scholarly journals Social-scientific criticism in Nigerian New Testament scholarship

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kingsley I. Uwaegbute ◽  
Damian O. Odo ◽  
Collins I. Ugwu
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Standard Methodology ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Face ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Methodological Considerations

The use of the social sciences in the interpretation of the New Testament emerged from the 1970s and has become a standard methodology for interpreting the New Testament. However, it has not been significantly used in the interpretation of the New Testament in Nigeria by biblical scholars. This article discusses what social-scientific criticism is and the need for its application in the interpretation of the New Testament by Nigerian New Testament scholars for a better understanding of the New Testament and the people, beliefs and teachings it presents and contextualisation in the face of changing contexts of Christianity in Nigeria.Contribution: As far as we know, this article is the first one written on using social-scientific criticism to interpret the New Testament in the Nigerian context. It therefore contributes to the need for a multidisciplinary approach to interpreting the New Testament in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. It therefore contributes also on methodological considerations with regard to interpreting the New Testament.

Social Sciences and the New Testament

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dietmar Neufeld
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

Social-scientific criticism is the stage in the exegetical process that brings scrutiny to bear on the religious, geographical, historical, economic, social codes, and cultural values operative within the world of early Christianity. It does so by utilizing the perspectives, theories, and models generated by the social sciences. Broadly defined, social-scientific criticism approaches the texts of the New Testament from the viewpoint that meaning in language is embedded in a social system that is shared and understood by speakers, hearers, and readers in the communication process. It investigates the social features of the form and content of the texts along with the factors that gave shape to them. It seeks to discover the intended consequences of the communication process. It looks for complementary relationships between the texts linguistic, literary, ideological, and social dimensions—each of which contributes to a proper analysis and understanding of the texts of the New Testament. Social-scientific criticism investigates the manner of textual communication—that texts were strategically designed for effective social interaction that had social, literary, and theological consequence. Most significantly, it seeks to isolate the social data embedded in texts and constructs models that simplify and systematize the data for comparative purposes. Models of social phenomena such as kinship and family, honor and shame, patronage and clientage, collectivism, social status, limited good, evil eye, purity and pollution, ritual, gender and sexuality, landscape and spatiality, ancient economies, healing and health, and social memory permit the careful examination of these issues in biblical texts in socially significant ways.

Social-Scientific Approaches to Paul

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd D. Still
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Social Scientific Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

This chapter considers how Pauline interpreters have used and are using the social sciences to study the apostle and his letters. Before turning to the social-scientific study of Paul in particular, the advent and initial growth of the social-scientific study of the New Testament in general is considered. A treatment of prominent pioneers in and primary approaches to the social-scientific study of Paul comprises the majority of this essay, which concludes with a treatment of the identifiable developments both within and alongside the discipline.

scholarly journals Armoedekultuur: Die leefwereld van die Nuwe Testament en die situasie in Suid-Afrika vandag

1996 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Culture Of Poverty ◽  
Economic Statistics ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

Culture of poverty: The world of the New Testament then and the situation in South Africa today. In this article poverty in the world of the New Testament is explained in the  light of the social dynamics of the first century Eastern Mediterranean. The focus is on the sub-culture of the disreputable poor. Features of a culture of poverty are reflected upon from a social-scientific perspective in order to try to understand why poverty is intensifying in South Africa today. The article aims at identifying guidelines for Christians in using the New Testament in a profound way to challenge the threat of poverty. The following aspects are discussed: the underdevelopment of third-world societies over against the technical evolution in first-world societies during the past two hundred years, economic statistics with regard to productivity and unemployment in South Africa, the social identity of the disreputable poor, poverty within the pre-print culture of the biblical period, and the church as the household of God where Christians should have compassion for others.

scholarly journals ’n Herdefiniëring van Paulus se konflik in Galasië: Die brief aan die Galasiërs deur die bril van die sosiale wetenskappe

1994 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. F. Craffert
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
First Century ◽  
Scientific Methodology ◽  
People Of God ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social Scientific

Redefining Paul’s conflict in Galatia: The letter to the Galatians through the lense of the social sciences Traditional attempts at identifying Paul’s oppponents in the letter to the Galatians are methodologically stamped by a history-of-ideas approach; this is accompanied by at least two interpretive traditions (one focusing on the Reformation question of righteousness by works or by faith, and the second by the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God). After a social- scientific methodology is introduced, three facets of Paul’s social realities are discussed: communication in a predominantly oral culture, Judaism as a first-century religious phenomenon, and the household institution. It is suggested that these provide us with an opportunity for redefining the conflict as a conflict on Paul’s honour and authority.

Is the emic-etic distinction a useful tool for cross-cultural interpretation of the New Testament?

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-37
Author(s):  
P.F. Craffert
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Theory Of Science ◽  
Cultural Interpretation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
New Testament Studies ◽  
Broad Overview ◽  
Interpretive Turn

AbstractNowadays the emic-etic distinction is becoming highly popular in New Testament studies. Whether it is a useful tool for interpreting the New Testament cross-culturally, however, is a question to be answered only after a thorough analysis of emics and etics in the social sciences. A broad overview of the history and significance of the emic-etic distinction in the social sciences is followed by brief remarks on the interpretive turn in the theory of science. Special attention is given to the adequacy of the emic-etic tool in claims of cross-cultural interpretation in which a high premium is placed on avoiding ethnocentric interpretations. Emics and etics as seen from a postinterpretive turn position are discussed in an attempt to redefine them with a view to application in interpretive discourses.

scholarly journals ’n Verruimde invalshoek tot die verlede? Die sosiaal-wetenskaplike benadering tot die Nuwe Testament

1991 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Joubert
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Scientific Models ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

A broadened perspective to the past? The social scientific approach to the New Testament This paper focuses on the possibilities that the social scientific approach holds out for the understanding of the New Testament. A review of the contributions of the sociological and the cultural anthropological approaches to the New Testament is undertaken before the social-scientific approach as a whole is evaluated. The use of social-scientific models, in particular, in the construction of the possible social contexts of the New Testament documents, is evaluated in terms of the ability of these contexts to establish ‘new’ systems of meaning.

scholarly journals Social description or social-scientific interpretation? A survey of modern scholarship

1991 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Van Staden ◽  
A. G. Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
First Century ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Recent Interest ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The One

Recent interest in the social aspects of the first-century Mediterranean world reflected in the texts of the New Testament has taken primarily two directions. The one approach concentrates on social description, and the oth er on social-scientific interp re tatio n . This article surveys the major works of several of the leading exponents of this type of study in terms of the extent to which they make use of the social sciences. It differs from existing surveys by having an in-depth look at the elements of social-scientific theory and method actually employed, and by making a comparative assessment of the importance allocated by different authors to the role of the text as a deliberate construction.

scholarly journals Inleiding tot die sosiaal-wetenskaplike kritiese eksegese van Nuwe-Testamentiese tekste: Die metodologiese aanloop in die navorsingsgeskiedenis

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries G. Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Social World ◽  
First Century ◽  
Cultural Environment ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

Introducing the social-scientific critical exegesis of New Testament texts: Methodological initiators in the research history The article is the first of a series of three that aim to introduce social-scientific exegesis of New Testament texts. Aspects of the social background of these writings are analyzed in light of the perspectives which underlie the dynamics of first-century Mediterranean social world. The article shows that social-scientific criticism of the New Testament represents an exegetical approach by means of which the rhetoric of texts is interpreted in light of their cultural environment and the social interaction that determines this context and semeiotic codes. The first article focuses on the initiators in the field of historical-critical exegesis who paved the way to social scientific criticism and explain key facets of the “new” exegetical approach. The second article explains some models and methods of social-scientific criticism. The third article discusses some advantages of social scientific criticism and poses a critique of the approach by reflecting on the positivism that could underlie the epistemology behind some interpretation models used in social scientific criticism. It concludes with an emphasis on cultural criticism as a hermeneutical challenge.

scholarly journals The World of Honor and Shame in the New Testament: Alien or Familiar?

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-14
Author(s):  
Colin Patterson
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Dominance Hierarchies ◽  
Psychological Analysis ◽  
Mediterranean Culture ◽  
The Social ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Sociological Approaches ◽  
Honor And Shame

During the last sixty or more years, analysis of the New Testament which draws on the social sciences of cultural anthropology and sociology has made great strides in elucidating the cultural assumptions behind many scriptural texts. Prominent among its themes has been the idea that the biblical world can be understood as reflecting a Mediterranean culture with the core values of honor and shame. This, it has been argued, stands in sharp contrast to modern western societies. However, more recent work on the New Testament which exploits research in cognitive science/psychology suggests that it can provide a helpful corrective and complement to anthropological and sociological approaches. In line with this work, the present essay will apply the psychological analysis of social dominance hierarchies to the theme of honor-shame in order to fill out the picture painted by the social-scientific approach and, in doing so, seek to highlight continuities between New Testament and modern cultures. It will conclude by suggesting a reason why it has been the case that scholars employing social-scientific criticism have shown less awareness of these continuities.

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