The pacing is strong, the characters are believable and engaging, the setting comes alive, and the footnotes (a rarity in novels since the days of Walter Scott) are kept at a minimum in A Week in the Life of Corinth (IVP Academic, 2012), New Testament scholar Ben Witherington III’s new venture into didactic fiction.
The story follows Nicanor, trusted freedman of the Erastos who was aedile in Corinth (Romans 16:23) in about A.D. 52. Nicanor is a twentysomething pagan with a talent for business. He maintains a close friendship with the Christian family of Erastos. At the time of the story, Erastos is running for the office of aedile. His opponent, the villainous Aemilianus, is nasty, churlish, and homicidal. But more than politics is going on: Here also is an account of a temple feast and a glimpse of a gladiator school. Witherington’s account of the Apostle Paul’s trial before Gallio (Acts 18) in...