Bishop of Antioch during Trajan’s reign. He took measures to organize the city's Christian community. He was arrested and brought to Rome, where he met his death as a martyr in c.107 AD. On his way to Rome he sent epistles to the Christian communities of the cities of Asia Minor. The texts of these epistles have survived and the teachings contained therein constitute the foundation of the theological school of Antioch.

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The Hebrew Saul had been a persecutor of Christians before he became the most important representative and apostle of the new religion under the name Paul. As a missionary he travelled for a long time in the eastern Mediterranean and particularly in Asia Minor, where he founded a large number of new churches. His preaching is included, among other texts, in 14 epistles preserved in the New Testament.

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Pionius was prelate of Smyrna during the 1st half of the 3rd c. During the persecution of Decius in 250 AD he was arrested and became a martyr. His memory is celebrated by the Eastern Church on March 11th and by the Western Church on February 1st.

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Saint John the Evangelist was the author of the Revelation. He is possibly also identified as the homonymous author of the Epistles in the New Testament. If he is in fact the same person, then he must have been the son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of Jacob, who was born in Palestine and became a disciple of Christ, was exiled to Patmos during Nero’s pogrom in around 50 BC, where he wrote the Revelation, and later settled in Ephesus where we wrote the Epistles and the Gospel. An opulent...