- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: T.& T.Clark Ltd (1 Mar 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0567086046
- ISBN-13: 978-0567086044
- Product Dimensions: 22.4 x 14.6 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,418,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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'This is an important book; its central thesis should cause a considerable amount of rethinking. It draws on an abundance of primary evidence and on much recent work in ancient history.' David Horrell, Reviews in Religion and Theology'Meggitt's basic conclusion, so richly furnished and so clearly discussed, seems to be broadly convincing. Many, I am sure, would be proud to have written a book of the quality of this one towards the end of their careers, let alone at the beginning.'
James Carleton Paget, Journal of Theological Studies'Books that shift the governing paradigms of New Testament interpretation are rare. This volume may be one. In it Justin Meggitt challenges assumptions about the economic and social conditions of the classical world in the first century of the common era which have held sway for at least two decades, uniting both Anglo-American and German New Testament scholars in a consensus which, if his case is correct, must be fundamentally flawed. Those wishing to t
James Carleton Paget, Journal of Theological Studies'Books that shift the governing paradigms of New Testament interpretation are rare. This volume may be one. In it Justin Meggitt challenges assumptions about the economic and social conditions of the classical world in the first century of the common era which have held sway for at least two decades, uniting both Anglo-American and German New Testament scholars in a consensus which, if his case is correct, must be fundamentally flawed. Those wishing to t
Product Description
This social history of earliest Christianity radically re-evaluates both the methods and models of other studies. Justin Meggitt draws on the most recent research in classical studies on the economy and society of the Roman Empire. He examines the economic experiences of the Pauline churches, and locates Paul and the members of his communities within the context of the first century Roman economy. He explores their experiences of employment, nutrition and housing. He uncovers and describes the unique responses that they made to such a harsh environment. And he questions whether, from the outset, Christianity included a number of affluent individuals.A thoroughly researched and ground-breaking study.>
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Meggitt has taken a long hard look at the social world of the earliest church. He finds that the current view of Paul's churches as solidly middle class is not supported by the historical evidence, and presents a genuinely fresh appriasal of them to show that the dominant culture was subsistence level lower class. The scholarship is impeccable, but the book is also very readable and should be on every NT scholar's shelf.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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3 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
A fascinating and important contribution.
13 Oct 1998
Format:Hardcover
This book, though concerned primarily with the economic life of the earliest churches, is of greater significance than might at first appear. It argues persuasively that New Testament scholarship has failed to take account of the popular culture of the first century and has, as a consequence, badly misrepresented the experiences and practices of the first Christians. The author then provides a model of how an "appropriate context" can be constructed from the diverse array of non-elite sourcs we possess from this period (epitaphs, curse tablets, dream interpretations etc) and reexamines the economic behaviour of the earliest churches in the light of it. The book also contains a concerted criticism of the "new consensus" in Pauline scholarship (the belief that the earliest Christians contained amongst their number members of the elite of their day) and, it has to be said, the plethora of new empirical data provided by the author and his rigorous critique of the consensus' method, leaves it in tatters. A rare book in NT scholarship: one that has something genuinely fresh to say.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Outrageously original!
11 Feb 1999
Format:Hardcover
An audacious book that takes to task much of New Testament scholarship. It is outrageous in its bold assertion of the correct and proper way to do social research on the NT - but it is deliciously right in so doing. One can only marvel at the author's skill in dismantling the Aunt Sallys of many a Biblical scholar.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A book of genuine significance for NT scholarship
11 Feb 1999
Format:Hardcover
A book of supreme importance. It grapples with the simplistic state of New Testament scholarship and shows with a clear method and a profound grasp of the sources that we can reconstruct only with care the social background of the Pauline writings. It is a "must read" for anyone involved in Biblical studies today.
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