Kingdom and Community: The Social World of Early Christianity

1976 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 506
Author(s):  
Howard Clark Kee ◽  
John G. Gager
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Social World ◽  
The Social

A Critique of the ‘Curse/Death’ Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 5.1–8

1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. South
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Early Christianity ◽  
Social World ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Communal Life ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sociological Studies

There has been in recent years an upsurge of interest in the social description of early Christianity, particularly in the reconstruction of its ‘social world’. Any valid sociological analysis of early Christianity of necessity depends upon the exacting interpretation of the NT texts, since these constitute the necessary data for such studies. In many cases such exegetical ground-work has been done thoroughly and well, so that fruitful social studies can be conducted on the basis of the resulting data. Unfortunately, in the case of early Christian disciplinary practices, relatively little careful research has been done, and much of what has been done is, in the opinion of the present writer, seriously flawed. Social descriptions based upon this data are inevitably likewise flawed, and a distorted picture of early Christian communal life is the unfortunate result. The nature of early Christian discipline is obviously a problem of a social nature, but before serious sociological studies can be done, there must be a correction of the distortions which are currently prevalent in the scholarly consensus regarding this subject.

Socialscapes and Abstractions: An Appraisal of Richard A. Horsley’s Theorizing of Antiquity

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Rollens
Keyword(s):  
Early Christianity ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Social World ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Second Temple Judaism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Analytical Utility

Richard A. Horsley’s work on Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity has been widely influential. In particular, his theorizing of the social world in which early Jews and Christians were embedded has significantly advanced biblical studies. This article engages with several of the most prominent analytical categories in his work (peasant, retainer, resistance, and renewal) with a view toward investigating their conceptual origins and probing their analytical utility.

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