Luke provides valuable clues to an understanding of the religious and political power of the Roman Empire through Jesus's birth and trial accounts. Also, the book analyzes what role Luke's tax-related accounts play in relation to the emperor's authority. This volume presents a new argument: Luke emphasizes Jesus's interaction with tax collectors as a way of displaying his moral authority, seen in his intervening effectively with one of the most hated aspects of the empire, an aspect that the emperor was responsible for and should have dealt with. This analysis helps us examine Luke's portrayal of Jesus's authority with a focus on the titles "benefactor" and "savior." Comparisons and contrasts are to be made between Jesus and the emperor. Thus, this study discusses how Luke elevates Jesus's authority on the basis of his stance toward the emperor.

This book studies in detail the afterlife scene in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31). The description of the afterlife is related, on the one hand, to the overall Hellenistic cultural milieu and, on the other hand, to Luke's eschatological views.

"One of the first great events in Christian history was the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, convened to organize Christian sects and beliefs into a unified doctrine. The great Christian clergymen who wrote before this famous event are referred to as the Ante-Nicenes and the Apostolic Fathers, and their writings are collected here in a ten-volume set. The Ante-Nicenes lived so close to the time of Christ that their interpretations of the New Testament are considered more authentic than modern voices. But they are also real and flawed men, who are more like their fellow Christians than they are like the Apostles, making their words echo in the ears of spiritual seekers. In Volume III of the 10-volume collected works of the Ante-Nicenes first published between 1885 and 1896, readers will find three of Tertullian?'s most famous writings. In Apologetic, Tertullian addresses the powers that be in Rome, demanding that Christians be accepted and tolerated by Roman law. In Anti-Marcion, Tertullian attacks and discusses heretics. And in Ethical he discusses a variety of moral questions."