The Social World of the New Testament: Insights and Models

The Social World of the New Testament: Insights and Models surveys essential contributions made by leading scholars of the social-scientific approach to New Testament studies. Including important essays by Bruce J. Malina and John J. Pilch, among others, this book acts as a comprehensive collection of the most important essays and articles in the field. Included are topics vital to the social scientific interpretation of the New Testament, organized under three headings:

INSTITUTIONS
* Kinship: All in the Family: Kinship in Agrarian Roman Palestine--K. C. Hanson
* The Patron-Client Institution: God in the Letter of James: Patron or Benefactor?--Alicia Batten
* Economics: Jesus and Agrarian Palestine: The Factor of Debt--Douglas E. Oakman

CULTURE
* Honor and Shame: Loss of Wealth, Loss of Family, Loss of Honor: The Cultural Context of the Original Makarisms in Q--Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ
* Purity: The Epistle of James in Rhetorical and Social-Scientific Perspective: Holiness-Wholeness and Patterns of Replication--John H. Elliott
* Social Location: Was Jesus a Peasant: Implications for Reading the Jesus Tradition (Luke 10:30-35)--Douglas E. Oakman
* Social Location: The Social Location of the Markan Audience--Richard L. Rohrbaugh
* Gender: Who Should Be Called "Father"? Paul of Tarsus between the Jesus Tradition and Patria Potestas--S. Scott Bartchy
* Space: "Teaching You in Public and from House to House" (Acts 20:20): Unpacking a Cultural Stereotype--Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ
* Healing: Healing in Luke-Acts--John J. Pilch
* Evil Eye: Paul, Galatians, and the Evil Eye-- John H. Elliott
* Limited Good: "He Must Increase, I Must Decrease"(John 3:30): A Cultural and Social Interpretation--Richard L. Rohrbaugh and Jerome H. Neyrey

MODAL PERSONALITY
* Modal Personality: Ancient Mediterranean Persons in Cultural Perspective: Portrait of Paul--Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ and Bruce J. Malina

Jerome H. Neyrey, SJ is Professor of New Testament Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous books, including most recently Socio- Rhetorical Commentary on the Gospel of John and Render to God: New Testament Understandings of the Divine.

Eric C. Stewart is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Indiana University at South Bend. He is the co-editor of In Other Words: Essays on Social Science Methods and the New Testament in Honor of Jerome H. Neyrey.