In this long-awaited monograph from a leading scholar on the first-century Jesus movement in the Graeco-Roman world, Bruce W. Winter (former Warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge) examines the way in which imperial cultic veneration and activities may have confronted the first Christians. W.’s aim is to shed additional light on the important advances ancient historians have made in recent decades on the nature and propagation of imperial veneration in the Graeco-Roman world. After rehearsing the most recent primary evidence from Augustus to Nero, W. spends the remainder of the monograph carefully sifting through New Testament texts that reveal the earliest Christian responses to this phenomenon. W. argues that ‘the reactions of the first generation of Christians in the East were far from uniform … There was compromise, evasion, the temptation to commit apostasy, imprisonment and the possible punishment of exile and even summary executions’ (16–17). His systematic study seeks to bolster this claim.

W. begins his study in Part I by assessing the extent to which emperor veneration was integrated into local and provincial life, particularly in the Greek East. In ch. 2 (23–47), he argues that the gladiatorial contests and public holidays that filled the public calendars would have had a distinctly imperial tone. W. gives considerable attention to epigraphic (e.g. the well-known calendar inscription from Priene) and literary (e.g. Virgil) evidence. Along the way, he confirms the important work of D. Fishwick and S. Mitchell. In chs 3–4 (48–93), he builds upon his previous findings by exploring the reciprocal relationship between sovereign and delegates, including the bestowal of honours (including cultic centres) and the standard imperial responses. W. concludes that ‘the promise of imperial cultic honours was the officially acceptable route whereby envoys might secure further benefits for their cities’ (59). In ch. 5 (94–123), W. turns his attention to a very different question: how did local Jewish communities respond to divine imperial honours? After reviewing primary evidence (especially Josephus) and recent scholarly discussion (including T. Rajak and M. Pucci ben Zeev), W. concludes that Jewish communities, in large measure, enjoyed local exemption from participating in public imperial veneration during the Julio-Claudian era. W. attempts to navigate the complexities of the ancient evidence by suggesting that, although Jewish communities did not participate in imperial cultic activities, they displayed their loyalty to the emperor by means that were not in conflict with monotheistic practice.

In Part II, W. examines New Testament texts that illustrate the variety of early Christian responses in the Pauline communities of Achaea (chs 6–8), Galatia (ch. 9) and Macedonia (ch. 10). W. also includes a fresh exploration of early Christian responses in the so-called Letter to the Hebrews (ch. 11) and the Book of Revelation (ch. 12). Given the extensive argumentation in these chapters (some of which are expansions of previous work), the present review will be limited to W.’s findings. W. argues that Paul's speech in Athens (Acts 17:16–34) should be understood as an official apologia for introducing new gods that was both philosophically sophisticated and acutely aware of the dynamics of imperial veneration in Athens (127–65). Paul's Corinthian correspondence (1 Cor. 8:1–11:1), on the other hand, reveals the compromise of some Christians who — despite Gallio's decision that they were a Jewish sect — insisted on their right (exousia) to attend dinner-feasts affiliated with Corinth's recent status (54 c.e.) as a federal centre for the imperial cult (166–225). In an attempt to avoid participating in local expressions of imperial veneration in the province of Galatia — the evidence for which is extensive — W. argues that Jewish Christians were compelling (anagkazein, Gal. 6:12–17) gentile Christians to undergo the ritual of Jewish circumcision and thus to be identified as Jewish proselytes (226–49). By way of contrast, W. proposes (following E. A. Judge, with minor differentiations) that the Christian community at Thessalonica (Acts 17:1–9) was confronted with a ‘conflict of loyalty’ (265) as regards imperial rule and was charged with rejecting ‘all his [Claudius’] official imperial decrees’ (250–65, here 255). According to W., the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews provides a rhetorically charged exhortation not to ‘retreat into what seemed the safe haven of Judaism’ (284) by demonstrating that Jesus the high priest and eternal Son of God was superior to the high priesthood of the emperors (266–85). In his final chapter on the Book of Revelation, W. argues that Christians in Asia (towards the end of Nero's reign) were confronted with commercial reprisals and even execution (Rev. 13:15–17) for refusing to honour the emperor (286–306).

W. has produced a fine study that seeks to bridge the gap between ancient historians and New Testament scholars. Although the present reviewer would have welcomed critical engagement with additional scholarship on this important topic (for example, C. Ando, K. Galinsky, J. M. G. Barclay, M. Koortbojian), W.’s treatment of the primary texts is extensive, judicious and sheds important light on how imperial cultic veneration was received in the first century. Even those who may quibble with some of his proposals regarding the Sitz im Leben of specific New Testament texts will find his proposals stimulating and worth serious consideration. This monograph on the earliest Christian responses to imperial veneration is highly commended.