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Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels
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.
422 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 28, 2019
Review to This book attempts to explain the Gospels’ texts in terms of what we know about the social sciences applied to life back when they were written. After the introduction with its explanation of the authors methodology they apply this methodology to all three of the synoptic Gospels.
The following are comments on specific pieces of text from the notes I took while reading the book. Some of these comments are on biblical quotes and not on what the writers have written in their commentary on them. Kindle locations are given in brackets []
[220] “Consider how many U.S. and northern European people believe that the Bible is a perfectly adequate statement of Christian life and behavior! Such people assume that they are free to fill in the gaps from their own experience . . .” This is what the “What would Jesus do?” crowd do.
[234] “Obviously the actions and teachings of Jesus were remembered, reappropriated, and reapplied for some fifty years. . . the story was told anew was a new step in the process of recontextualization.” I will only say that there is no way to verify Jesus as a historical person no matter what recontextualization occurred in the process of writing down the Gospels—social or not.
[488] The authors claim that the star that the wise men followed was a comet. Comet or not it would be impossible to find the position of anything based on a star’s or comet’s position in the sky. You can pretty much rule out a comet based on astronomic records or running Newton’s equations backwards on comets that have appeared once accurate measurements of their orbits were available.
[579] “Instead, philosophers and ancient Mediterraneans in general were anti-introspective. Instead of judging people individually and psychologically, Mediterranean elites and non-elites utilized stereotypical descriptions and explanations.” I guess Socrates through what we find in Plato, bucked this trend.
[650] “Note that Matthew emphasizes the promptness with which those whom Jesus addressed took up after him. Clearly, these faction recruits had previous information about what Jesus was up to.” There is no proof here, hence no assured information.
[759] “Because heaven and earth were created by God, they will never pass away. ‘Until heaven and earth pass away’ thus means ‘never.’ Here the phrase is used as an oath, meaning ‘even if heaven and earth pass away’ (which as all know will never happen).” Earth will certainly pass away when the Sun goes through a red giant phase. It would be larger than the earth’s orbit. As for heaven different ways might make it pass away too. And expanding forever universe would eventually mean lights out. Or a big crunch would obliterate it.
[889] “The non-Israelite prayers that ‘heap up empty phrases’ were litanies, often of great length, intended to tire the divinity so that she/he would grant the favor sought.” It just seems calculated to piss the Jewish god off.
[1061] “. . . while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 8:12) If this be the case for hell, it would be a day where hell freezes over because if the outer darkness means the dark skies there would be very little infrared light responsible for heat.
[3774] “And he [Jesus] sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’” (Mark 8:12) How perverse. A sign would have convinced many people. He should have had it written in the sky with smoke by an angel declaring “Jesus is the Messiah.” But no, keep it hidden so there will be gnashing of teeth among other things.
[3790] “And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basket full of broken pieces did you collect?’” (Mark 9:17-19) This is one example of Jesus bullying his disciples, putting them down. Why do people insist that Jesus is such a nice guy when this is in their sacred scriptures. [3914] And here’s another “How much longer must I put up with you [Jesus’ disciples]?” (Mark 9:19)
[4173] “Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’” Here Jesus is throwing a temper tantrum. How infantile? While the fig tree feels no hurt, future persons will be deprived of the figs they could have eaten from it. And, should not he have known there would be no fruit on it when he got up to it.
The book was interesting. However, the authors were never critical of the actual historicity of the Gospels’ texts. They just interpreted the texts in terms of what was going on back then under the guidance of the behavioral sciences, never considering that what was written may not have actually taken place. If it was more than just myth, their analysis would be a valid way to analyze the texts.
I suppose anyone interested in biblical commentary with a focus on the sociology of the Palestinian environment of the times when the Gospels were written could profit from reading this book. You do not even have to be a believer to enjoy it. And even if you are, the analysis does not wipe away the core meaning of these pieces of their sacred writings.
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The following are comments on specific pieces of text from the notes I took while reading the book. Some of these comments are on biblical quotes and not on what the writers have written in their commentary on them. Kindle locations are given in brackets []
[220] “Consider how many U.S. and northern European people believe that the Bible is a perfectly adequate statement of Christian life and behavior! Such people assume that they are free to fill in the gaps from their own experience . . .” This is what the “What would Jesus do?” crowd do.
[234] “Obviously the actions and teachings of Jesus were remembered, reappropriated, and reapplied for some fifty years. . . the story was told anew was a new step in the process of recontextualization.” I will only say that there is no way to verify Jesus as a historical person no matter what recontextualization occurred in the process of writing down the Gospels—social or not.
[488] The authors claim that the star that the wise men followed was a comet. Comet or not it would be impossible to find the position of anything based on a star’s or comet’s position in the sky. You can pretty much rule out a comet based on astronomic records or running Newton’s equations backwards on comets that have appeared once accurate measurements of their orbits were available.
[579] “Instead, philosophers and ancient Mediterraneans in general were anti-introspective. Instead of judging people individually and psychologically, Mediterranean elites and non-elites utilized stereotypical descriptions and explanations.” I guess Socrates through what we find in Plato, bucked this trend.
[650] “Note that Matthew emphasizes the promptness with which those whom Jesus addressed took up after him. Clearly, these faction recruits had previous information about what Jesus was up to.” There is no proof here, hence no assured information.
[759] “Because heaven and earth were created by God, they will never pass away. ‘Until heaven and earth pass away’ thus means ‘never.’ Here the phrase is used as an oath, meaning ‘even if heaven and earth pass away’ (which as all know will never happen).” Earth will certainly pass away when the Sun goes through a red giant phase. It would be larger than the earth’s orbit. As for heaven different ways might make it pass away too. And expanding forever universe would eventually mean lights out. Or a big crunch would obliterate it.
[889] “The non-Israelite prayers that ‘heap up empty phrases’ were litanies, often of great length, intended to tire the divinity so that she/he would grant the favor sought.” It just seems calculated to piss the Jewish god off.
[1061] “. . . while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 8:12) If this be the case for hell, it would be a day where hell freezes over because if the outer darkness means the dark skies there would be very little infrared light responsible for heat.
[3774] “And he [Jesus] sighed deeply in his spirit and said, ‘Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.’” (Mark 8:12) How perverse. A sign would have convinced many people. He should have had it written in the sky with smoke by an angel declaring “Jesus is the Messiah.” But no, keep it hidden so there will be gnashing of teeth among other things.
[3790] “And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basket full of broken pieces did you collect?’” (Mark 9:17-19) This is one example of Jesus bullying his disciples, putting them down. Why do people insist that Jesus is such a nice guy when this is in their sacred scriptures. [3914] And here’s another “How much longer must I put up with you [Jesus’ disciples]?” (Mark 9:19)
[4173] “Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’” Here Jesus is throwing a temper tantrum. How infantile? While the fig tree feels no hurt, future persons will be deprived of the figs they could have eaten from it. And, should not he have known there would be no fruit on it when he got up to it.
The book was interesting. However, the authors were never critical of the actual historicity of the Gospels’ texts. They just interpreted the texts in terms of what was going on back then under the guidance of the behavioral sciences, never considering that what was written may not have actually taken place. If it was more than just myth, their analysis would be a valid way to analyze the texts.
I suppose anyone interested in biblical commentary with a focus on the sociology of the Palestinian environment of the times when the Gospels were written could profit from reading this book. You do not even have to be a believer to enjoy it. And even if you are, the analysis does not wipe away the core meaning of these pieces of their sacred writings.
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May 7, 2019
This book is a great resource for pastors preparing for sermons or those interested in what the world was actually like during the time of Jesus.
October 6, 2023
A good reference, useful when preparing sermons and for teaching.
November 11, 2024
3.5 stars. A good reference book on the synoptic gospels.
February 24, 2024
A joke of a social-rhetorical commentary. Save your money and buy Keener's social-rhetorical commentary which respects the Greek, the culture, and the context of Matthew, citing his sources and giving his readers ample material for a well educated sermon.
August 10, 2013
As they say on the Internet, it does what it says on the tin. This is an excellent historical/social scientific commentary on the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews