“I am no soothsayer, as the priests of Apollo claim to be.” Eusebius appeared to take no umbrage at his words or manner. “But I can tell you this: whatever God’s purpose for you may be, you cannot pull away from it any more than the ox can escape the goad.” Then he smiled. “All of Syria is talking about your remarkable exploit in saving the King of Armenia and stopping the Persian army almost at the gates of Antioch. You are the hero of the day, and the honor is well deserved.”
So warm and obviously sincere
It was hard to be angry at one so warm and obviously sincere, and Constantine found his irritation ebbing away. “Are you located in Antioch now?” he asked.
“Only for a little while. Most of my time is spent in writing the story of the whole church, since the birth of our Lord was announced by the angels in Bethlehem. When the apostles and other leaders were forced to flee Jerusalem because of persecution, they established a new church here at Antioch. And with Jerusalem now a pagan city by order of the authorities, it is our most important center in the East, just as Rome is in the West though the Bishop of Alexandria is also gaining new churches daily.”
“Did you say you were writing the history of your religion?”
“Not writing yet, only gathering material before the oldest documents fall to pieces. Many valuable ones have already been lost and we know of them only through references by others.”
“We found one of your old churches on the Euphrates.”
“Where?”
“At a place called Dura, or Europos.”
“I have seen some references to it in the old documents,” Eusebius said. “Is much of the church left?”
“A good part of the original building and many of the wall paintings.”
“Do they portray Jesus?”
“Yes, as a shepherd carrying a ram that was lost or perhaps injured. And also the tomb you see here on the walls of this building.”
“We are trying to preserve as many of the old paintings of the Saviour as we can,” Eusebius said. “The church at Dura must be very old, perhaps as old as the time of St. Paul. Do you think the Persians will destroy it?”
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