Results by title
4 books match the query 'Sociology, Biblical'
Controlling Corporeality
The Body and the Household in Ancient IsraelBerquist, Jon L.
Rutgers University Press, 2002
Human bodily existence is at the core of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures—from birth to death. From God’s creation of Adam out of clay, to the narratives of priests and kings whose regulations governed bodily practices, the Hebrew Bible focuses on the human body. Moreover, ancient Israel’s understanding of the human body has greatly influenced both Judaism and Christianity. Despite this pervasive influence, ancient Israel’s view of the human body has rarely been studied and, until now, has been poorly understood.
In this beautifully written book, Jon L. Berquist guides the reader through the Hebrew Bible, examining ancient Israel’s ideas of the body, the unstable roles of gender, the deployment of sexuality, and the cultural practices of the time. Conducting his analysis with reference to contemporary theories of the body, power, and social control, Berquist offers not only a description and clarification of ancient Israelite views of the body, but also an analysis of how these views belong to the complex logic of ancient social meanings. When this logic is understood, the familiar Bible becomes strange and opens itself to a wide range of new interpretations.
Friendship and Benefaction in James
Alicia J. Batten
SBL Press, 2017
Now available from SBL Press
Employing social description, social scientific models, and rhetorical analysis, Alicia J. Batten argues that the letter of James is conversant with the topic of friendship within Greek and Roman literature, as well as within various texts of early Christianity. She illustrates how James drew upon some of the language and concepts related to friendship with an intriguing density to advocate resistance to wealth, avoidance of rich patrons, and reliance upon God.
Features:
- Use of friendship, benefaction, and patronage as lenses through which James and related texts can be viewed
- A strong case for how the letter appels to the language and ideas of friendship with regard to God's relationships with humans
- Exploration of the relationship between the book of James and the teachings of Jesus
Growing Up in Ancient Israel
Children in Material Culture and Biblical TextsKristine Henriksen Garroway
SBL Press, 2018
The first expansive reference examining the texts and material culture related to children in ancient Israel
Growing Up in Ancient Israel uses a child-centered methodology to investigate the world of children in ancient Israel. Where sources from ancient Israel are lacking, the book turns to cross-cultural materials from the ancient Near East as well as archaeological, anthropological, and ethnographic sources. Acknowledging that childhood is both biologically determined and culturally constructed, the book explores conception, birth, infancy, dangers in childhood, the growing child, dress, play, and death. To bridge the gap between the ancient world and today’s world, Kristine Henriksen Garroway introduces examples from contemporary society to illustrate how the Hebrew Bible compares with a Western understanding of children and childhood.
Features:
- More than fifty-five illustrations illuminating the world of the ancient Israelite child
- An extensive investigation of parental reactions to the high rate of infant mortality and the deaths of infants and children
- An examination of what the gendering and enculturation process involved for an Israelite child
The Politics of Pessimism in Ecclesiastes
A Social-Science PerspectiveMark R. Sneed
SBL Press, 2012