What happens to a person or group of persons when they are forced out of their social group by some means or another? We are not sure how these early Christians were ostracized or by what means. Some hypothesize that they were forced to expose themselves in the saying of the "Benediction against Heretics" others say that this was not possible because the Benediction was not specifically Christian enough to expose people. It seems that at least some of the Pharisees were actively involved in the ouster. This exclusion meant that families and friends turned against you. You were shunned by those who loved you and were your support system. What do you do then? Are your ties to the new group strong enough to support you? You no longer have a worshiping community or holidays to celebrate. Does this have an impact on you? The answer for this group was: yes. When a group of people are ostracized from their home group there is a tendency to turn inward and lick your wounds, maybe cry over your loss. You have a lot of anger at those who ousted you, maybe some paranoia develops. The pain of loss is immobilizing. Anger at the perpetrator follows. What is needed is a leader who can help replace some of the lost institutions such as worship. In the mean time, the perpetrators are given a name and usually it is exaggerated. In this case they were Pharisees, who became all "Jews", not just those who were the perpetrators. There is no check on this exaggerated thinking among the victims. Paranoia sets in; victims see enemies behind every bush. When you are cut off from the world, you loose your skills in navigating the world. Social skills are lost or muted. You realize that one of the problems you had was what you thought about Jesus as the Messiah. So over time, you develop your thinking. John has a very developed understanding of Christ, the Messiah. Do you know people in communities similar to the one in John? -Ann Drake