A Roman soldier, Marcellus, wins Christ's robe as a gambling prize. He then sets forth on a quest to find the truth about the Nazarene's robe-a quest that reaches to the very roots and heart of Christianity and is set against the vividly limned background of ancient Rome. Here is a timeless story of adventure, faith, and romance, a tale of spiritual longing and ultimate redemption. (goodreads.com) *** βOur life is like a land journey, too even and easy and dull over long distances across the plains, too hard and painful up the steep grades; but, on the summits of the mountain, you have a magnificent view--and feel exalted--and your eyes are full of happy tears--and you want to sing--and wish you had wings! And then--you can't stay there, but must continue your journey--you begin climbing down the other side, so busy with your footholds that your summit experience is forgotten.β βThis faith, is not like a deed to a house in which one may live with full rights of possession. It is more like a kit of tools with which a man may build himself a house. The tools will be worth just what he does with them. When he lays them down, they will have no value until he takes them up again.β βI never thought much about flowers until I made the close acquaintance of a man who knew all about them. You would have thought that the butterflies and flowers were friends of his. 'See how richly they are clad,' he said. 'Even King Solomon did not have such raiment.β *** 'Simple and powerful' -- Scotsman Impossible to begin saying how much this book means to me. It was the ultimate turning point in my life, and I've heard others express the same thing. (Deborah, goodreads.com) Life-altering. For the first time, I feel like I have an inkling of what Christ's life was like, with whom he socialized, what he ate, saw, did, and where/and whom he taught. The relationships and accounts of Christ's sermons from fictional eye-witnesses were mesmerizng.