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  • CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.

Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

From the same intelligence that informed them that the boat was smuggling drugs. This is not just an overnight impulsive action. This is part of an ongoing intelligence operation. In fact the Biden administration knew all this.

But even logic tells you this has had an effect in slowing down the trade. If you threaten someone with consequences of lethal action on their operation.

It is completely unreal to say there will be no effect. The very principle of harsh consequences for defying the law is a deterrent. Its been part of the wests basic philosophy.
That's what we told ourselves over and over as we bombed the Ho Chi Minh Trail night after night.
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I hold a view similar to the Open View of God.

Do you believe that being born again ("regeneration") is the result of the Spirit of God taking up residence within one (which is what I take you to be referring to as "spiritual baptism"), or is it the cause of the Spirit of God taking up residence.

In other words, do WE generate valid faith, or does God (the Spirit of God) generate it within us, fully valid? (The amount of faith is another question, not related to its validity).
Do you not think God set out to destroy Nineveh in 40 days? If not, why did He tell them He was going to destroy them in 40 days? Does He have to lie to get them to repent?
It was not a lie. It was a threat. And, indeed, if they had not repented, he would have destroyed them. (By the way, if he had not intended that they repent, why would he go to all that trouble to send Jonah in the precise way that he did?
Correct, God did not set out to redeem all mankind, but He is not happy about the result that all mankind will not be saved.
That's a side issue. I'm not saying he's happy that most will perish.
Are you saying God is not capable of making us entirely free to choose without being caused/compelled to do so?
No. I'm saying that it is a logically self-contradictory notion. (Nobody but God is entirely free). So why would he even consider it? It's not that he can't. It's that it is a non-thing.
If one chooses to repent, from a corrupt spirit, is it not still a valid choice to repent, even if the power to accomplish perfectly it is lacking? Were the people of Nineveh then not really repentant, and God's mercy not the right response, since it was a corrupt and faulty repentance?
The story of Nineveh and Jonah is not about salvation, by the way, so it is not the same sort of repentance. I can go to the fridge to get cream cheese for my bagel, go to the living room where my bagel is, and when I open the cream cheese, it has gray hair growing in it. I repent of my course of action. I go back to the kitchen for something else. The people of Nineveh were wicked, God demanded they change their ways or else. This is not repentance concerning their sinfulness. It is simple repentance of what they were doing. Would you claim they loved God after that repentance? It was still corrupt. But, at least, and for a time, they stopped what they were doing.
So God can't make a being that can make a free choice. God can't do it at all, since only He is the first cause?
Define free choice. Uncaused choice? That makes no sense. Only God chooses, uncaused to do so. If you like, we can into the details of that. Can you show me how anything happens uncaused to do so? Only God is uncaused.
Why not? What prevents God from making a person that can then reject His will? Yet you are saying that no one can reject God's will--it is impossible for God to make such a creature.
Does the capability of rejecting God's commands, and even God's offer of forgiveness and salvation, imply free will? Demonstrate to me that there is anything we do entirely spontaneously. For starters: Is there anything we do that we don't most want to do at that instant of decision?
Which means that no one ever has acted against God's will, right? So everyone, for all time, has been completely within the will of God, and therefore God punishes people for doing His will, exactly as He wants them to do.
Here and above, you consider "God's will" as only one thing. The implication is that God fully intended that we all be holy as he is holy; yet, somehow, only Christ Jesus has been able to do that.

The law —all of it God's will—was given to demonstrate our sin and our need for him, because we are unable to obey it perfectly, and so we deserve death. We need his mercy. Even you don't believe that is all that his will is. He also wills for things to happen quite apart from his law. And those things are a little harder to know. So there are at least two things that are called/considered the will of God. The one thing is not the same as the other. If you think God never intended for Lucifer to rebel and Adam to sin, then why did he bother to make us? He made us to be the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Children of God, the Dwelling Place of God, his People with Him in a way the angels can never be. And THAT would not happen, but for Redemption.

So everyone has acted against his command (his revealed will), but none of us can ruin his plans (his hidden will). He doesn't fly by the seat of his pants to accomplish some general end. Read the prophets where repeatedly God used foreign kings to punish Israel —even refers to one of them as a tool— and then punishes them for doing so. They were not obeying. They were only accomplishing what God had planned for them to do. Do you think that Satan will not have to pay for what he did to Job? Yet God put him up to it, fully intending that that beautiful book would be read by his people.
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Will Russiagate scandal forever taint Obama’s legacy?

If we end up with Trump as a forever president, as dictatorships go (though at his age "forever" is a stretch) don't worry you'll probably get your dream of imprisoning political opponents and dissident voices.

And all of us anti-Trump folk will get to live out our lives in concentration camps and reeducation centers.

Daddy Trump will make the "leftists" pay for exercising their constitutional guaranteed free speech. Because in Trump's America, dissent is the same thing as treason.

MAGA utopia at its finest.
Why is it that people on the left didn’t bat an eye when Obama broke the law and spied on his political opponent, or when Biden unleashed the power of the federal government against his political opponent, but when those very same people are being held accountable for their crimes, all of the sudden Trump is the dictator with nefarious plans for the country when he did absolutely nothing similar to all that nonsense in his first term?

Projection at its highest.
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Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

I don't know who that is.
Nicolás Maduro Moros Venezuelas president.
Well... I was discussing the legality and morality of it, so ... I'm not interested in your "ends justify the means" "morality".
Why, even though that is not my position as you wrongly assume.

But what is the basis that you can justify your morality that rejects other peoples morality when you dismiss it ie (interested in your "ends justify the means" "morality").

You may not be interested in other pooples moral position but you can't just reject it as wrong. No more than anyone can reject your view and belief. Because its all a belief and subjective position.

If you think you can win this by authority of consensus then this does not work either.
I didn't say anything about negotiations. I was talking about criminal interdiction of criminal activity.
And what was the criminal activity. Are you basing this on unsupported assumptions. Trying to ccreate a narrative that is accusing someone of moral wrong when there is not justification.
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Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

Oh. I had not heard that. What is your source the boats have all but stopped?
From the same intelligence that informed them that the boat was smuggling drugs. This is not just an overnight impulsive action. This is part of an ongoing intelligence operation. In fact the Biden administration knew all this.

But even logic tells you this has had an effect in slowing down the trade. If you threaten someone with consequences of lethal action on their operation.

It is completely unreal to say there will be no effect. The very principle of harsh consequences for defying the law is a deterrent. Its been part of the wests basic philosophy.

Its also inconsistent. If we are going to start strutinising about data as to what is moral then why has not these same people been morally outraged at the silence of allowing a million people dies from drugs in a generation. More than all major wars of the 20th century.

Why have not they acted on the clear data that shows drugs are killing 1,000s of people everyday. Why has not anyone questions the policies that have actually caused increases in drugs, crime and addiction.

But as soon as Trump takes action people start complaining about morals. Where were the morals for the last generation of people who were needlessly killed and all the devastation and damage done to society.

Like I said neither side has the moral justification to start moralising. What Trumps actions have exposed into the light of reality is how the past actions have not worked. Whatever the moral basis it has not worked and made things worse.

So this has highlighted a moral dilemma for people, for the future direction of how we deal with these issues. I think we have lost our way and become too soft. Perhaps Trump is going too much the other way. But this is the moral dilemma I think not just the US but the western world faces.

This is how big and serious these recent actions and approaches represent in the way we structure society including ethical. Which includes the whole idea of law and punishment and consequences ect in how we deal with these issues.
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Trump rolls back fuel efficiency standards for vehicles

Even before Trump took office, the U.S. was producing more oil and gas than any nation on the planet
Yet everyone is praising China for its progress in renewable energy. I could probably say that the US is responsible for all the pollution in the world with no need for reference.

A recent article in the Maoist leftist Nation magazine tells us China is the world’s climate champion. Yet, right in the middle of their article they admit China is the largest emitter of carbon gases in the world and responsible 90% of the growth of CO 2 emissions since 2015.


Per the Maoist Nation article:


China’s advances are especially good news, because China is the world’s biggest emitter of carbon gases—and by a long shot: The country is responsible for 90 percent of the growth in CO2 emissions since 2015. Today, its share of total emissions is 32 percent, far ahead of the US (13 percent), India (8 percent), and the EU (6 percent).



Maybe China can mine 99% of the coal in the world in its transition to “clean” energy. If Trump mines less than 1% of it, the anti MAGA, international federation can blame conservative Americans for the next natural disaster that can only be a result of maga induced “climate change.”
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FBI makes arrest in investigation into pipe bombs placed in DC on eve of Jan. 6 riot, AP source says

I wouldn't be surprised if he's seen as a hero, by many within GenZ, who since the killing of Charlie Kirk, have taken the stance that politically motivated violence is "acceptable".


Gen Z is headed down a path that could threaten the future stability of American democracy and society," said Jordan Schwartz, student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project.
  • Prayers
Reactions: Vambram
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Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

And here we have another person who thinks killing those two men in the water after their boat had been sunk was a righteous act. It must be just a coincidence that you happen to be a Christian as well.
Your conflating a bunch of things just to attack Christians or people who are posing alternative views. Now where have I heard this before I wonder lol.

Show me where I said that anything out of this situation is good. In fact I clearly stated that no matter how you look at this situation its all no good. That this is an ethical dilemma between two hard ethical situations.

I also pointed out that the conflation of assuming a moral position on what actually happened based on legacy media is unjustified. But you don't seem to get this and you keep making logical fallacies in order to put the blame all on Christians or some moralising of your personal views and beliefs being projected into this situation.
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Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

I actually said the boats have just about stopped. That particular method of smuggling the drugs has almost be completely stopped. Based on the fact that the warnings were given and then the action was taken and the warning that any further boats will also be targeted.

That changes the ball game. Now the Narcos have to access the risk. Before there was no risk and now there is. The risk of being blown out of the water, being killed and losing all their drugs. Its a pretty big factor that is now being forced onto the narcos which has changed the game.
Oh. I had not heard that. What is your source the boats have all but stopped?
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At first I thought this was another Onion parody, but...

I certainly hope it was a joke. She's not the brightest person in the world, but that would be world-class stupid, wouldn't it? My first impression was that it was satire. Apparently not.
When I listened to the conversation, the room broke out in laughter when she said that part. She is dumb but I would say that she was joking.
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Trump dispenses with trials, orders military strike on alleged Venezuelan drug-trafficking boat (Now up to 2, 3, 4...)

I don't believe this is a situation that falls under the Law of Armed Conflict though.
ALL situations involving US military forces in armed hostile activity falls under the LOAC. These people would be classified as "Unprivileged Belligerents."

Unprivileged belligerents include members of organized armed groups and civilians directly participating in hostilities (see 5.4.1.1). Members of organized armed groups are subject to attack at any time during the armed conflict unless they are hors de combat. Unprivileged belligerents placed hors de combat are not considered POWs, but must be treated humanely. Civilians directly participating in hostilities forfeit the protections from attack afforded to civilians under the law of armed conflict and may be attacked while they are taking a direct part in hostilities. If captured, they are not considered POWs and may be tried and punished under domestic law.

Shipwrecked persons include those in peril at sea or in other waters as a result of the sinking, grounding, or other damage to a vessel in which they are embarked, or of the downing or distress of an aircraft. It is immaterial whether the peril was the result of enemy action or nonmilitary causes. Following each naval engagement at sea, the belligerents are obligated to take all
possible measures, consistent with the security of their forces, to search for and rescue the shipwrecked. The status of persons detained—combatant, unprivileged belligerent, noncombatant, or civilian—does not change as a result of becoming incapacitated by wounds, sickness, shipwreck, or surrender. The decision to continue detention of persons hors de combat and the status of such detainees will be determined by their prior
classification.

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Zions New Children

When you say new Jerusalem, are you referring to heaven, or a place on earth?
Yes new heaven, and earth then the new Jerusalem comes down to it. By the sound of it it is not made of periodic matter like we have now carbon nitrogen etc as the gold is clear sheets which does not exist in our world. So the new heaven, and earth is not made of periodic matter whatever it is made of. You never answered my question- are you IO preterist?
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Date of authorship of Revelation

Revelation was written 41 AD. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, 55 AD said he knew someone 14 years earlier caught up to heaven that saw things that can't be written which is what happens to John in Revelation 10:4 ; an angel tells him don't write some things down. Paul doesn't say it was the author of Revelation he is talking about because he does not want to boast. Internally in Rev 11 the temple is still standing, and being destroyed which is describing the Romans doing it 70 AD, and Daniel 9 which ended 70 AD said vision, and prophecy would stop 70 AD, and Revelation contains vision, and prophecy. Dan 9 was saying inspired scripture would stop 70 AD. I reject external evidence if it conflicts with inspired scripture therefore I reject apocryphal acts of John (150 AD), and Irenaeus (180 AD) that say Revelation was written in the 90s AD under Domitian. They must of had corrupted oral traditions of when it was written passed on to them.

Assumption of Moses, 1 Enoch, Jude

I made another post on Jude, and 1 Enoch (not pseudepigrapha) Jude, and 1 Enoch

Assumption of Moses has the same kind of language 1 Enoch 1:1-9 uses about 70 AD that Jude quotes. Also same kind of language Jesus uses in Math 24 about 70 AD. This book is very important. It is on audiobook on youtube (same with 1 Enoch). Some parts are quite at the end but there is one version on youtube that is the same sound level all the way through.

Assumption of Moses. Moses dying words to Joshua appointing him head of the Israelites. Internally written by Moses, Joshua, and someone else at the time of coming into Canaan around 1400 BC, and is not pseudepigrapha.

Chapter 10

1 And then His kingdom will appear throughout all His creation,
And then Satan will be no more,
And sorrow will depart with him.

2. Then the hands of the angel will be filled
And he will be appointed chief,
And he will forthwith avenge them of their
enemies.

Those things above were about Jesus first century death burial resurrection the kingdom of heaven arriving on Pentecost through the holy spirit, Michael the angel fighting the devil, and winning in Revelation 12 which was prophesied in Daniel 12, and happened when Jesus said now is the time for the prince of this world to be cast down, and behold I see satan fall like lightning from heaven. Revelation 1-12 happened 70 AD Rev 13-22 is future.

This section here is like 1 Enoch 1:1-9

3 For the Heavenly One shall arise from
the throne of His kingdom,
And shall come out of His holy habitation
With indignation and wrath for His children.
4. And the earth shall quake : even to its
bounds shall it be shaken:
And the lofty mountains shall be brought
low and shall be shaken,
And the valleys shall fall. 1
5. The sun shall not give his light, and the
horns of the moon shall be turned into
darkness,
And they shall be broken, and the whole of
the moon shall be turned into blood.2
And the circuit 3 of the stars shall be disordered;
And the sea shall fall even to the abyss ;
The fountains of waters shall fail,
And the rivers be afraid. 4
7. Because the Most High God, the Eternal,
the Only God shall arise,
And manifest Himself to punish the nations,
And to destroy all their idols

Both Enoch, and Moses started out with a blessing, and also refer to themselves in third person.

Deuteronomy 33

33 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death. 2 He said:

“The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned over them from Seir;
he shone forth from Mount Paran.
He came with[a] myriads of holy ones
from the south, from his mountain slopes.


Habakkuk 3
God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
5 Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
6 He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed—
but he marches on forever.



Mathew 24 19. Jesus about 70 AD.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Revelation 6:12
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,

Joel 2:10. Internally Joel can be written in the 500s BC. Has the same language but this section is about Maccabees

10 The earth quakes before them;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.

Acts 2 cites the bottom part of Joel 2 about Pentecost, and the day of the lord - Gods judgment on Jerusalem 70 AD

16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[c]
19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20 the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

Joel 2

“And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
32 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors
whom the Lord calls.[c]

Mark 13:24-25
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

Joel 3. Same kind of language but I think about Maccabees not 70 AD.

15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.

Isaiah 13:9 about God using the Medes to destroy Babylon after they judge Israel in the 500s BC.

See, the day of the Lord is coming
—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—
to make the land desolate
and destroy the sinners within it.
10 The stars of heaven and their constellations
will not show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light.
11 I will punish the world for its evil,
the wicked for their sins.
I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty
and will humble the pride of the ruthless.
12 I will make people scarcer than pure gold,
more rare than the gold of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble;
and the earth will shake from its place
at the wrath of the Lord Almighty,
in the day of his burning anger.


Psalm 97

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.

Luke 21:22. Jesus about 70 AD
For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.

Galatians 4:25

25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

Jude
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones
15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

1 Enoch 1:1-9. 1 Enoch internally is written pre flood, and is not pseudepigrapha.

1. The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect ⌈⌈and⌉⌉ righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked ⌈⌈and godless⌉⌉ are to be removed. 2. And he took up his parable and said--Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, ⌈which⌉ the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come. 3. Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them:

The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling,
4. And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai,
⌈And appear from His camp⌉
And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.

5. And all shall be smitten with fear
And the Watchers shall quake,
And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.

6. And the high mountains shall be shaken,
And the high hills shall be made low,
And shall melt like wax before the flame p. 32

7. And the earth shall be ⌈wholly⌉ rent in sunder,
And all that is upon the earth shall perish,
And there shall be a judgement upon all (men).

8. But with the righteous He will make peace.

And will protect the elect,
And mercy shall be upon them.

And they shall all belong to God,
And they shall be prospered,
And they shall ⌈all⌉ be blessed.

⌈And He will help them all⌉,
And light shall appear unto them,
⌈And He will make peace with them⌉.

9. And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones
To execute judgement upon all,
And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly:

And to convict all flesh
Of all the works ⌈of their ungodliness⌉ which they have ungodly committed,
And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners ⌈have spoken⌉ against Him.



So Jesus came back 70 AD like he said he would to the apostles with all the angels over "Mt Sinai" aka Jerusalem, all the Israelites rose from the dead like Daniel 12 said they would at the "end" of waiting for the messiah, the faithful ones got raptured same with some of the living predestined elect remnant of the lost sheep of the house of Israel which was the 144,000 in Rev 7 all saved via belief in Jesus by 70 AD. Gospel of Nicodemus written pre 70 AD inspired apocrypha not pseudepigrapha has more details of the people that raised from the dead the day Jesus died. Jesus said it would be tribulation like Enoch did, and Enoch says it is a prophecy for a remote generation because he is writing pre flood between 5500 BC creation, and around 3300 BC Noahs flood. Revelation 1-12 happened 70 AD but Rev 13-22 is future still. Revelation was written 41 AD when John was exiled to Patmos by Claudius Caesar. It was not written in the 90s AD like Irenaeus, and apocryphal acts of John says.

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