The Ancient Witnesses

Chapter 1: A Journey to Nicaea

“Ar-ay,” Preacher called to me from a seat in the back of the bus, “you gonna read, the whole trip?” We’d only been traveling an hour or so, but the warmth of the bus and the steady rattle of windows had lulled me to sleep. I had been reading my copy of Eusebius’ Church History , but now the book was just shielding my eyes from the glare of the sunrise. “I need to finish this before we get to Iznik,” I replied, stretching and yawning. “Where?” asked Preacher, moving up to my seat. “Nicaea,” I corrected myself, calling our destination by its ancient name. Earlier that morning our bus had left Istanbul heading east toward the city famous for the historic Christian Council it had hosted in AD 325. There, my fellow students and I would complete our study-abroad course in Ancient Christianity . “What will we see in Nai -see- ah, brothers?” asked Preacher, teasing our friends in the row ahead of us. “Let me guess,” replied Joseph, “everything but you studying?” Cesar, next to him, laughed.

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