THIS HOLY SEED
Faith, Hope and Love in the Early Churches of North Africa
By Robin Daniel. Tamarisk Publications (distributed in the UK by Opal Trust, http://www.opaltrust.org). 454 pages. £10.00
ISBN 978-0-9538565-3-4
Robin Daniel has worked for 27 years with the persecuted churches in North Africa. This book, extensively researched and superbly written, is evidently a labour of love. He portrays the rapid growth of the church in the region, with the intense persecutions and martyrdoms it experienced.
He considers Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine and the heyday of Christianity, before its sad decline after the collapse of Roman power, at first under the Vandals and then terminally under the Arabs. Factors precipitating its decay are probed effectively. The record of the Muslim invasion and its subsequent subjugation of the church is a salutary lesson for Western Europe today. Anyone with an interest in the gospel will find this tale informative and challenging.
