One

I just finished one of those "read in one sitting" books that reshapes your total understanding about something. The Lost Letters of Pergamum is a historically based fictional story about the New Testament world. Comprised of letters "discovered" in an archaeological dig in modern day Turkey, it tells the story of a member of the Roman elite who corresponds with Luke to discuss his recently written Gospel about a man named Jesus Christ.

What follows are accounts of daily life, honor and shame, emperor worship, and early Christian churches. Such historical background is unknown - and often uninteresting - to the 21st century reader.

But the book's narrative presents the information in a powerful, engaging way. And it subtly introduces this idea: the world of the New Testament is not much different than the world of the Internet.

This is made most clear as the Roman aristocrat closes his first letters to Luke with blessings from the myriad of gods worshipped in the Roman empire. But over time, many of the characters realize that they cannot worship Jesus Christ and the gods of Rome, not even the emperor. Not all of the Romans embrace this view though - they mix worship of Christ with worship of man and end up with a very lukewarm spiritual life.

Sounds a lot like today. People far and wide affirm that many roads lead to God and to eternity in Heaven. They suggest that Buddha, Christ, Jewish Law, and Muhammed all lead to the same place. This is not a new argument. In the tolerant Roman empire, most believed that the more gods you worshiped the better.

But Pergamum makes clear that the earliest Christians - those who knew Christ or were in the first generation after His ascension to Heaven - often chose death over worshiping the emperor or any other Roman gods. They affirmed only one "Way, Truth, and Life," and often gave their lives for this belief.

Aside from this point, the book gives great clarity to the first century world. It helps us better understand and interpret the New Testament as well as increase our understanding of this post-modern world in which we are called to serve.