The Lost Letters of Pergamum - Part II

Throughout Antipas’ correspondence with Luke, we do not know when exactly Antipas is converted. One thing the readers do know for sure is Antipas’ faithfulness in following through the gospel. This is evidenced by his frequent engagement or correspondence with Luke and his increased enthusiasm in Christian virtues. Besides, Antipas’ compassion for Simon ben Joseph, his love for the little girl Nouna, his sympathy for the woman and her baby where he met during the voyage to Caesarea, and his changed attitude towards the gladiatorial game at the end also tell us that he was being transformed gradually without him even realizing it. What is shocking and unexpected of Antipas is his sudden appearance in the gladiatorial game appealing to the emperor for the life and freedom of Demetrius, imitating Jesus Christ who laid down His life on the cross for us. Truly, “greater love has no one than this,” The Lost Letters of Pergamum by Longenecker is a gospel by itself depicted through the transformed life and acts of love of Antipas. It seriously challenges my faith again– would I be like Antiapas if I were in his situation?

The stark contrast between the two Christian Bible study groups: one by Kalandion and another by Antonius resemble very much to our present day context even though the story is told in an antiquity setting. Without doubt, Longenecker is doing a marvelous narrating to intertwine historical data and fictional characters into a very believable biblical account. I truly find it helpful and experience for the first time to better appreciate the gospel of Luke when I heard it from Antipas. The experience or the feeling I have in reading Antipas’s narrative is like you heard from someone in the historical context who talked about his own experience. Antipas’ description of his personal experience, which he encountered at the house of Antonius, is very heartwarming. It resonates with my heart for the same desire – Isn’t this the kind of fellowship we Christians long for in our Bible study group at home?

Book Review - The Lost Letters of Pergamum (Part I)

If you love the novel “The Shadow of Galilean” by Gerd Theissen, you’d probably enjoy reading “The Lost Letters of Pergamum” by Bruce Longenecker as I did. The genre of the latter however is very much different from the former. What is common between them is both authors are New Testament scholars, both their story is fictional intermingled with historical facts and the setting of their narrative is both in first-century NT time.

“The Lost Letters of Pergamum” is a collection of correspondence between Antipas from Pergamum and Luke in Ephesus. The story began with Antipas invited Calpurnius of Ephesus, the son of Theophilus, to attend a gladiatorial game in Pergamum to be organized by his noble friend, Rufinus. Through the correspondence, Antipas becomes acquainted with Luke who is a real closed friend of Calpurnius and is helping him to oversee his household when Calpurnius has to leave town for a family matter. Antipas by origin is a pagan civic benefactor of his home cities Tyre and Caesarea. He was in Pergamum because of his great interest in studying historical documents. Because of such interest, Antipas soon develops a steady friendship with Luke after reading Luke’s monograph accounting for the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He corresponded with Luke frequently about his reading of the gospel. Later, under Luke’s recommendation, Antipas took the challenge to join a Christian gathering for fellowship at one of the Christians’ house in Pergamum

Antipas began by joining Kalandion’s group with his friend Rufinus, but soon realized that the social life of Christians there was far from what was being said in Luke’s narrative. People at Kalandion’s group were very conscious about their status quo and were attracted to Jesus’ miracles more than by his teaching. On Luke’s advice, Antipas attempted another Christian group led by Antonius. His experience with Antonius’ household and the Christian friends gathered there immediately drew him to reflect deeply in the biblical account of Luke. The fellowship at Antonius’ house was warm and sincere, and the spirit of brotherhood was evident and real. The people were opened to one another and cared for one another irrespective of social status. Noblemen, civic officials, merchants, artisans, women, and even people with no social rank at all like Simon ben Joseph, a past employee of Antipas, was treated as a Christian brother.

Longenecker's account of "The Lost Letters of Pergamum" is undoubtedly convincing and believable. His invention of an editor's preface to introduce the discovery of the "Lost Letters" and the additional footnotes about the dating of those letters is genius. It truly does create an effect like one is actually reading a long lost ancient manuscript. Although the book contains only letter correspondence, the story is carefully constructed out of a cinematic traditional plot. The main character Antipas was introduced as an enthusiast of the gladiatorial game at the beginning, but ironically he had become a victim of the game at the end for his friend's sake.