Here's an unflinching look at the lives and sacrifices of those first Christians who were given the task of spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Relying on ancient documents -- as well as the latest archeological findings and scientific research -- acclaimed author Mike Aquilina takes you on a journey through the Apostolic Age, bringing to life the dusty streets and crowded marketplaces through which Mary and the Apostles journeyed as they built a Church that lasts even to our day.

Here you'll discover the beliefs of the early Christians, what they taught about the Eucharist and the divinity of Christ, how their Church services resembled today's Mass, and how Rome became the spiritual center of Christianity

Read these pages, and you'll come to see that despite the best efforts of their enemies, the blood of the Apostles did not snuff out the Faith; it brought forth great saints whose holy deeds and brave examples gave the besieged Church a vigor that lasts even unto today.

The Apostles and Their Times will give you confidence that the Church is indeed Christ acting in the world and that no matter how ruthless her opponents, she will endure to the end of time.

Among other things, you'll learn:

• The apostolic church: what is was and why it's so important.
• Why Jesus chose a coward and a liar to be the first Pope.
• Tradition: do you know what it really means?
• The surprising meaning of the term apostle, and how it validates the sacrament of Confession.
• The unlikely apostle who evangelized as far as India.
• Proof that the church from the beginning had a hierarchy, just as she has today.
• The word trinity: did you know that it doesn't appear in the Bible?
• Why Christians nonetheless believe that God is not one, but a communion of three divine persons.
• Jesus's Great Commission to the apostles (and to you, too): do you know what it is? Are you carrying it out?
• Why the apostles considered persecution a success rather than failure.
• Why we speak of the "crown" of martyrdom (It has to do with St. Stephen).
• The many reasons Jews despised the Romans (and the Romans scorned the Jews) -- and the difference Christianity made.
• Why St. Paul went to Rome, and Peter, too, along with so many of the great names of the early church, where most were killed.
• Why many portraits of the apostles show them as alike as a dozen eggs.
• Paul's stern warning against factions in Christianity. It's in the Bible: do you know where?
• The many heresies denounced in the New Testament (the apostles were strict about doctrine).
• The primacy of the Bishop of Rome: it's already there in apostolic times.
• How the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 gave force to the Christian faith.
• And much more from archaeology, history, and Scripture to reveal to you the foundations of our common faith, and to strengthen your own.