Dramatic movie preview voice: “Just when you thought all the dust had been settled, one man has come to shake it off. The writing was on the wall, and he decided to reread it. He enters the arena where two groups battle over the true meaning of identity. He searches through every city in the Empire to find the truth. Diving down into the well of time, Phil Harland discovers the hidden mysteries of the eternal question: ‘Who Are We?’ The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Read it here. Read it now.”
T & T Clark should totally hire me on their marketing team. I’m feeling a little sensational today (blame it on the imagery behind Phil’s recent post: Pompeii 2). But seriously, Phil Harland’s new book, Dynamics of Identity in the World of the Early Christians, looks very exciting! Here’s the description:
Drawing on insights from the social sciences, including social identity theory and migration theory, this study suggests that we can better understand certain dynamics of identity among groups of Judeans (Jews) and Christians by looking at archeological evidence (especially inscriptions) for other contemporary associations, immigrants, and cultural minorities. Ancient Judean and Christian answers to the question ‘Who are we?’ come into sharper focus through close attention to the cultural environments and real-life settings of associations in the cities of the Roman empire. Despite the peculiarities of both Judean gatherings and Christian congregations, there were significant overlaps in how associations of various kinds communicated their identities and in how members of such groups expressed notions of belonging internally. The work is particularly well suited as a course text or book for review in courses that aim to understand early Christian groups and literature, including the New Testament, in relation to their Greek, Roman, and Judean cultural contexts.
It’s available for preorder on Amazon and Phil has his own information page up, with the promise of a companion webpage coming.
