a. According to the Romans, when an emperor dies, the process of apotheosis (to deify, or god away) occurs in which they become gods in the other realm. White brings this to attention when comparing the story of Jesus’s ascension into heaven to ancient Roman belief. He discusses several depictions of Roman characters such as Hadrian and Antoninus Pius ascending on some sort of angel figure into the heavens with the gods. 

b. In almost all of the history of the ancient Mediterranean world, kings, emperors, or who ever was in power was conceived to hold divine power. Though in different cultures, these beliefs varied slightly, they played a huge role in the depiction of the divine in ancient Rome. The notion of a unique birth became widely important in declaring divinity as shown in stories of Alexander. Especially after Alexander’s death, the development of the Roman imperial cult began and soon joined tradition.

c. On page 73, White says, “The worship of the emperor as divine did not sit quite so well with the old Roman aristocracy as it might have with Greek provincials.” In Rome, divinity was often challenged and believed with caution, especially after the claims of Antony and Cleopatra. In the history of the Greek world, Augustus is hailed as a god whose divinity is never brought into question. If you were emperor,  which one would you promote? It seems clear. With such conflicting views in religious practices in these two large empires, an empire in between would likely experience a lot of disagreement and conflict in belief.

d. If I were a first-century reader looking at this writing from Luke, I would start my checklist of how Jesus meets the definition of the divine. Luke accentuates the story of Jesus’s birth. As is being from a virgin birth isn’t unique enough, Luke details the poor conditions in which this proclaimed god was born. Would a god not be assumed/imagined to brought into the world in riches and health? Next, they were greeted by angels who spoke to the shepherds proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah. With all of these factors, it is made clear that Luke is depicting a god. This story is a perfect fit to what the cult of the emperor would describe as divinity.