Why isn't Caligula in the NT?

[Jpark]

It is interesting that Augustus (Luke 2:1), Tiberius(Luke 3:1), and Claudius (Acts 11:28, Acts 18:2) are referred to in the NT, but Caligula is not mentioned.

 

[Phileoeklogos]

Perhaps the way to think about it is to ask the question, Why would he need to be mentioned?



What happened during his reign, 37-41AD, that would have gotten him a mention in Acts?, the only thing I can think of that would have gotten his name in the book would have been if Luke would have referenced him in explaining how Herod Agrippa came to power, but Luke saw no need to do so, and by the time Agrippa is mentioned, Caius is already pushing up daisies. Another point would be that Christianity at the time of Caius's reign wasn't even a blip on the Roman radar screen yet, so he had no specific interest in it, he may have unknowingly been used in the rule of God over the affairs of men to help the spread of the Gospel because he did distract the Jews for a time by insisting his statue be placed in the Temple which probably took their minds off those pesky followers of Jesus.


Quite a few folks don't get a mention in the Gospels or Acts that you might think should, what about the procurators before and after Pilate, what about the high priests after Caiaphas, what about Nero?

I enjoy studying the history of that period, I believe in the Providence of God, that He is the shaper of history and that His hand prepared the world for the spread of the Gospel, and I try to understand how the world looked, how the people lived, how events affected them and how God works all things together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.



Have your read much Josephus or Tacitus?

 

[Jpark]

Perhaps the way to think about it is to ask the question, Why would he need to be mentioned?



What happened during his reign, 37-41AD, that would have gotten him a mention in Acts?, the only thing I can think of that would have gotten his name in the book would have been if Luke would have referenced him in explaining how Herod Agrippa came to power, but Luke saw no need to do so, and by the time Agrippa is mentioned, Caius is already pushing up daisies.

Another point would be that Christianity at the time of Caius's reign wasn't even a blip on the Roman radar screen yet, so he had no specific interest in it, he may have unknowingly been used in the rule of God over the affairs of men to help the spread of the Gospel because he did distract the Jews for a time by insisting his statue be placed in the Temple which probably took their minds off those pesky followers of Jesus.


Quite a few folks don't get a mention in the Gospels or Acts that you might think should, what about the procurators before and after Pilate, what about the high priests after Caiaphas, what about Nero?

I enjoy studying the history of that period, I believe in the Providence of God, that He is the shaper of history and that His hand prepared the world for the spread of the Gospel, and I try to understand how the world looked, how the people lived, how events affected them and how God works all things together for good to those who are called according to His purpose.



Have your read much Josephus or Tacitus?

Exactly! That's what I was thinking. What do you think about Augustus? I have read that he was a good emperor.

I agree.

Interesting. I learned that Agrippa stopped him from doing that, but I never saw this incident as a distraction.

Yet Luke's Gospel and Acts is still historically accurate.

I also enjoy studying history.

Yes, I have read some of Josephus's writings concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and Tacitus's writings concerning Nero.

 

[Phileoeklogos]

Exactly! That's what I was thinking. What do you think about Augustus? I have read that he was a good emperor.

I agree.

Interesting. I learned that Agrippa stopped him from doing that, but I never saw this incident as a distraction.

Yet Luke's Gospel and Acts is still historically accurate.

I also enjoy studying history.

Yes, I have read some of Josephus's writings concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and Tacitus's writings concerning Nero.

I would say that Augustus was the best emperor that Rome ever had, he certainly set a standard that those following after him never reached, he did build most of the roads that carried the Gospel thru out the empire, he was great for Rome and Romans, I don't think I would have wanted to be on his enemies list, but he was a pagan king and his greatness was only in this world.


I have to correct myself on the high priests after Caiaphas, Ananias is mentioned a few times in Acts, but there were 21 high priests from Annas to the destruction of the Temple, I think one of the things that first tweaked my mind to think on these things is when Paul doesn't know the high priest in Acts 23, I thought that was odd, and once I started to study up on the historic record, wow, things were alot different than I thought they were.

 

[Jpark]

I would say that Augustus was the best emperor that Rome ever had, he certainly set a standard that those following after him never reached, he did build most of the roads that carried the Gospel thru out the empire, he was great for Rome and Romans, I don't think I would have wanted to be on his enemies list, but he was a pagan king and his greatness was only in this world.


I have to correct myself on the high priests after Caiaphas, Ananias is mentioned a few times in Acts, but there were 70 high priests from Annas to the destruction of the Temple, I think one of the things that first tweaked my mind to think on these things is when Paul doesn't know the high priest in Acts 23, I thought that was odd, and once I started to study up on the historic record, wow, things were alot different than I thought they were.

If only he had known God. Rome would be unstoppable.

Interesting.

 

[Phileoeklogos]

Have you studied much on the intertestamental period? Alot of interesting things there too.

 

[Jpark]

Have you studied much on the intertestamental period? Alot of interesting things there too.

Yes, I have studied much. I have read Maccabees. Indeed, very interesting.

Alexander the Great was the large horn (king) the goat (Greece) of Daniel 8.

Antiochus Epiphanes profaned the Jewish temple. I think he is the only one so far who has made himself God in the Jewish temple.

Maccabeus and his brothers led a successful revolt against the Syrian Greek Empire.

 

[Sphinx777]

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August AD 12 – 24 January AD 41), more commonly known by his agnomen Caligula, was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Caligula's father, Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. The young Gaius earned his nickname Caligula (the diminutive form of caliga) meaning "little [soldier's] boot", while accompanying his father on military campaigns in Germania. When Germanicus died in Antioch in AD 19, his mother Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome with her six children, where she became entangled in an increasingly bitter feud with Tiberius. This conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Unscathed by the deadly intrigues, and seemingly unmoved by the fate of his closest relatives, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the emperor on the island of Capri in AD 31, where Tiberius himself had withdrawn in AD 26. At the death of Tiberius, on 16 March AD 37, Caligula succeeded his great-uncle and adoptive grandfather.

There are few surviving sources on Caligula's reign, and although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first two years of his rule, after this the sources focus upon his cruelty, extravagance, and sexual perversity, presenting him as an insane tyrant. While the reliability of these sources has been difficult to assess, what is known is that during his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the authority of the princeps, possibly contemplating the introduction of an authoritarian system of an eastern type. He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects, notoriously luxurious dwellings for himself, but also two new aqueducts for the city of Rome (Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus). However, these are primarily associated with his successor Claudius, who brought these projects to completion. Caligula also annexed Mauretania.

On 24 January AD 41, Caligula was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy involving officers of the Praetorian Guard as well as members of the Roman Senate and of the imperial court. The conspirators' attempt to use the opportunity to restore the Roman Republic was thwarted, as the same day the Praetorian Guard declared Caligula's uncle Claudius emperor in his place.