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Trade ReviewInsightful... the book [belongs] in every library that has an interest in the social-scientific analysis of earliest Christianity. -- Michael J. Gorman, The Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary & University * Bridges *
A helpful introduction to socio-scientific methods for interpreting the New Testament and reconstructing first-century Christianity…an enormous resource for sociologists and New Testament scholars alike who are attempting to understand each other's disciplines and their intersection. * Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review *
Grouped under six topic headings, the 27 contributions include both topical surveys and case studies illustrating applied theory. Three articles introduce New Testament social scientific criticism. The selected articles that follow reflect accurately the volume's title by covering specific, but often neglected, social-scientific approaches such as archaeology, literary criticism, stylometric analysis, rhetorical criticism, psychology of religion, and structuralism alongside expected sociological topics like the sociology of knowledge, group formation and identity, the politics of power, and economics... The volume's comprehensive bibliography is ... complemented by lists of both ancient authors and compilations of ancient sources, along with author, biblical citation, and subject indexes. -- J. C. Hanges, Miami University * CHOICE *
Table of ContentsPart 1 I. General Perspective Chapter 2 1. Social Sciences Studying Formative Christian Phenomena: A Creative Movement Chapter 3 2. Major Social Scientific Theories: Origins, Development, and Contribution Chapter 4 3. General Methodological Perspective Part 5 II. Special Methods Chapter 6 4. Archaeological and Architectural Issues and the Question of Demographic and Urban Forms Chapter 7 5. An Illustration of Historical Inquiry: Histories of Jesus and Matthew 1.1-25 Chapter 8 6. Literary Source and Redaction Criticism Chapter 9 7. Statistical Textual Analysis: A Special Technique Chapter 10 8. Aspects of Rhetorical Analysis Applied to New Testament Texts Chapter 11 9. Structuralism and Symbolic Universes: Second Temple Judaism and the Early Christian Movement Part 12 III. Contexts and Emergence of the Jesus Movement and Early Christianity Chapter 13 10. Early Christianity as an Unorganized Ecumenical Religious Movement Chapter 14 11. Jesus and Palestinian Social Protest: Archaeological and Literary Perspectives Chapter 15 12. Civilizational Encounters in the Development of Early Christianity Chapter 16 13. Early Christian Culture as Interaction Chapter 17 14. "Becoming Christian": Solidifying Christian Identity and Content Chapter 18 15. Sociological Insights into the Development of Christian Leadership Roles and Community Function Chapter 19 16. Establishing Social Distance between Christians and Both Jews and Pagans Part 20 IV. Power, Inequality, and Difference Chapter 21 17. Connections with Elites in the World of Early Christians Chapter 22 18. Government and Public Law in Galilee, Judea, Hellenistic Cities and the Roman Empire Chapter 23 19. Persecution Chapter 24 20. Vulnerable Power: The Roman Empire Challenged by the Early Christians Chapter 25 21. The Limits of Ethnic Categories Part 26 V. Economic Questions Chapter 27 22. Economy of First-Century Palestine: State of the Scholarly Discussion Chapter 28 23. Modes and Relations of Production Chapter 29 24. What Would You Do for a Living? Part 30 VI. Psycho-Social Approaches and Phenomena Chapter 31 25. Conflicting Bases of Identity in Early Christianity: The Example of Paul Chapter 32 26. A Psychoanalytical Study of Fratricidal Conflict in the Context of First-Century Palestine Chapter 33 27. Conversion to Early Christianity
