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TORONTO, Canada, November 8, 2002 — Historian and best-selling author David C. McCullough has called history "a guide to navigation in perilous times." If he is correct, then Volume Two of The Christian History Project, A Pinch of Incense, A.D. 70 to 250, should be on the 'must-read' list of every believer.
The Christian History Project is an Edmonton, Alberta based business venture, established to chronicle the 2,000-year history of Christianity. Canadian journalist, author and editor, Ted Byfield, began the enterprise with a plan to reveal (in 15 volumes, released one at a time over a three year period) the enormous impact Christianity has had on the development of western culture.
In Volume 2, most readers will find themselves 'on foreign ground'
Christian History Project
Surrounded by their enemies, exhausted and thirsty, soldiers of the Twelfth Legion are revived by a sudden thunderstorm.
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Byfield heads up the team of dozens of researchers, writers, consultants, academics, map- makers and illustrators who form the project, which is modelled on the Time/Life book series. Volume 1, The Veil Is Torn, details the earliest days of the faith, from Pentecost to the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Rich in photographs and illustrations, it covers the New Testament period of Christianity that would be familiar to most Christians. It is written in an easy-to-read style, that's filled with the fresh insights that could only come through hearing the history from the perspective of those who lived it.
The same format has been followed in Volume 2, but Byfield is correct when he writes in his introduction to this book that, "most readers ...will find themselves on foreign ground. With this volume ... they venture forth into unknown lands, where both the people and many of the places are unfamiliar." It is perhaps, this very unfamiliarity of people and places that makes reading about many of them in "A Pinch of Incense" startling.
Our spiritual forefathers had much, much more to endure
Ours is an era and culture so comfortable, with religious rights and freedoms so taken for granted, that it's easy to feel persecuted when simply shunned socially or mocked for one's beliefs. Yet there are no guarantees that things will always remain this secure. The fact that our spiritual forefathers had much, much more to endure, and are therefore people from whom we can learn much, are realities this book brings home.
Christian History Project
As the Christian martyrs are led through the streets of Alexandria on the way to their deaths, Origen boldly salutes them with a kiss.
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"It was an age when faith and commitment were measured, not only in words, but in terms of blood, suffering, sorrow, humiliation and pain," says Byfield, and his book reveals the truth of that statement on almost every page.
Volume two opens by establishing the historical setting - both Christian and secular, (just after the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans) for the personalities who will be introduced to readers throughout the course of the book's 281 pages.
Act after act of unbelievable cruelty is documented
As chapter follows chapter, readers meet Roman rulers and aristocrats; well-loved Christian saints, known leaders, and nameless slaves. We learn about their lives, their legacies, their impact on one another, and their contribution to the faith. Act after act of almost unbelievable cruelty is documented and described, revealing in those who were tortured and martyred (because of their love for Christ), a level of courage and commitment that today might be labelled by many as 'fanaticism.'
Christian History Project
The deeply paternal attitude of the apostle John, evident particularly in his letters, is demonstrated in the hills outside Smyrna.
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And yet, these are details of the lives of our spiritual ancestors. They are stories of the ordinary men and women who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, kept Christianity not only alive but growing, under extraordinary circumstances.
There is Ignatius, who, after 30 years as bishop of Antioch, was sentenced to be eaten by wild beasts, and who, we are told, looked forward to martyrdom: "In a letter to the Romans, Ignatius proclaimed that under the grinding of the beasts' teeth into his flesh he would become the 'wheat of God,' ready to be made into 'the pure bread of Christ'." (p. 52)
The story is also told of Vibia Perpetua, a young Carthaginian mother, whose life, faith and death sentence in A.D. 203 were immortalized largely due to the fact that she kept a detailed diary.
'History shows us who we are and why we are the way we are'
And readers learn about many of the forces that impacted the early church; paganism, Platonism, and the rise of Gnosticism, "a problem that would dog the Christians for the next two centuries and more," (p. 219).
It has been said that history shows us both who we are, and why we are the way we are. In A Pinch of Incense, Ted Byfield and his staff at The Christian History Project continue the work they began with Volume 1, in shedding light on the foundations of the Christian faith. The stories they tell are provocative and inspiring, and could even be said to be useful and timely navigational aids, in what could well become increasingly perilous times.
Source: Patricia L. Paddey, Bible Network News
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