Edward Garboczi
Tag: Book Review
Early Christians first faced persecution for their faith from local Jewish and pagan groups, and then faced organized persecution from the Roman Empire, starting with Emperor Nero around 60 A.D. Persecution continues today across the world, so it is good to learn from the experience of early Christians. The Sign of the Anchor, by Evelyn Nevin, is an interesting historical novel for middle to high school readers set in the times of Nero, when it was dangerous to be a Christian. The story opens in the city of Corinth in Greece, the city whose church received Paul’s letters that we know today as the Bible books 1 and 2 Corinthians. Corinth is located on the very narrow land connection between upper and lower Greece. It is interesting to note that Emperor Nero started to build a canal across the Isthmus of Corinth in 67 A.D., using Jewish prisoners captured during the First Jewish-Roman War.
In The Sign of the Anchor, the Corinthian boy, Lykon, is the hero of the story. Through what happens to him and his family, involving slavery and coming to faith in Christ and persecution, we can visualize the context of the times in the later New Testament for Greek Gentile believers. Early Christianity used a number of secret symbols to identify and communicate, one of which was the anchor, which contains in it the graphical element of the Cross. The writer of Hebrews in the Bible also used the concept of the anchor to show how secure was our relationship to God through our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that both uses of the anchor inspired the title and theme of this book.