Class Struggle in the New Testament

by Robert J. Myles (Contributor), Roland Boer (Contributor), Alan H. Cadwallader (Contributor)

Class Struggle in the New Testament engages the political and economic realities of the first century to unmask the mediation of class through several New Testament texts and traditions. Essays span a range of subfields, presenting class struggle as the motor force of history by responding to recent debates, historical data, and new evidence on the political-economic world of Jesus, Paul, and the Gospels. Chapters address collective struggles in the Gospels; the Roman military and class; the usefulness of categories like peasant, retainer, and middling groups for understanding the world of Jesus; the class basis behind the origin of archangels; the Gospels as products of elite culture; the implication of capitalist ideology upon biblical interpretation; and the New Testament’s use of slavery metaphors, populist features, and gifting practices. This book will become a definitive reference point for future discussion.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, New Testament, History, Politics

314 pages, Paperback

Published June 25, 2021

Reviews

[Corey Herlevsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A highly technical work written for a scholarly audience. I would love to see a follow up volume aimed at the general reader. There are some great insights here among the minutia.