Paul’s words at 2 Timothy 1:15, evidently written from Rome about the year 65 C.E., may indicate that the strong persecution then beginning to rage against the Christians on the part of the Roman authorities had now caused many of the Christian ‘men of Asia’ to shun association with the imprisoned apostle Paul, turning away from Paul at a critical time. The expression “all the men in the district of Asia” does not imply a total turning away of all Christians in Asia, because Paul immediately thereafter commended Onesiphorus, who was evidently a resident of Ephesus.​—2Ti 1:16-18; 4:19.

A continuation of Christian faith is also manifest in the Revelation and the seven messages sent by John to seven congregations in prominent cities of Asia: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, most of these congregations being commended for having endured tribulation. (Re 1:4, 11; 2:2, 3, 9, 10, 13, 19; 3:10) John was then (c. 96 C.E.) on the island of Patmos, a short distance off the coast of the province of Asia. It is generally believed that John’s Gospel account and three letters were written in or near Ephesus, subsequent to his release from Patmos.