Empire, Economics, and the New Testament

by Peter Oakes

Peter Oakes has long been recognized for his illuminating use of Greco-Roman material culture and social-scientific criticism to interpret the New Testament. This volume brings together his best work and introduces a substantial new essay that challenges current scholarly approaches to paradoxical teachings of the New Testament.  Of special interest to Oakes throughout this book is the concrete impact of economic realities and Roman imperialism on first-century Christian communities meeting in house churches. To address this, Oakes considers an array of textual and archaeological resources from first-century non-elite life, including extensive archaeological evidence available from Pompeii. Readers will find here a deep trove of wisdom for understanding the New Testament in the context of the Greco-Roman world.

Genres: Economics

237 pages, Hardcover

Published November 12, 2020

Reviews

[David S Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filling in parts of NT context that many people don’t think about

Oakes’ work deserves to be more prominent on pastors bookshelves. While this is definitely academic work, and to a very high standard, Oakes boasts the ability to write clearly and precisely for the non-specialist.

I always think that where many sermons get lost is that they fail to communicate to the listener that these events happened in a context where there were real people, with real lives, and real concerns. This book explores many of those concerns in such a way that one is invited deep into the lives of the first century Christians.

If you haven’t read Oakes before, try this and his Romans book and Galatians commentary. Each will offer you academically imaginative perspectives within which to read those texts and then interpret them better for your own time.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of essays by Peter Oakes is a treasure trove of thoughtful engagement that brings cutting edge research to bear on our understanding of the early church and how we may better engage the text. He has reminded us that the church of the NT world was largely small clusters of mostly poor people. They had benefactors, yes, but these were generally not of the elite class, and the majority of people in the church would have been poor by status or would be suffering economically because of their allegiance to Jesus. I believe many facets of the NT teaching have been lost to the western church precisely because we hear it from a largely affluent, dominant and individualistic world view. Oakes provides a compelling door into hearing the text anew, and from decentralized perspectives. I see a strong correlation between this and what I believe is the western church’s need to hear the text as it is heard by people who are not in the centre of power, who have (and continue to ) experience oppression.

[Jonathan Caldwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a strange book for me. I loved Oakes "Reading Romans in Pompeii" so I wanted to read something else of his. It sometimes feels like Oakes just jumps into the middle of a conversation and I'm left playing catch up. I felt that was in Reading Romans in Pompeii as well. Honestly, this book wasn't meant for me. This is most likely meant for the academic researcher as he discusses some pros and cons of certain methodologies. However, there are some interesting and imaginative insights given in the discussion of empire and economics, especially as they relate to Philippians and Thessalonians. Skip this one, but definitely read his work on Romans and Pompeii.

[Matthew McBirth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has three sections: archeological insights, economics, and Empire relations. I found the first two sections to be more helpful than the last. However, in regards to the first sections I think one should read Oakes' "Reading Romans In Pompeii." The stuff on economics was insightful and leads to some interesting implications on interpretation. My big issue with the book is that it mainly deals with Pauline letters (occasionally looking at Acts and Mark). Why one would not include 1 Peter in a section on Empire is bewildering.

[Allan Bevere · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those wanting to understand the complexities of the Roman household and it's economics in the context of the New Testament, this book is a must-read. It illuminates many passages in the New Testament, particularly the household codes in the epistles. In reading it, I realized my knowledge of this subject was not as robust as I thought. I am glad to have this new companion in my library.