The Faith and the Power: The Inspiring Story of the First Christians and How They Survived the Madness of Rome

by James D. Snyder

New insights unearthed on how the early Jewish-Christians coped after the crucifixion of Jesus; why Nero tried to purge them; why the emperor's insatiable greed for money forced Jerusalem into a ruinous war and how the first Christians emerged with a new vitality that would one day sweep away Rome's profusion of pagan gods and temples. Benjamin Franklin Silver Award winner in 2002 for the year's best book on religion by the Independent Book Publishers Association

Genres: History

489 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

James D. Snyder, author of the newly-released The Music Makers, has won numerous awards for historical fiction novels ranging from the genesis of Christianity to the Spanish discovery of Florida to the story of a young woman caught up in high-stakes blockade-running during the Civil War. “The common thread among them,” he says, “is an effort to help the reader grasp the essence of a dramatic historical period through the lives of individuals who lived through it.”
In addition to his novels, author Snyder writes and speaks about the colorful history surrounding his home on the Loxahatchee River in South Florida. Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee is a pictorial history of Jupiter-Tequesta, FL while Black Gold and Silver Sands describes the hard-scrabble beginnings of Palm Beach county. A Trip Down the Loxahatchee shows the river’s beauty through the eyes of 52 painters and photographers. Life and Death on the Loxahatchee tells the story of a larger-than-life “Tarzan” who fascinated locals until his mysterious death. A Light in the Wilderness shows how a lone lighthouse in forlorn Jupiter became the magnet that drew a throng of early settlers.
Jim Snyder has been a writer and editor since graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and The George Washington University graduate school of political science. Beginning in the 1970s he founded what would become the largest independent Washington news bureau for business and medical magazines. In 1984 it became Enterprise Communications Inc., with its own magazines and trade shows.
In 1997, when the company was sold to Thomson-Reuters Corp., Snyder was able to pursue a second career as author-historian. Today he is also active in several organizations to protect the Loxahatchee River and its rich history.

Reviews

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. easy to read and understand. Bought the book to make notes for my Bible study!!

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not by a professional historian, but by a self-taught layman who had traveled extensively in Bible lands and wanted to trace the story of Christianity's beginning sthrough the sites of the Mediterranean world. I can't vouch for all the history included, but I thought Mr. Snyder did a good job in very accessible language.