The Reformation
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 60, No. 1 – Fall 2017
Managing Editor: W. Madison Grace II
Divine Honours for the Caesars: The First Christians’ Responses. By W. Bruce Winter. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015. 338 pages. Paperback, $35.00.
In Divine Honours for the Ceasars, Bruce Winter, the former warden of Tyndale House, attempts to “further the discussion of the imperial cultic activities and the complexity they created for the first Christians” (15). He argues that there was no monolithic way of responding to the imperial cult by early Christians. Instead he traces the diversity of reactions found in the New Testament. Methodologically, Winter synthesizes the insights of recent studies of the Roman imperial cult, new archaeological finds, and overlooked or undervalued inscriptions to construct an up-to-date picture of the workings of the imperial cult. He then analyzes the New Testament in light of this data to see the ways in which its authors were in dialogue with the imperial cult.
Winter commences his study with a helpful review of scholarship on the imperial cult. Here, he notes major contributions to the field, and synthesizes recent data that has yet to enter the discussion in a systematic way. He also shows the various ways in which Jews navigated the line between forsaking their religion and worshipping the emperor. For those new to this area of research, this is the most helpful portion of the book. Winter successfully points the readers to the most helpful works, such as Price’s magisterial book on the subject, and Mitchell’s work on the archaeology of Anatolia (S.R.F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Imperial Cult and Asia Minor, [Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1984]; S. Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men and Gods in Asia Minor: The Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule [Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1993]).
Winter next moves to examining various New Testament texts to see how the first Christians interacted with the imperial cult. He begins by analyzing Acts 17:34, arguing that Paul’s speech shows that the early Christians could not capitulate to worshipping the emperor. Next, Winter argues that in Acts 18, Gallio rules that early Christians were a sub-set of Jews, and thereby received exemption from emperor worship. Further, Winter finds in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, evidence that the Corinthians were engaging in the imperial cult, and that Paul forbids such acts. Winter analyzes Galatians, next, finding that the Galatian Christians were taking on Jewish identity markers to avoid the mandate to worship the emperor. Again, in regard to the Thessalonians, Winter notes that Paul warns the believers in that city to refrain from participation in the imperial cult. In Hebrews, Winter sees the author as exhorting the believers not to slip into Judaism, which had the protection of a high priest appointed by Rome, to avoid persecution, and urging them to cling to Jesus, who superseded the Jewish high priest. Finally, Winter examines the mark of the beast in Revelation and suggests that it was written in response to a governor of Asia who literally required a mark to be placed on people in order to engage in commerce (286).
Winter’s work has the strength of summarizing a great deal of recent work into a coherent picture of first century imperial cultic practice, as noted above. He also does a remarkable job of pointing the reader to relevant primary sources to help understand the imperial cult and early Christian practice. Unfortunately, this book is beset by myriad problems. While Winter selects several appropriate inscriptions, he reads them quite uncritically. He never seems ask the question whether these inscriptions reflect actual practice and belief or if they serve some other purpose. Further, he engages in unwarranted speculation at times. For example, when he claims that a governor of Asia required people to receive a mark for engaging in commerce, he provides no supporting evidence; he merely states such was the case (see 286–306).
There are also problems with his interactions with New Testament scholarship. For example, he frequently notes Mark 12:17, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (NRSV ). He indicates that this saying gives Christians “clear parameters” for interaction with the emperor (2). Scholarship on this passage has, much to the contrary, suggested a large variety of interpretations of Jesus’s intent with this saying, with a major question as to whether Jesus intended for tribute to be paid to Caesar or not, therefore raising the question of Christians’ relationship with the emperor. Winter does not even note that there are other interpretations of this passage besides his own.
In this book, Winter proved himself to be capable of summarizing and synthesizing large quantities of historical research, and for this he is to be commended. His own contribution to New Testament research here, however, is lacking. It has the possibility, though, to introduce a wide audience to studies of empire in the New Testament.
