Handbook of Early Christianity: Social Science Approaches

The Christian movement emerged amidst complex social tensions, power politics, ethnic diversity, economic stress, and cultural changes. Both biblical scholars and social scientists find that a social scientific study of early Christian phenomena yields fascinating results. However, biblical scholars are sometimes unaware of the breadth of the useful social scientific concepts and techniques, and social scientists sometimes lack the most basic background in literary research methods. The Handbook of Early Christianity provides a much needed overview for biblical scholars and social scientists alike. Drawing on perspectives from anthropology, archaeology, economics, history, literary analysis, psychology, political science, and sociology, the Handbook shows the myriad and complementary approaches that shed light on Christianity's formation and early development. Twenty-seven chapters from leading scholars along with a comprehensive bibliography make this an essential reference for anyone wishing to understand the social dynamics of Christianity's birth.

Anthony J. Blasi holds a B.A. in history from St. Edward's University in Texas, an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in biblical studies from the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, an S.T.L. from Regis College in Toronto, and a conjoint Th.D. from Regis College and the University of Toronto. He is a professor of sociology at Tennessee State University in Nashville. His books include A Phenomenological Transformation of the Social Scientific Study of Religion (1985), Moral Conflict and Christian Religion (1988), Early Christianity as a Social Movement (1989), Making Charisma: The Social Construction of Paul's Public Image (1991), A Sociology of Johannine Christianity (1996), and Organized Religion and Seniors' Mental Health (1999). He is past president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

Jean Duhaime earned a B.A. from the Séminaire de Chicoutimi; a Bachelor's in Secondary-level Religious Education from the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi; a Licentiate in religious studies, an M.A. in theology-biblical studies, and an M.Sc in sociology from the Université de Montréal; and a Diplôme from the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem. Duhaime is professeur titulaire [full professor] d'interprétation de la Bible at the Faculté de Théologie at the Université de Montréal. His books include Entendre la voix du Dieu vivant (coeditor, 1994), Loi et autonomie dans la Bible et la tradition chrétienne (coeditor, 1994), L'adhésion à la conscience de Krishna aux États-Unis vers 1970 (1996). His works have also appeared in the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Revue de Qumrâ, Revue Scriptura, Religiologiques, and Église et Théologie.

Paul-André Turcotte holds a B.A., M.A., and Lic. from the Université de Montréal; a B. Péd. from the Université Laval; a Ph.D. in social sciences from the Ecole des Hautes Études in Sciences Sociales in Par