Greek primacists favoring certain anciet texts

[Paul Younan]

Shlama Akhi Rob

Both the Jesus Seminar and the fans of the Da Vinci code would agree with you on this.

I don't think I explained myself clearly on this, or perhaps you aren't familiar with the world outside of the Roman empire at the time and the interaction between Rome and Parthia. So allow me to explain.

There was a border to the Roman empire. It did not rule the word, as some people may think. To the east of it was the Parthian empire - who kicked Roman rear end every time they tried to cross the Euphrates. I've included the map below for your reference.

The two side were constantly at war. They hated each other. In Parthia (Persia), there were many many Christians who were Semites just like the Jews across the border on the extreme eastern fringe of the Roman empire. Reference the map. In addition to these Semites who were Christians, there was the largest concrentation of Jews (and Jewish believers) in Babylon and Adiabene (read Josephus about the Jewish kingdom of Adiabene, also on the map) - the vast majority of whom never left and who produced such works as the Babylonian Talmud in their famous schools.

Anyway, back to the topic. Up until the time of Constantine, as you are aware, Christians were bitterly persecuted in the Roman empire. They were tolerated in Persia.

But that changed when Constantine became a Christian. You can imagine how the Shah (king) of Persia felt about having the Roman emperor's co-religionists within his own kingdom. Persia never became Christian. Suddenly, the tolerance Christians in Persia once enjoyed became a slaughter on the scale never seen before or since. It made the coloseums of Rome look humane. It lasted for 70 long years. Read up about it - it's really fascinating and you might discover one reason why there is a dearth of written Christian material (not the least of which biblical manuscripts) from pre-Constantine Parthia.