"Professor Theissen aims to construct a sociological analysis of the world of Jesus and Palestinian communities generally. This approach to Exegesis poses fruitful new questions without "explaining" the Christian movement in a reductionist way. After spelling out the methods of this sociological approach to the Gospels, the author first looks at typical social phenomena of the times: wandering charismatics and the settled communities which received them, and the role of the Son of man in these communities. He then considers the economic, ecological, political, and cultural factors of Jewish society in Palestine and their effects on earliest Christianity. Finally, he proposes a psychoanalytic interpretation of the effects of the renewal movement of Jesus on his society." -Publisher

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.

"If I had to pick one introduction to the sociology of the New Testament, it would be this one". -- Theology Today

Aune's comprehensive study of early Christian prophecy includes a review of its antecedents (Greco-Roman oracles, ancient Israelite prophecy, prophecy in early Judaism), a discussion of Jesus as prophet, and analyses of Christian prophetic speeches from Paul to the middle of the second century A.D.

Hanson and Oakman's award-winning and enormously illuminating volume quickly has become a widely used and cited introduction to the social context of the early Jesus movement. This new printing augments the text with multiple features on an accompanying CD-ROM.

Which milieu did the earliest rural Jesus movement emerge from? Sarah E. Rollens provides a sociological study of the earliest Christians in rural Palestine based on evidence in the Sayings Gospels Q. She compares this Jesus movement to other movements of social reform in similar socio-cultural contexts.

Need for sociology in New Testament studies - Social level of first Christians - Early Christianity as a millenarian sect - Correlations between symbolic and social structures - Use of sociology in New Testament exegesis.

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This title provides a sociological investigation into the life of the early Church by one of the 20th-century's leading biblical scholars.

Recent emphasis on the social matrix out of which the early church's documents arose marks a notable turn in the path of contemporary New Testament studies. Although the terms, goals, and procedures of scholars vary considerably, there is widespread agreement that much of the interesting and innovative work in the field is that of Gerd Theissen. Four of his most formidable and sustained contributions treat Paul's correspondence with the Christian community at Corinth. Together these four essays provide a composite picture of the social stratification at this ancient urban center and of the concrete organizational and ethical problems that that stratification engendered for the Christians' common life. A fifth essay helps to focus the critical questions of methodology that arise whenever one approaches ancient religious texts for information on issues which to the texts themselves are of peripheral concern. A lucid introduction by the translator and a helpful bibliography of the author's major writings round out this significant exploration and interpretation of the social world of early Christianity.