A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion

by Gary M. Burge

Publisher:

IVP

, 2015

Enter a world of warfare and treachery, of duty and honor, of love and loyalty, interwoven with the inner workings of a Roman centurion's household. And then trace it as the road curves toward little Capernaum.

Follow the story of Appius, a proud centurion, and Tullus, his scribe and slave. From a battle with the Parthians, through a tragic personal crisis, to the gladiator arena at Caesarea Maritima, their tale finally leads to the backwater village of Capernaum on the shores of Galilee. There, in a culture not their own and during a week they will never forget, they encounter a Jewish prophet from Nazareth.

A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion gives us a first-century view of the world of the Gospels. In entertaining historical fiction, splashed with informative sidebars and images, we capture a view of Jesus' world from the outer framework looking in.

Key Features

• Explores the first century worlds of the Roman empire
• Includes text boxes with additional background information
• Offers fast-paced and entertaining historical fiction

Contents

Top Highlights

“another named Archelaus failed miserably in the south” (Page 69)

“This psalm was often a deathbed psalm in Judaism and was likely recited in its entirety on the cross by Jesus” (Page 178)

“ Via Romana, he called it. It was a life carefully built around values of honor, strength and discipline.” (Page 70)

“one contributed to corporate honor (the family, the clan—in this case, the legion) was critical” (Page 63)

“Capernaum stood right on this highway and so made an excellent base from which to collect taxes” (Page 105)

Endorsements

A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion is a helpful introduction to first-century history cloaked in an arresting story of a Roman centurion and his young slave, Tullus. Burge's careful reconstructive work frames and fills in the story, with each chapter concluding with more detailed information about the various topics raised in that chapter (e.g., Capernaum, honor and shame, the Roman army). Yet for all its pedagogical value, the reader will be riveted by the story itself—an imaginative retelling of the backstory of a centurion who comes to Jesus for healing for his slave. Gary Burge proves to be a masterful storyteller in this engaging and fast-paced narrative. A great book for anyone interested in the New Testament and its social world.

Jeannine K. Brown, professor of New Testament, Bethel Seminary, San Diego

Masterfully written and extensively researched, this fast-paced account invites the reader into the first-century world of the Gospels even while intriguing the reader as a good story should. In contrast to some scholars' wooden portrayals of all Jews or Romans or Syrians as the same, in this story, the characters are nuanced and come alive.

Craig Keener, F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary, author, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament

I couldn't put this book down. Part historical novel and part cultural handbook, Gary Burge's A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion is a delight to read. This will be a great supplemental text for my New Testament courses. Students will be so entertained they won't even realize how much they're learning!

Mark L. Strauss, professor of New Testament, Bethel Seminary, San Diego

Biblical scholars are not typically known for writing historical novels, much less gripping page-turners. Gary Burge, however, has accomplished both of these feats. Fully true to the historical-cultural setting of the early first-century Roman Empire, this story not only makes the New Testament world come alive but it creates one very plausible scenario of the career and family of the Capernaum centurion of Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10. The characters become so real that I was even tearing up at the end of Burge's story!

Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary

Product Details

• Title: A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion
• Author: Gary M. Burge
• Publisher: IVP
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2015
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Fiction › Christian--General; Soldier › Rome--Fiction
• ISBNs: 9780830897735, 9780830824625, 0830897739, 0830824626
• Resource ID: LLS:9780830897735
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-06T20:47:23Z

About Gary M. Burge

Gary M. Burge (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is dean of the faculty and professor of New Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary. He previously taught for twenty-five years at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Among his many published books are The New Testament in Seven Sentences, Theology Questions Everyone Asks (with coeditor David Lauber), A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion, Mapping Your Academic Career, The New Testament in Antiquity (coauthored with Gene Green), and the award-winning Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians.