A. L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, "culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions"

https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/sb3978970

Reconstructing Israel: Restoration Eschatology in Early Judaism and Paul's Gentile Mission

In this study, Glancy paints a grim picture of ancient slavery as she delves through various ancient sources, and explains what the normal dynamics between slave and slaveholder were like. Above all else, her sympathies and interest lie mainly with the circumstances of the slaves themselves. Taking into consideration that slavery was an established fact of life, Glancy investigates the early Christian texts to analyze their impact on the early church. What emerges is an understanding of the subject which is at the same time illuminating, and to our modern (Christian) sensibilities, quite alarming.

/pdf/slavery-in-early-christianity-1g4r49fa9c.pdf

Slavery in Early Christianity

Social Identity Theory (SIT) is a promising tool in New Testament studies for helping readers understand the dynamics and formation of group identity in the First Century. The specific contention of this dissertation is that the author of Luke-Acts seeks to create and shape identity among God-fearers in the New Christian Movement by means of “cultural memory” and prescribed group behavior. Luke has an inclusive agenda that involves decentralization of the Jewish establishment, while redefining a number of core symbols of Judaism (notably the Temple and the land) around Jesus. Luke’s robust sense of gospel - rooted in Israel’s history, while extending to all people – forms a crucial backdrop for investigating his ethnically universalist tendencies and his narrative methods of communication. Specifically, social identity is formed through the use of prototypes and exemplars, characters that resemble a quality that the group either desires to promote or eliminate. Luke communicates many of these facets through speeches, utilizing elements of firstcentury Greco-Roman rhetoric. My eclectic, yet integrated approach aims to do justice to under-recognized features of social identity formation in Luke’s two volume work, with a particular focus on volume two (Acts).

The hermeneutics of social identity in Luke-Acts

What is ethnicity? Is there a 'white' way of speaking? Why do people sometimes borrow features of another ethnic group's language? Why do we sometimes hear an accent that isn't there? This lively overview, first published in 2006, reveals the fascinating relationship between language and ethnic identity, exploring the crucial role it plays in both revealing a speaker's ethnicity and helping to construct it. Drawing on research from a range of ethnic groups around the world, it shows how language contributes to the social and psychological processes involved in the formation of ethnic identity, exploring both the linguistic features of ethnic language varieties and also the ways in which language is used by different ethnic groups. Complete with discussion questions and a glossary, Language and Ethnicity will be welcomed by students and researchers in sociolinguistics, as well as anybody interested in ethnic issues, language and education, inter-ethnic communication, and the relationship between language and identity.

Language and Ethnicity

This newly revised edition of The New Testament World improves upon this already outstanding volume by adding inclusive language, by providing examples that are familiar to today's students, and by including an improved bibliography of introductory works "A welcome tool    for anyone who deals with ancient texts"--Carl R Kazmierski, University of Ottawa

The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology

When readers are separated from the social world of the author, miscommunication occurs. Historical methods of Biblical interpretation have been helpful in narrowing the gap between the modern reader and ancient authors but have concentrated only on distinctive events and ideas. The social-scientific approach employed in this commentary focuses on social phenomena that have persisted for centuries.

Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels

This work assembles and catalogs the values, conflicts, and mores of ancient Mediterranean culture pertinent to the Fourth Gospel. In many ways, the authors disclose, the Fourth Gospel addresses an alienated antisociety, fundamentally at odds with its predominant culture. With its unique format, charts, and photos, this social-science commentary is the ideal companion for the study of the Fourth Gospel.

Bruce J. Malina

Papers

The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology

Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels

Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John

The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul

Christian Origins and Cultural Anthropology: Practical Models for Biblical Interpretation