Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

Paul Maier

15 Accessible Books by Historian Paul Maier

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maierPaul L. Maier (b. 1930) is a Lutheran scholar on the history of Christianity. He is Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, where he taught for 53 years (1958–2011). I highly recommend his work. Here are some of his more accessible works.

8 Books on the History of Early Christianity

Pilate

Pontius Pilate: A Novel. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014. This “documentary novel” depicts the New Testament world in a relatively entertaining way. Reading this genre engages a different part of your brain and encourages you to envision the world of the New Testament more vividly. It makes you think and feel in ways that are virtually impossible by reading only encyclopedia-type summaries of the New Testament’s historical-cultural context. This book is so valuable that I require students to read it for a graduate course I teach called “New Testament Background and Message.” Maier writes from Pontius Pilate’s vantage point, starting with Pilate’s political life in Rome and appointment as prefect in Judea (AD 26) and continuing through the murder of Jesus (which Maier calculates as 33), the death of Tiberius (37), the assassination of Caligula (41), and the beginning of the reign of Claudius (41–54). The overall plot and every proper name in the book are historically accurate, and Maier fills in this factual skeleton with colorful fictional details. He reconstructs many events from the Gospels and Acts from the viewpoint of an educated, unbelieving Roman prefect. [Read more…] about 15 Accessible Books by Historian Paul Maier

Six Books for Children on the Bible’s Storyline

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In 2008, Jenni and I profited from reading two “documentary novels” by Paul Maier:

  1. Pontius Pilate
  2. The Flames of Rome

We recently received six of his books for children, and they’re outstanding.

1. The Real Story of Creation

2. The Real Story of the Flood

3. The Real Story of the Exodus

4. The Very First Christmas

Jenni warmly recalls reading this many times as a child.

5. The Very First Easter

6. The Very First Christians

The picture of Agrippa (p. 27) reminds me of someone I know!

Related: About a year ago, Jenni and I reviewed several hundred children’s books and highlighted our favorites: “Theology for Kids.”

“The Flames of Rome”: A Documentary Novel by Paul Maier

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Last night Jenni and I finished reading Paul Maier‘s The Flames of Rome. It is outstanding! It is a bit more explicit than Maier’s Pontius Pilate (sometimes uncomfortably so, e.g., re Nero’s depravity), but overall, it is a fine tool to engage one’s mind with first-century Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian history in a way that is virtually impossible by reading only encyclopedia-type summaries of the day. Bravo!

I would not be surprised if both of these books become required reading for NT classes I may teach in the future. They’re that useful.

Related: “Pontius Pilate”: A Documentary Novel by Paul Maier

Eusebius on Nero

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Jenni and I are just finishing up Paul Maier‘s The Flames of Rome (cf. my thoughts on Maier’s Pontius Pilate), a “documentary novel” that fleshes out how Nero’s insanity affected early Christianity. While I was reading Eusebius‘ Church History today (translated by none other than Paul Maier), I nodded in agreement with Eusebius’ portrayal of Nero:

Once Nero’s power was firmly established, he plunged into nefarious vices and took up arms against the God of the universe. To describe his depravity is not part of the present work. Many have accurately recorded the facts about him, and from them any who wish may study his perverse and degenerate madness, which led him to destroy innumerable lives and finally to such indiscriminate murder that he did not spare even his nearest and dearest. With various sorts of deaths, he did away with his mother, brothers, and wife, as well as countless other near relatives, as if they were strangers and enemies. Despite all this, one crime still had to be added to his catalogue: he was the first of the emperors to be declared enemy of the Deity. To this the Roman Tertullian refers as follows: [Read more…] about Eusebius on Nero

“Pontius Pilate”: A Documentary Novel by Paul Maier

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Last night my wife and I finished reading a historical novel together (Maier calls this genre the “documentary novel”):

Paul L. Maier [Wikipedia], Pontius Pilate (Doubleday, 1968; Kregel, 1990), 372 pp.

The book is outstanding! It is engagingly written from Pontius Pilate’s vantage point, starting with Pilate’s political life in Rome and appointment as prefect in Judea (AD 26) and continuing through the murder of Jesus (33 by Maier’s calculation, which is feasible though many scholars prefer 30), death of Tiberius (37), assassination of Caligula (41), and beginning of the reign of Claudius (41-54). The overall plot and every proper name used in the book is historically accurate, and Maier fills in this factual skeleton with colorful fictional details. It reconstructs many events described in the Gospels and Acts from the viewpoint of an educated, unbelieving Roman prefect.

God used this book to engage our minds even more with the Greco-Roman and Jewish history of NT times in a way that has helped us understand the NT better. It also has deepened our understanding of why Paul calls the gospel offensive foolishness to non-Christians (1 Corinthians 1). Praise God for a historically rooted faith and historically reliable revelation.

Next up: A historical novel during the reign of Nero (AD 54-68):

Paul L. Maier, The Flames of Rome (Doubleday, 1981; Kregel, 1991), 444 pp.

HT: JT