King James Version · Under Rome
1 John 4
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Beloved, not every , but try the spirits whether they are of : because many false are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye of : Every that confesseth that is come in is of : And every that confesseth not that is come in is not of : and this is that of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of , little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of : he that knoweth heareth us; he that is not of heareth not us. Hereby know we of truth, and of error. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of ; and every one that loveth is born of , and knoweth . He that loveth not knoweth not ; for is love. In this was manifested the love of toward us, because that sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved , but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our . Beloved, if so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen at any time. If we love one another, dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his . And we have seen and do testify that sent the Son to be the of the world. Whosoever shall that is the Son of , dwelleth in him, and he in . And we have known and the love that hath to us. is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in , and in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of : because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love , and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love whom he hath not seen? And this have we from him, That he who loveth love his brother also.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.