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Churches under Siege of Persecution and Assimilation: The General Epistles and Revelation is unavailable, but you can change that!

In this third and final book of a three-volume series, B.J. Oropeza covers the writings of the General Epistles and the communities in the book of Revelation—the seven churches in Asia Minor. In Hebrews there were warnings of apostasy with no restoration, yet in James there can be restoration of apostates. Peter identifies marginalized Christians and apostate teachers. Jude confronts apostate...

and Silius Italicus portray him in a more positive light.24 However, this evidence can cut both ways, and it should be questioned how “objective” the latter authors would have been, especially if any were attempting to flatter the emperor.25 First-century Roman persecution of Christians, in any case, does not seem to arise from a direct command by Nero or Domitian to be worshipped as “lord and god.”26 In Rev 2–3 the conflict is viewed by some scholars as internal. It involves factions related to
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