[ealgeone]

How many departed saints were there by A.D. 90? Not that many.

What do you base this claim upon?

Do you know the death rates of Christians at this time?

[vladimir998]

“What do you base this claim upon?”

Truth.

“Do you know the death rates of Christians at this time?”

I know about the number of Christians - about 1 million by A.D. 90 according to historians. That means the number of saints in Heaven when most or all of the New Testament books were written would be small and little known or reckoned on earth because of distances apart on earth, communications, persecutions and secrecy and so on.

Also, when one considers the need for final theosis on the part of many early Christians the numbers in Heaven would be even smaller than first considered between A.D. 30-90. Hence, early Christians were so willing to undergo martyrdom because it meant Heaven without need of any lengthy (for lack of a better term to describe a process after death) final theosis.

[daniel1212]

Do you know the death rates of Christians at this time?

Irrelevant. There were always plenty of angels to pray to in the OT (which Caths pray to), as well as occasions of need to do so if that was viable and allowed, but instead the closest thing is that of Davind asking the Lord, "Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them." (Psalms 35:6)