalypse there.  What other literature might we have from this time?


     The letters of 2 and 3 John are mere postcards, what accounts for their survival?  Obviously they are of relic value of a beloved leader, writer of 1John and gJohn, and Apocalypse,  but why keep these.


     2John begins with John introducing himself with phrases probably already known to the whole church from 1John. But he is  being mysterious for some reason that 3John might clear up. 2Jn goes on with a warning against a gnostic theme, and ends with what i think is the real message, he is on the run and needs a place to crash.


     In 3John he is writing to an individual, Gaius, who is known to be helpful. Diotrephes, an official at a church, has got a letter from John asking to crash, but John was turned away. John now asks Gaius for a place to crash, and he expects to expose Diotraphes there.


     2 and 3 John may be artifacts of John's arrest. Preachers on these letters may be too hard on Diotraphes who maybe tried to stir John away from a trap,


     I imagine by the exile instead of death punishment that the Flavian years were comfortable for the church. The line of crucifixions under Nero was a one off, and after the Jewish War the Jewish persecution of Christians was over. 


     Now consider the letter of Jude. He wants to write a general letter about salvation but only has time to warn the church about popular false Christian teacherrs or prophets. Who is this Jude? He knows the church is unfamiliar with him, but the church does know his brother James.  From this many commentators make this Jude out to be a brother of Jesus whose brother James the Just was murdered in yr 62. In that case he could just as well be a son of Zebedee whose son James was killed around yr 44.


     Certain scholars today think there was many Jesus movement groups in the mid first century, but i think that is anachronistic and the gnostic Christian ideas began in the late first century, that Jesus's audience was not a Jesus movement but was the Baptist's movement and there was only one cult with Peter and Jesus's brother that Paul tried hard to remain in. So i interpret the letter of Jude as an introduction to the new Peter and if we know his brother at all it must be James the Less, rather recently passed, otherwise Jameswould be the next Peter after Johnn. And here he is with no time to write about salvation.  He too is on the run.


     Scholars have discerned that the letter of 2Peter has parts similar to the letter of Jude, and i think this Jude write 2Peter to elaborate on his introduction letter, i think 2 Peter too late to be by Simon because it is too early to consider the canonization of the Pauline letters which is not yet accomplished in 2Pt. Consider that Paul is a hero of Luke, yet Luke is not a careful reader of Paul, so even as late as the writing of Acts Paul's letters are not yey considered Bible. Nor most likely are the letters of James, 1Peter, or 1John considered Bible yet so Judes hiding behind Peter's name is just a ruse to throw his hunters offtrack. The church of that time knew Peter wrote only one letter and they know where this second letteer comes from


     Last of all i consider what set off this sudden and limited persecution. We see that Josephus in his Antiquities knows about this Jesus whose followers perhaps bother everyone, he leaves a smarmy satirical bit about Jesus that i think may be original but uttered in jest. Josephus wrote about the Jewish War as a friend of the Flavians.  In another blog page i wrote about the very likelihood that Luke wrote a second book of Acts, and that non extent book probably dealt also with the Jewish War. I have no evidence but 2Acts non existance to make a guess, but a guess of a guess would be that the sudden Persecution of Domitian was to put the kibosh on something in it not very flattering to the Flavians.

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