Browsing the archives for the social history category

23 Jun 10

Is Social-Scientific Research of the Bible Useless?

There is a story I heard recently about a prominent biblical scholar.  Though he was not himself into social scientific criticism, he was invited to speak at a panel discussion of a book applying social theory to the Bible. This scholar was surprised to be invited. When he sat on the panel, he shared his [...]

15 Comments Posted in social history, social scientific criticism by Patrick George McCullough
19 Nov 09

Breastfeeding and the Bible at SBL

Breasts are not a typical conversation topic for biblical scholars, at least not in my experience. But they do tend to be a common conversation piece in my household. My wife, among other things, is a Certified Lactation Educator and is very passionate about breastfeeding. If the topic interests you, you may find her blog [...]

2 Comments Posted in Moses, SBL, breastfeeding, hebrew bible, lactation, social history by Patrick George McCullough
27 Jan 09

The New Testament in Antiquity by Burge, Cohick, and Green

The New Testament in Antiquity: A Survey of the New Testament within its Cultural Contexts
Authors: Gary M. Burge, Lynn H. Cohick, and Gene E. Green
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 9780310244950
Buy: Zondervan; Amazon
I have to admit that I was salivating about this book since I first saw the author interview posted on Zondervan’s Koinonia blog. I would [...]

3 Comments Posted in book reviews, evangelicalism, new testament, social history, textbooks by Patrick George McCullough
17 Jan 09

Paul's Mother Was a Roman Citizen

This is the suggestion of Lynn Cohick in a recent post on Zondervan’s blog Koinonia. I have not come to a conclusion myself regarding the citizenship of Paul. His citizenship plays a significant role in Acts, but is nowhere mentioned in Paul’s actual letters. Historically speaking, then, I think those who argue that Acts invented [...]

0 Comments Posted in Paul, Roman citizenship, social history, women by Patrick George McCullough
3 Dec 08

Jesus' Family Values

I’m borrowing the title of Deirdre Good’s book even though I haven’t read it. It’s a catchy way of getting at what I’ve been considering quite a bit lately. As we read Jesus’ statements in the Gospels, he often feels somewhat hostile to blood families. Christians caught up in “family values” culture wars in North [...]

2 Comments Posted in Gospels, Jesus, family, family values, siblings, social history by Patrick George McCullough
2 Dec 08

Film: "Birth of a New Religion"

Bartchy had his survey course, “History of Early Christians,” watch a section of a documentary film on Christianity to review. I thought I would share my own thoughts here. Part One of the film “Two Thousand Years: The History of Christianity” (1999), a section entitled “The Birth of a New Religion: 1st and 2nd Centuries,” [...]

0 Comments Posted in Christian history, Jesus, NT Wright, Paul, charlesworth, christian origins, christianity, documentaries, film reviews, new testament, social history by Patrick George McCullough
21 Aug 08

In the Mail: Malina's The New Testament World

Many thanks to Westminster John Knox Press for sending over a review copy of Bruce Malina’s unique New Testament introduction, The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology! This is a standard text for Scott Bartchy for many of his classes at UCLA. I actually haven’t read the book yet, so I thought it’d [...]

3 Comments Posted in book reviews, books, cultural anthropology, malina, new testament introductions, social history by Patrick George McCullough