Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / by Andy Crouch -- Introduction / Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica -- We have no king but Caesar: Roman imperial ideology and the imperial cult / David Nystrom -- Anti-imperial rhetoric in the New Testament / Judith A. Diehl -- Matthew / Joel Willitts -- The gospel of Luke and the Roman Empire / Dean Pinter -- John's gospel and the Roman imperial context: an evaluation of recent proposals / Christopher W. Skinner -- Proclaiming another king named Jesus?: the Acts of the Apostles and the Roman imperial cult(s) / Drew J. Strait -- "One who will arise to rule over the nations": Paul's letter to the Romans and the Roman empire / Michael F. Bird -- Philippians and empire: Paul's engagement with imperialism and the imperial cult / Lynn H. Cohick -- Colossians and the rhetoric of empire: a new battle zone / Allan R. Bevere -- Something old, something new: revelation and empire / Dwight D. Sheets -- Conclusion / Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica.

The New Testament is immersed in the often hostile world of the Roman Empire, but its relationship to that world is complex. What is meant by Jesus' call to "render unto Caesar" his due, when Luke subversively heralds the arrival of a Savior and Lord who is not Caesar, but Christ? Is there tension between Peter's command to "honor the emperor" and John's apocalyptic denouncement of Rome as "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots"? Under the direction of editors Scot McKnight and Joseph B. Modica, respected biblical scholars have come together to investigate an increasingly popular approach in New Testament scholarship of interpreting the text through the lens of empire. The contributors praise recent insights into the New Testament's exposé of Roman statecraft, ideology and emperor worship. But they conclude that rhetoric of anti-imperialism is often given too much sway. More than simply hearing the biblical authors in their context, it tends to govern what they must be saying about their context. The result of this collaboration, Jesus Is Lord, Caesar Is Not, is a groundbreaking yet accessible critical evaluation of empire criticism.