The book of John is thought to have been written about 70 years after the death of Christ. By this time the early church was living under the constant threat of persecution. Basically Christianity was illegal. So it was helpful to remind folks that Jesus said it would be like this. "That the world would hate you because of me." When John wrote, this hatred had long since begun.
The Roman government hated Christians because it regarded them as disloyal citizens. They refused to worship Caesar. They persecuted Christians because they insisted they had no king but Christ.
Slanderous things were also believed about Christians. They were said to be cannibals because in one of their religious ceremonies they ate the body and drank the blood of Christ. They were said to be immoral because they greeted each other with a kiss of peace which might mean their feasts were an orgy of sexual indulgences. They broke up families because when one member became a Christian the family might become divided. All of which we living in 2011 understand not to be true, but which the common uneducated Roman citizen fully believed.
In fact by the time John was written some Christians had already abandoned their beliefs. Even among the heroes of the early church, there were those whose faith was not great enough to resist persecution and whose endurance was not strong enough to stay the course.
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