The year is 325 C.E... Brother Barnabas is an ardent student of the ancient holy texts, books that paint a portrait of Jesus that is radical, heretical, and irresistible. In these writings of Mary Magdalen, Philip, and James, Barnabas finds clues to the truth about Christ and vows to protect this information at all costs. But the ecumenical council of bishops has declared his most cherished books a "hotbed of manifold perversity," and Emperor Constantine has decreed that the documents must be burned-and that anyone found copying them will be executed as a Christian heretic. When Barnabas' monastery is silently attacked, he flees with only a few trusted companions. But they are being followed, for the Church cannot allow them to escape. In fact, it will do anything to stop them...