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To: Uncle Chip
He is clearly in Babylon there, where Josephus tells us there was a substantial community of Jews [the circumcision to whom Peter dedicated his life to reaching].

Babylon had been in ruins for 200 years at that point. It was a minor caravan stop, nothing more. The Chaldean (Iraqi) Christians today look to St. Thomas as their founder, not St. Peter.

There's abundant archaeological evidence that Peter died and was buried in Rome. When you find a 1st C. tomb with a bunch of Christian symbols scratched on it and "Peter is here" written in Greek, Occam's razor says that's probably Peter's tomb. And that's exactly what exists beneath the high altar of St. Peter's.

1,189 posted on 10/24/2006 11:05:11 AM PDT by Campion ("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
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To: Campion
Babylon had been in ruins for 200 years at that point. It was a minor caravan stop, nothing more.

Not true. There was a thriving Jewish community that there that never returned to Israel. They had the Babylonian Talmud, a Jewish school at Pembeditha, . . . I believe Philo and Josephus wrote of the substantial size of the Jewish community there.

Peter was the Apostle to the Jews and went where the Jews were in abundance --- Jerusalem, Asia Minor, Babylon. Meanwhile Jews had been ordered out of Rome by Emperor Claudius and Peter being a Jew and not a Roman citizen, would have been personna non grata there.

1,195 posted on 10/24/2006 11:29:44 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: Campion; Uncle Chip
Babylon had been in ruins for 200 years at that point. It was a minor caravan stop, nothing more.

This is simply untrue! Josephus speaks of Israelites, beyond numbers, not subject to the Romans living in "Babylon" during the first century. You will find this in "Antiquities" Book XI, Chapter V, paragraph 2.

And when these Jews had understood what piety the king had towards God, and what kindness he had for Esdras, they were all greatly pleased; nay, many of them took their effects with them, and came to Babylon, as very desirous of going down to Jerusalem; but then the entire body of the people of Israel remained in that country; wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers.

Matthew 10:5-6 directs Peter and the other Eleven to evangelize these "Lost Sheep" and not to go among the Gentiles. In 1 Peter 1:1-2 you will find Peter doing just that....evangelizing "Those with the foreknowledge of God". In fact Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles....and Rome, was told to stay away from there [Acts 16:7].

You will find that Babylon was a little more than a caravan stop during the first century. You may not like the idea of Peter being there but both history and scripture verify it. They do not do the same for him being in Rome.....at any time.

1,238 posted on 10/24/2006 5:46:23 PM PDT by Diego1618
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