A Critique of the ‘Curse/Death’ Interpretation of 1 Corinthians 5.1–8

1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. South

There has been in recent years an upsurge of interest in the social description of early Christianity, particularly in the reconstruction of its ‘social world’. Any valid sociological analysis of early Christianity of necessity depends upon the exacting interpretation of the NT texts, since these constitute the necessary data for such studies. In many cases such exegetical ground-work has been done thoroughly and well, so that fruitful social studies can be conducted on the basis of the resulting data. Unfortunately, in the case of early Christian disciplinary practices, relatively little careful research has been done, and much of what has been done is, in the opinion of the present writer, seriously flawed. Social descriptions based upon this data are inevitably likewise flawed, and a distorted picture of early Christian communal life is the unfortunate result. The nature of early Christian discipline is obviously a problem of a social nature, but before serious sociological studies can be done, there must be a correction of the distortions which are currently prevalent in the scholarly consensus regarding this subject.

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Larisa Orlov Vilimonović

This paper deals with the ideas of queer experiences in the Early Christian movement, seen through early Christian epistemologies of gender and patristic thought focused on sex differences. The lives and passions of transgender nuns are used in discussing various aspects of gender fluidity in early Christianity. Theoretically, the paper rests on the idea of the performativity of gender, that is, on the ways gender was constructed and how body modifications enabled renegotiation of gender categories. It also focuses on the social context of queer experiences in the late antique period with regard to Roman social norms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihai Stelian Rusu

This article sets out to explore the contributions of classical social thinkers to a sociological understanding of love. It builds on the premise that despite its major relevance and consequential importance in shaping both individual lives and the social world, until recently love was a heavily undertheorised topic in the sociological tradition. Moreover, the body of disparate sociological reflections that have been made on the social nature of love has been largely forgotten in the discipline’s intellectual legacy. The article then proceeds in unearthing the classics’ contributions to a sociology of love. It starts with Max Weber’s view that love promises to be a means of sensual salvation in an increasingly rationalised social world based on impersonal formal relationships. Next, it critically examines Pitirim A. Sorokin’s integral theory of love. It then moves to address Talcott Parsons’ view on love as a binding force whose social function is to integrate the conjugal couple of the modern nuclear family in the absence of the external pressures exerted by the kinship network. The article concludes by showing how these conceptualisations of love were all embedded in wider theoretical constructions set up to account for the modernisation process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-209
Author(s):  
A.A. ALEKSEYENOK ◽  
◽  
Yu.V. KAIRA ◽  

The purpose of the article is to determine the influence of the socio-economic and socio-political situation in the Orel region on the level of social tension. The research methodology is a sociological analysis of the respondents' answers about the socio-economic and socio-political situation in the region, as well as the level of social tension using two-dimensional analysis and correlation tables. As a result, the importance of conducting monitoring sociological studies of the main indicators of the social development of the region has been substantiated. It was revealed that the population of the region believes that the state of affairs in the economic sphere in the region is much worse than in the country as a whole. Despite the fact that the majority of respondents note an improvement in the political situation in the region, the fact that every third resident of the region declares that it has deteriorated is quite alarming. The authors come to the conclusion that dissatisfaction with the socio-political and socio-economic situation directly affects the civic position of the population, affects the growth of social tension. It is summarized that social tension is a complex multifactorial phenomenon that cannot be interpreted unambiguously. Therefore, to monitor it, constant research should be carried out.


Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (6461) ◽  
pp. 58-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie K. Scott

Human speech perception is a paradigm example of the complexity of human linguistic processing; however, it is also the dominant way of expressing vocal identity and is critically important for social interactions. Here, I review the ways that the speech, the talker, and the social nature of speech interact and how this may be computed in the human brain, using models and approaches from nonhuman primate studies. I explore the extent to which domain-general approaches may be able to account for some of these neural findings. Finally, I address the importance of extending these findings into a better understanding of the social use of speech in conversations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-123
Author(s):  
Sarah E. Rollens

Richard A. Horsley’s work on Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity has been widely influential. In particular, his theorizing of the social world in which early Jews and Christians were embedded has significantly advanced biblical studies. This article engages with several of the most prominent analytical categories in his work (peasant, retainer, resistance, and renewal) with a view toward investigating their conceptual origins and probing their analytical utility.


Author(s):  
Rachel Ablow

This introductory chapter first describes two different recent approaches to the relation between pain and social life. The first position casts the pain of the other primarily as an epistemological problem—the thing we cannot, but most need to, know. The second approach emphasizes how pain is always already part of a social world. The chapter then considers some of the terms in which Victorian medical professionals, caregivers, and sufferers understood the social nature of pain. Finally, this chapter discusses what is meant by the book's title, “Victorian Pain.” The goal here is to explain why this book seeks to describe not how pain was represented or constructed, but instead how pain was used by a range of writers at a particular time.


Author(s):  
William R. Caraher ◽  
David K. Pettegrew

Since the Renaissance, archaeology has played a significant albeit changing role in illuminating the history of early Christianity. This chapter surveys different historical approaches to archaeological investigations of Christianity, from early efforts to authenticate or disprove the traditions and practices of the Catholic church to the development of the field of early Christian archaeology in continental Europe and through to more recent efforts to reconstruct the social and economic contexts of early Christian sites and landscapes between the first and eighth centuries. This chapter offers a state of the field, highlighting the positive achievements of archaeologists over the last two centuries and drawing attention to problems of method, interpretation, and approach that modern scholars are working to correct. It recommends repositioning the field within the disciplinary framework of archaeology itself while also encouraging fruitful interdisciplinary conversation.


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