Temple And Righteousness In Qumran And Early Christianity: Tracing The Social Difference Between The Two Movements

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.


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.


1984 ◽  
Vol 77 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 277-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Wills

Form criticism has enjoyed great success in providing tangible insights into the social life and liturgical practices of Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity, but until now there has not been forthcoming a clear idea of what Jewish and Christian preaching was like before the middle of the second century CE Scholars are generally agreed that we have little, if any, direct evidence of sermons from this period. The sermons in Acts would seem to be excellent sources, but as Alexander Mac-Donald has pointed out, these are almost all missionary sermons or speeches to outsiders, and are therefore of little use in determining the nature of sermons addressed to coreligionists in the synagogue or church. Morton Smith attempted to isolate sermons in the synoptic gospels, but there he admits that the passages adduced—largely collections of sayings—may not constitute the actual form of oral preaching, but instead reflect a consistent pattern of literary sermon reports. As for Jewish sermons, the midrashic collections were edited later than the period in question, and it is generally unwise to extrapolate backward from these texts. Recent attempts to compare rabbinic homiletical forms with NT texts have been strongly criticized.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrien Pype

Like other cities around the globe where the state organizes exams, Kinshasa’s exétat shows the degree to which social difference and urban livelihood are intimately connected. However, despite the assumption that diplômés master book knowledge, recent changes in the practice of the exétat have transformed the meaning of a diplômé, turning that figure into a yankee, i.e., someone who possesses street knowledge that comes from experience with the informal and the illegal. More abstractly, the identity of a diplômé has become a signifier for the opposite of its taken-for-granted signified. Kinois society publicly acclaims the social and cultural capital attached to school degrees; however, most recent diplômés have obtained their degree through bribes and organized cheating.


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.


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