The Ancient Witnesses

12 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

Many of the quotations found in these pages are from the Early Church Fathers : Ante-Nicene, Nicene & Post- Nicene Fathers , an easily accessible set of books. In my endnotes, the standard references to historical documents (for example II.23.1 = book 2, chapter 23, section 1) are followed by those for the Early Church Fathers , for example, ANF 3,141 = Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 3, page 141. NPNF 1.5, 365 = Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, volume 5, page 365, and NPNF 2.11, 53 = Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, volume 11, page 53. Additional sources are cited in the notes and the bibliography. Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted. The ancients did not cite the Bible by chapter and verse as we do, but these are footnoted for the reader’s convenience. The story of The Ancient Witnesses takes place in modern day Iznik, Turkey, known historically as Nicaea (pronounced Nai-see-ah). According to the ancient Church historian Eusebius ( Life of Constantine , III.10), the Nicene Council met (AD 325) at the Summer Palace of Emperor Constantine. The location of the palace was lost to history after it was destroyed. To aid my imagination in describing the chamber where the events of The Ancient Witnesses take place, I studied photographs and architectural diagrams from an ancient Nicaean church. My description of the “Athenaeum” as well as the book’s illustrations are based on these historical images. 4 Also helpful were photos from the “Walls of Nicaea” website posted by Roberto Piperno (at http://romeartlover. 4 The source is a book published by the German art historian Theodor Schmit entitled Die Koimesis-Kirche von Nikaia, das Bauwerk und die Mosaiken mit 35 Tafeln (which translates, The Dormition Church in Nicaea, the Building and the Mosaics, with 35 plates (photos and diagrams), Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1927.