This book gives a clearly written, authoritative introduction to social-scientific criticism of the New Testament, including the rise of this method, its practitioners and the focal points of their work, how the method is applied to the interpretation of the biblical text, and the presuppositions and procedures of the method. Four appendices; glossary; two bibliographies.

In the past twenty-five years, New Testament scholars have drawn on the social sciences, especially anthropology and sociology, to develop a variety of new perspectives on early Christianity. David Horrell here gathers together the classic works in this field, including essays by, for example, John Barclay, Philip Esler, Wayne Meeks, Luise Schottroff and Gerd Theissen. For each selection, David Horrell provides a short introduction and suggestions for further reading. He also provides an introduction outlining the development and future prospects of the discipline.An excellent reference and textbook for scholars and students.

A survey of the field of social-scientific criticism in relation to the New Testament. It covers the leading practitioners, provides practical illustrations of its use, and evaluates its achievements.

"An emerging field of study that explores the Hispanic minority in the United States, Latino Studies is enriched by an interdisciplinary perspective. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, demographers, linguists, as well as religion, ethnicity, and culture scholars, among others, bring a varied, multifaceted approach to the understanding of a people whose roots are all over the Americas and whose permanent home is north of the Rio Grande. Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies offers an authoritative, trustworthy, and up-to-date intellectual map to this ever-changing discipline."--Editorial page.

Contributions by internationally known scholars from the United States, Germany, Scotland, Spain, and Canada move beyond many of the impasses in historical Jesus research. Includes essays using social sciences, social history, and traditional historical methods.

Methods and findings from the social sciences are increasingly important for New Testament scholars. Unfortunately, however, anthropology and related disciplines are still unfamiliar territory for many students of the Bible. This work acquaints readers with this territory by providing introductions and basic bibliographic orientations to the application of social-scientific categories to New Testament research.Although it is impossible to know fully how ancient people lived their daily lives, these essays come as close to realizing that goal as we moderns are likely to get. Required reading for anyone who respects Scripture enough to investigate the world in which it was written and to which its writers originally spoke . . . an invaluable resource for pastor, seminarian, and scholar alike. William R. Herzog II, Colgate-Rochester Divinity School

The Bible was not written and received in a historical vacuum--in fact, the social and historical context of the Bible illuminates key understandings that may have been otherwise missed. Biblical scholars use many different approaches to uncover this context, each engaging various aspects of the social and historical world of the Bible--from religious ritual to scribal practice to historical event. In Social & Historical Approaches to the Bible, you will learn how these methods developed and see how they have been used. You will be introduced to the strengths and weaknesses of each method, so you may understand its benefits as well as see its limitations. Many of these approaches are still in use by biblical scholars today, though often much changed from their earliest form as ideas were revised in light of the challenges and questions posed by further research.

Modelling Early Christianity explores the intriguing foreign social context of first century Palestine and the Greco-Roman East, in which the Christian faith was first proclaimed and the New Testament documents were written. It demonstrates that a sophisticated analysis of the context is essential in order to understand the original meaning of the texts. The contributors examine social themes such as early Christian group formation, the centrality of kinship and honour and the economic setting. They offer a wealth of novel and socially realistic interpretations which make sense of the texts. At the same time, Modelling Early Christianity contains significant new ideas on the relationship between social-scientific and literary-critical analysis, the theoretical justification for model-use and the way these new approaches can fertilise contemporary Christian theology.

This is a collection of pivotal essays by E. A. Judge, who initiated many important discus?sions in the establishment of social scientific criticism of the Bible.

This book surveys the current landscape of New Testament studies, offering readers a concise guide to contemporary discussions. Bringing together a diverse group of experts, it covers research on the most important issues in New Testament studies, including new discipline areas, making it an ideal supplemental textbook for a variety of courses on the New Testament. Michael Bird, David Capes, Greg Carey, Lynn Cohick, Dennis Edwards, Michael Gorman, and Abson Joseph are among the contributors.