Lost Letters of Pergamum, The: A Story from the New Testament World Review

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Lost Letters of Pergamum, The: A Story from the New Testament World ReviewHaving a strong interest in New Testament history and being a fan of historical fiction, I was immediately interested in this book. I was a bit surprised to find it was not a narrative, but simply a fictional collection of ancient letters between Luke -- the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles -- and a Roman nobleman named Antipas. This format, though, is well used. Indeed, it is compelling.
We follow Antipas' and Luke's correspondence, which begins with a chance introduction. As Antipas reads Luke's Gospel, he discusses it at first from a very Roman point of view. But as he reads more and begins to spend time with Christians of his city, Antipas gradually sees the faults in his Roman upbringing, his pagan worldview. He is drawn to Jesus both through the writings of Luke and through the witness and lives of the Christians with whom he fellowships. Ultimately, he joins them and dies the truly noble death of a martyr. (The reference to the death of Antipas in Rev. 2:13 is the inspiration of the story).
The value of this book is that it places the reader in the early Christian world like nothing else I have ever read. Longenecker has taken all the books about New Testament History, Jewish history, and the larger Roman world of the time, and used them to create an authentic exchange of late first century correspondence between a pagan and a Christian. Beyond the obvious monotheism v. paganism, Longenecker does an excellent job of bringing out the differing attitudes of Roman and Christian charity. Of Christian brotherhood and its foreignness to the Roman world. Of the worship of the emperor. In short, Longenecker does an effective job of placing the reader back into the Roman world and communicating the challenges that Christians faced in it (especially Christians of any social standing).
This book is emotionally moving at times, especially in its depictions of Christian charity in a harsh world. It is also an easy read. It does not get bogged down and you find yourself looking forward to seeing how Luke responds to one of Antipas' questions or comments. Or how Antipas responds to certain passages he reads in Luke's Gospel. Unlike some historical fiction, it does not have moments of preachiness or contrived depictions intended to prove a point.
Very enjoyable. And, very profitable.Lost Letters of Pergamum, The: A Story from the New Testament World Overview

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