'Callista' is a novel by the English Catholic theologian, priest and writer St John Henry Newman. It is set in the mid-3rd century in the city of Sicca Veneria in the Roman province of Africa. It deals with the persecution of the Christians community under Emperor Decius. The main character of the novel is Callista, a young and beautiful Greek girl, who has arrived from Greece some years previously with her brother Aristo; they work for Agellius's uncle Jucundus, carving statues of pagan gods. She is a gifted young woman, yet she is unhappy with her life. Another main character is the troubled young Christian Agellius, who wants to marry Callista. He is torn between his faith and his brother (Juba), his stepmother Gurta, a pagan witch, and his pagan uncle Jucundus, who all want to bring him away from the Christian faith. Agellius soon meets the mysterious Christian priest Caecilius (later identified as St. Cyprian of Carthage), who becomes a father figure for him and strengthens his faith again.

Callista is an arresting picture of Christian commitment under trial in the third century A.D. John Henry Newman's novel follows the moral and spiritual development of three very different characters caught up in the mysterious processes of divine Providence, who all fulfill their destinies through suffering and self-sacrifice. The Greek sculptress Callista, an exile from her native island in the Sea of Marmara, serves the cause of paganism by fashioning images of the gods. Agellius, her suitor, rediscovers his Christian duty and vocation in the terrifying circumstances in which he finds himself, while his brother Juba struggles to overcome his own passions and inner torment.Far from being tied to the past, Newman's novel challenges the assumptions of the modern reader in unexpected ways. More perhaps than his major works, Newman's fiction reveals the contours of his imaginative life, the range and power of his prose writing, and the wider literary culture which he so often subordinated to hishigher vocation or the demands of controversy. Callista's picture of the Christian venture of faith, so close to Newman's own, and the setting in his beloved church of the Fathers in Roman North Africa, make it one of his most characteristic works. Callista is an important text for understanding Newman's lifelong vocation as a Christian apologist, and the importance for him of the early Church.

'Callista' is a novel by the English Catholic theologian, priest and writer St John Henry Newman. It is set in the mid-3rd century in the city of Sicca Veneria in the Roman province of Africa. It deals with the persecution of the Christians community under Emperor Decius. The main character of the novel is Callista, a young and beautiful Greek girl, who has arrived from Greece some years previously with her brother Aristo; they work for Agellius's uncle Jucundus, carving statues of pagan gods. She is a gifted young woman, yet she is unhappy with her life. Another main character is the troubled young Christian Agellius, who wants to marry Callista. He is torn between his faith and his brother (Juba), his stepmother Gurta, a pagan witch, and his pagan uncle Jucundus, who all want to bring him away from the Christian faith. Agellius soon meets the mysterious Christian priest Caecilius (later identified as St. Cyprian of Carthage), who becomes a father figure for him and strengthens his faith again.

Callista tells a tale of the titular character; a young Greek woman who witnesses the Christian persecutions in Egypt during the 3rd century CE. A romantic tale, we join Callista - an astoundingly beautiful 17-year-old Greek orphan - as she journeys to North Africa. She proves a talented crafter of stone; her artisan skills are in great demand particularly from pagan cultists seeking idols. At the time the lands are under the dominion of the Roman Empire, whose oppression young Callista witnesses first-hand. Hearing of Christianity, and feeling struck by the profound appearance of the symbolism of the faith, Callista is further drawn to the faith by a young Christian suitor named Agellius. Rumors of Callista's Christianity see her imprisoned, whereupon Saint Cyprian arrives with a copy of the Gospel of Luke. It is here that Callista's journey towards faith truly begins, as she comprehends the virtues extolled by the early scriptures and the Lord Jesus Christ. Although in dire circumstances, Callista's spirit is lifted by the holy sentiments: she is able to weather her harsh fate and successfully convert to the faith. Although a good novel in its own right, Callista may also be read as an extension of the theological interests of the author, Cardinal John Henry Newman. Particularly intrigued by conversion and how it may take place or affect a person, Newman's extensive researches into early Christianity are put to good use in this historical fiction. Cardinal Newman's works concerning or alluding to Christian history span many lengthy essays, books of poetry, and his autobiography - as such, Callista may be considered an introduction. This novel is also valuable for its historical accuracy; over his years researching the development of Christianity, Newman determined the progress and landmark events of the Roman persecutions. To this day his work on the once-obscure history is cited by scholars for its thoroughness and accuracy.

Callista is set in the mid-3rd century in the city of Sicca Veneria in the Roman province of Africa. It deals with the persecution of the Christians community under Emperor Decius. Callista is a young and beautiful Greek girl who works for Jucundus, uncle of a troubled young man named Agellius, carving statues of pagan gods. She is a gifted young woman, yet she is unhappy with her life. Christian Agellius wants to marry Callista, but he is torn between his faith and his family who want to bring him away from the Christian faith. After a terrible plague of locusts, popular rage against Christians breaks out and persecution starts once again.

In CALLISTA: A TALE OF THE THIRD CENTURY John Henry Newman brings the riches of his intellect and imagination to bear upon the the Roman colony of Sicca Veneria in North Africa, circa 250 A.D. Persecution is far from most Christians' living memory. Priests and bishops have grown lukewarm in matters of faith and preoccupied with matters of business. In celebration of the Roman millenium, Emperor Decius decrees that all citizens must pay homage to Rome by swearing by the genius of the Emperor and worshipping Jove. Against this backdrop Newman's novel dramatizes Pagan-Christian conflicts of great consequence through the interwoven fates of three main characters: Agellius, a Christian farmer of Roman descent; Caecilius Cyprianus, the persecuted Bishop of Carthage; and Callista, a Greek decorator of sculptures drawn to the Christian way. Together they must reckon with the most pressing problems of tolerance and exclusivity, conversion and martyrdom.Wiseblood Books fosters fiction, poetry, and philosophy that render truths with what Flannery O'Connor called an unyielding "realism of distances." Such works find redemption in uncanny places and people; wrestle us from the tyranny of boredom; mock the pretensions of respectability; engage the hidden mysteries of the human heart, be they sources of either violence or courage; articulate faith and doubt in their incarnate complexity; dare an unflinching gaze at human beings as "political animals"; and suffer through this world's trials without forfeiting hope. Visit us at www.wisebloodbooks.com. We are wide-eyed for new epiphanies of beauty.