The practice of apotheosis is when the kings and emperors were taken away to the realm of immortals and became gods. It was considered the divine honors if the kings, queens, emperors or empresses were taken to the realm of the immortals. These honors meant that these people weren’t only people that they were more than that and that it just meant that their time on earth had more of a divine purpose to serve. When the emperors were considered as “divine” this did not go over very well with the old Roman aristocracy. The aristocracy was skeptical of it, just as they were with Antony and Cleopatra. This is not how thing were before these two were in position of power. Questions came to peoples mind and therefore people took caution. This emperor cult was considered the mortal leaders that did become gods. While some embraced this title more than others, Augustus who was given this title did not always use the divine titles. He was considered as “son of god” which meant, “defied Julius Caesar” because when Caesar was around these divine titles were not as prevalent, where later Caligula and Domitian did not hide the fact that they were given the divine title.
After considering the history of divine kingship in the Greek world, I believe that Augustus was more receptive to promoting the worship of the emperor in the Greek territory because of the proclamation. This proclamation states “Whereas Providence, which divinely ordered our lives, created with zeal and munificence the most perfect good for our lives by producing Augustus and filling him with virtue for the benefaction of humankind, sending us and our descendants a savior to put and end to war…, and Whereas when Caser [Augustus] appeared, he exceeded the hopes of all who had anticipated his good tidings.” They believed that he was the “savior” of humankind and that he would bring peace to all. Having a religious practice in an empire that stretched from Spain to Syria could have the practical effects of unity and peace throughout these regions. Basically the joining of many people together and one belief system that doesn’t create conflict among people.
After reading Luke 2:1-14 if I was a first-century reader I would think that Luke is trying to persuade me to believe that this baby that Mary has delivered is the Savior and Messiah, the Lord. This baby will help bring peace to men on earth and that he will be the guide for these people. After reading Luke 2:25-35 I would think that Luke is trying to persuade me to believe that this baby was the salvation for all people, not only Jews. This baby will lead the people of Israel and he will bring great things to the people. He is the way and the promise, basically a beacon of hope for everyone. Bringing redemption and a salvation to all people. The political implications that this story could have on a world dominated by the cult of the emperor could be that this story implies that there is only one true God and that this baby will grow up and be the savior that people need. This conflicts with the idea of the cult emperor because the cult emperors are emperors who are given divine power and authority. If these passages in Luke are concluding to the idea that there is only need for one then the idea of cult emperors isn’t even necessary because the baby Jesus is all that is needed to be the only savior for all people.