Heirs to the Promises

Heirs to the Promises continues the story of the emergence of early Christianity in the milieu of the late-first- and early-second-century Roman world. Descendants of the main characters in the author's Timotheus-Dearly Beloved Son, Timotheus-the Most Faithful and The Man of the Wilderness pursue their own lives as Christian bishops, Roman military figures, successful merchants, and cultural leaders in a world of political intrigue, social upheaval, religious persecution, and expansion of the Roman Empire from the end of the reign of Emperor Domitianus through that of Emperor Trajanus. David ben Jacob, emissary of the king of Nabatea and son of one of the Jewish martyrs of Masada; Parmenion Philotas, son of Timotheus of Lystra and a leader of Christians in Asia; Tribune Linus of Ephesus, a survivor of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii who becomes a significant figure in Rome's rule of Britannia, are bound to one another in friendship but struggle with being faithful to the promises of their personal heritages in the complex political, social, and religious atmosphere after the demise of Domitianus and through the reign of Trajanus. Familiar literary figures from Roman antiquity, including Pliny the Younger, Dio Chrysostom, Tacitus, and Juvenal, cross paths and exchange ideas with the book's main characters. While this work is one of historical fiction, the author has been faithful to the ancient historical context underlying the unfolding story of The Heirs to the Promises.Any reader wishing to be better informed regarding the story of the emergence of early Christianity on the world's stage, while at the same time being immersed in the interaction of persons, fictional and historical, who inhabited that time, will find Heirs to the Promises a rewarding read.