The Physician of Nineveh by Glenn Cooper has something for everyone.  It has history.  It has romance.  It is an action thriller.  It has fantasy.  It has science.  It has time travel.  It has a happy ending--for all.

The major characters are a physician from the seventh century, BC, and a scholar specializing in Assyriology, Kate Mayne, from the twenty-first century, AD. They meet through time-travel.

See, Mannu the Assyrian physician uses black magic to travel through time, to find a cure for King Ashurbanipa's favorite concubine.  He lands in London, where Kate finds him.  Kate, scholar, that she is, thinks her dreams have come true.  The drama comes in when the King's enemies follow Mannu to make sure he doesn't succeed in his quest.

The story is different, and like I said, it has everything.

Melito

 Melito was the first bishop of Sardis, in Asia Minor.  Sardis, once was capital of Lydia, a wealthy capital in modern day Turkey. It one of the Seven Churches of Asia, in Revelation.  King Croesus's wealth was known in Sardis.

Did you ever hear of it?  Keep that in mind and meditate that "All is passing, only God abides."  

Melito, as other evangelists, was writing Apologies, defending the faith in the second century.  Most of what he wrote is lost.  What remains is his Apology, or some of it.  From it, we understand that he mentions the existence of cooperation between the church and the Roman Empire.  One gets the idea that God predestined that the church was formed specifically to flourish during the Constantine era and after, giving rise to the Holy Roman Empire.  Do you want to call this political theology?

Scientific Find

 Popular Mechanics has an article that highlights Christianity, as early as the third century.  A skeleton was found in Frankfurt, Germany, wearing a religious medal--a cross.  The skeleton is dated 230-279 AD, which means that Christianity had spread as far north to Germany by that century.  During that time, the Emperor, Nero, was persecuting Christians.  So for anyone to wear a Christian symbol was very brave, if not foolish.  His or her, faith, must have been very important.

It is not only a cross; there is a Latin inscription, on it.  Translated: 

(In the name?) of Saint Titus.

Holy, holy, holy!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God!

The Lord of the World

resists with [strength?]

all attacks(?)/setbacks(?).

The god(?) grants well-being

Admission.

This rescue device(?) protects

the person who is

surrenders to the will

of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,

since before Jesus Christ

all knees bow: the heavenly ones,

the earthly and

the underground, and every tongue

confess (to Jesus Christ).

Who is St. Titus? He was a disciple of Paul.  He carried Paul's letters and organized and helped Paul.  There is no description of how he died.  

Interesting is the award, Cross of St. Titus.  This award is given to chaplains, who offered "meritorious contributions to the unique and highly visible Unit Ministry Team Observer Controller Program. The award recognizes the great importance of realistic, doctrinally guided combat ministry training in ensuring the delivery of prevailing religious support to the American Soldier."
Wikipedia

  I guess the idea for the Cross of St. Titus was because of the companionship, support, dependability, and trust, that Titus gave to St. Paul.

                                                             St. Titus as Bishop of Crete.

Burdens

 Thank God, I'm here and now, not living during the times of the novel, The Calamity Club by Kathern Stockett. The depression era was hard, but the degradation Blacks, women, children, and those intellectually challenged, had to endure, broke my heart.  

The story in The Calamity Club tells it all.  The limited job opportunities, women had no choice, but to accept.  How orphans were treated. How Blacks were treated.  And I learned a new vocabulary word--miscegenation.  

Miscegenation: Derived from Latin miscere ("to mix") and genus ("race"); historically used in laws banning interracial marriage

The story begins with a little girl, Meg, being left alone.  Her mother didn't come home.  Eventually, she is sent to an orphanage, that must have been inspired by Charles Dickens.  The people in that town, the boss lady, Garnett, volunteers, Birdie and Frances, and the people who eventually adopt Meg, are all unforgettable people.  I loved all the characters.

In fact, I love everything about the book.  

The Apologists

 Apologist comes from the Greek language, meaning defense.  That's a different meaning to us, nowadays.  But the early Christians had to constantly be on the defense from the government, Jews, and pagans.  Why?  

At that time, God was Caesar and only worship of him, was allowed.
The Jews opposed the early Christians because the Christians preached that the Jews killed Jesus.
The pagans didn't like the morality of the Christians, who criticized many of their mores.

What were the Christians defending?

There are always prejudice against new ideas, especially if it involves changing lifestyles.
Misunderstandings of what the Christians were preaching.
Cannibalism--yes, because Jesus said "Eat my flesh, drink my blood," non Christians just didn't understand. John 6:53-56
Incest--again, misunderstanding of the teachings on love of our brothers and sisters. 1 John 4:21 and Romans 12:10.
Political subversion--yes, even today.  Christians must obey their well-formed conscience, not their government or illegal orders from authorities.

Add to the above, fear.  Fear and distrust generated the hatred of Christians and unleashed persecution against them.

 

Action Galore

 Nelson DeMille's The Cuban Affair is full of action.  The main character, Mac is hired by Cuban exiles.  He's told it's to retrieved hidden money that the exiles hid, when they left Cuba, in a hurry.  But actually, that was only secondary.  First, was the titles to the exiles' property, that they wanted to show the world in international court, that they still owned.  Also, the make sure Mac would take their paperwork, there was a trunk full of soldiers' bones, the Cubans had taken from Afghanistan and tortured and left to rot in Cuban prisons. Mac wanted to show Americans what they did and bring those troops home.

The reader isn't really sure if the paperwork and bones made it home.  The CIA picked them up from their boat, which the Cubans were chasing and shooting at. The CIA said their boat was blown up and everything was lost.  Well, that's what the CIA said.

Anyway, Mac found love, adventure, and a sense of what's important in life.  What else do you want?

The Catacombs of Priscilla

 Priscilla (Prisca) and her husband Aquilla are mentioned a few times in the New Testament, especially in conjunction with the Paul.  She and her husband are notable Christians.  Her catacomb is still visited in Rome.  A catacomb is a burial place, especially for the early Christians.  The early Christians, as Jews, kept the practice of burying their dead.  It's a good thing, too, because when Christianity was outlawed, that's where the Christians went to pray, attend Mass, and hide.  

The artwork in the catacombs is extensive, as well as interesting.  Early Christian symbols and depictions of the Last Supper or Mass, depict the Eucharist.