Callista : a Tale of the Third Century

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In CALLISTA: A TALE OF THE THIRD CENTURY John Henry Newman brings the riches of his intellect and imagination to bear upon the the Roman colony of Sicca Veneria in North Africa, circa 250 A.D. Persecution is far from most Christians\' living memory. Priests and bishops have grown lukewarm in matters of faith and preoccupied with matters of business. In celebration of the Roman millenium, Emperor Decius decrees that all citizens must pay homage to Rome by swearing by the genius of the Emperor and worshipping Jove. Against this backdrop Newman\'s novel dramatizes Pagan-Christian conflicts of great consequence through the interwoven fates of three main characters: Agellius, a Christian farmer of Roman descent; Caecilius Cyprianus, the persecuted Bishop of Carthage; and Callista, a Greek decorator of sculptures drawn to the Christian way. Together they must reckon with the most pressing problems of tolerance and exclusivity, conversion and martyrdom. Wiseblood Books fosters fiction, poetry, and philosophy that render truths with what Flannery O\'Connor called an unyielding "realism of distances." Such works find redemption in uncanny places and people; wrestle us from the tyranny of boredom; mock the pretensions of respectability; engage the hidden mysteries of the human heart, be they sources of either violence or courage; articulate faith and doubt in their incarnate complexity; dare an unflinching gaze at human beings as "political animals"; and suffer through this world\'s trials without forfeiting hope. Visit us at www.wisebloodbooks.com. We are wide-eyed for new epiphanies of beauty.