The Christians V02 – A Pinch of Incense

A Pinch of Incense

Volume 2: A.D. 70 to 250
From the Fall of Jerusalem to the Decian Persecution

This volume begins with the ministry of the apostle John and the writing of the Fourth Gospel. It continues with the great evangelistic bishops of the early church – Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus; early defenders of the faith such as Justin and Origen; and many of the early martyrs such as Perpetua of Carthage. As more and more converts were discovered in the army, imperial bureaucracy and general population, Roman emperors and governors increasingly saw the new religion as rebellion against the state. They required suspected Christians to burn incense to the divinity of the emperor. Thousands refused and were savagely put to death – torn apart by lions or wild bulls in arenas for sport, crucified along roadsides, or tortured to death in dungeons. Far from destroying the church, however, the courageous deaths of the martyrs drew even more converts.

(Click on the image below to view a reduced resolution sample chapter drawn from the book so you get a sense of its writing style.)

Chapter One

Who was Jesus? The Beloved Disciple gives his long-awaited answer

• The enduring credibility of the Fourth Gospel

Chapter Two

Two bishops pay with their lives as Rome attacks the new faith

• Three books that almost made it into the Bible
• Christianity’s first of many thrusts into ominous Asia

Chapter Three

A brilliant convert teaches the Christians to fight back

• The last president of ancient Israel rebels in disaster
• In the first great schism Judaism and Christianity part
• A husband exacts vengeance on his convert wife
• Martyrdom: The incontestable witness that wins the world

Chapter Four

The philosopher-king who debunks and deplores the Christians

• The gladiators: Players in the world’s nastiest-ever sport
• Did Christian prayer save the Twelfth Legion?

Chapter Five

Slaughter and false teaching scar the Christians of Gaul

• The bloody rites of the ancient Druids
• A second-century charismatic shakes the faith

Chapter Six

The acerbic lawyer who spoke for Christianity and died alone

• A moving testament to Christian marriage
• A mother chooses death over apostacy

Chapter Seven

The martyr’s son who became an evangelical powerhouse

• A pagan satirist describes a ‘Christian’ con man
• The arrival of Christ begins the end for slavery
• A slave girl’s virtue converts her captor
• The ‘secret knowledge’ that claimed Christ for the few

Chapter Eight

The Roman empress seeks instruction from a Christian master

• Marcion starts the popular pastime of rewriting the Bible
• Origen versus Celsus: The Great Debate of the century
• The big party that marked Rome’s 1,000th year

Chapter Nine

Proliferating gospel versions raise the cry for a Christian Bible

• The martyrdom of the patron saint of music
• A firsthand account of a second-century church service

Chapter Ten

Under ferocious attack, the leaven works its miracle

• The bishop of Rome threatens to excommunicate the whole Eastern Church