In my last post I told something about the research I did for Doctor Luke’s Assistant. I divided this into active research and passive research, and sort of said that the passive research was more extensive and more important than the active. I don’t want people to think I didn’t do a lot of active research. I did. Remembering what the preacher said in a sermon five years ago only goes so far. You need to check to make sure the preacher was correct.

I wrote a little about research in this blog post. I found the research quite enjoyable, actually. Search engines are powerful machines, especially when looking for scholarly works. You have to sift through a bunch of popular items, but you can get to the items having the substance a person can stand on.

I liked what I learned about ocean-going vessels during the first century. From passive research I already knew something about sailing conditions on the Mediterranean Sea, and what the shipping seasons were. The boats themselves took a little digging.

I learned something about writing during that time from several sources. My favorite was this paper in the Bulletin for Biblical Research. While a lot of what this paper said wasn’t fully germane to what I needed for DLA, it helped me understand the writing of the times a little better, especially the production of books, be they scrolls or codices.

The conditions in Bethlehem are well documented, and sources that describe the smallness of the town and its proximity to Jerusalem abound. What I wrote about the caravans that pass through the area is more common sense than the result of research. Fodder would be difficult to find the closer you got to Jerusalem, so transient caravans would have to mostly stay outside the city. Bethlehem being about six miles away would be a logical choice as one of the places where caravans would spend the time while the traders went into Jerusalem to sell and procure goods.

I borrowed a book from my son on the status of science and medicinal practices in the 1st Century. I have that written in notes in my research file, but can’t remember the name right now. I’ll add it later. This helped me to look at how Luke practiced medicine, and kept me from using a 21st Century lens whenever that was part of the story. However, I won’t claim to be fully accurate. I have Luke “seeing patients” as if he had a medical office. Did that actually happen back then? I don’t know for sure. I feel good about saying that expatriate Romans would be more likely to seek out his medical services than those of a Jewish physician. People generally like to stick with their culture and nationality in such decisions.

I think that’s enough to write about the research effort, between the last post and this. If someone has some specific questions about an item or situation, or wants to question whether what I wrote was historically accurate, feel free to contact me.