Converts and Kingdoms: How the

Book excerpt: In Converts and Kingdoms, Professor Moczar tells the story of early Christianity's faith, courage, and cunning-chronicling the labors of missionaries and martyrs (with no small help from Providence) to spread the gospel and lay the foundation for the most magnificent culture human history has ever known. This stirring narrative reveals a young Church ardently occupied with the great work of conversion: with saints and generals, priests and kings alike filled with zeal to make disciples of all nations. You will encounter heroic tales of the nascent Faith, including: The emperor who put his trust in the one God rather than the sorcery of his predecessors- and changed the course of the world to come. The would-be hermit who became an accidental missionary- and helped birth the quintessential Catholic kingdom. Pious monarchs who repelled barbarian invaders. The former slave boy who returned to the land of his pagan captors- and turned it into an island of saints and scholars. The Marian miracle that scattered the demons of human sacrifice- and opened the door to a new Christian continent. You will discover not only the story of the Church's early missionary efforts but valuable lessons for re-evangelizing a modern West that has slipped into a new and insidious form of paganism.