The Context Group

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The Context Group is a working group of international biblical scholars who promote research into the Bible using social-scientific methods such as anthropology and sociology. Its webpage defines the group succinctly as "A Project on the Bible in its Socio-Cultural Context".

1 Founding
2 Main ideas
3 Important Context scholars and publications today
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Founding

The Context Group was founded in the late 1980s in response to a growing number of biblical scholars using the social sciences to interpret the Bible. A seminal publication in this movement was Bruce J. Malina's The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology (1981), which presented a new paradigm for biblical studies. Other key figures who published on the subject during this era (all of whom eventually became part of the Context Group) include Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Gerd Theissen, John H. Elliott and Norman K. Gottwald.

[edit] Main ideas

At the root of the Context Group's social-scientific method is the belief that biblical scholars have taken western cultural assumptions for granted when interpreting the Bible, an ancient document produced in a much different culture.

The key difference is that the modern western world is an individualistic, industrial society, whereas the society of the ancient Mediterranean world was collectivistic and agrarian.

The ancient Mediterranean was also a high-context society, where discourse took shared cultural values for granted. This contrasts with the modern western world, which is a low-context society in which discourse tends to be more specific and specialized (i.e. to particular groups, subcultures, etc.). According to the Context scholars, the interpreter must learn the cultural assumptions and values behind the text in order to understand it correctly. This involves understanding values such as honor and shame, for example, which Malina calls "pivotal cultural values."

Other common themes in Context analysis of the Bible include patron-client relationships, the "evil eye", kinship, purity codes, and dyadic/group-oriented personalities.

[edit] Important Context scholars and publications today

In addition to the Context Group's founding members, important scholars in the field today include Jerome H. Neyrey, John J. Pilch, K.C. Hanson and Douglas E. Oakman.

Important publications include the following:

Duling, Dennis C. The New Testament: History, Literature, and Social Context. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003.
Elliott, John H. A Home for the Homeless. 2d ed. Reprinted, Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2006.
Elliott, John H., editor. Social-Scientific Criticism of the New Testament and Its Social World. Semeia 35 (1986).
Elliott, John H. What Is Social-Scientific Criticism. Guides to Biblical Scholarship. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993.
Esler, Philip F., editor. Ancient Israel: The Old Testament in Its Social Context. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2006.
Hanson, K.C. & Douglas E. Oakman, Palestine in the Time of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998.
Malina, Bruce J. The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology. 3d ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.
Malina, Bruce J. & John J.Pilch, Social-Science Commentary on the Book of Revelation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000.
Malina, Bruce J. & Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998.
Malina, Bruce J. & Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels. 2d ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.
Neyrey, Jerome H. Paul, in Other Words: A Cultural Reading of His Letters. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990.
Neyrey, Jerome H., editor. The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991.
Pilch, John J., editor. Social Scientific Models for Interpreting the Bible. Biblical Interpretation Series 53. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
Pilch, John J. & Bruce J. Malina, editors. A Handbook of Biblical Social Values. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1998.
Rohrbaugh, Richard L. The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Matrix. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2007.
Rohrbaugh, Richard L., editor. The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

[edit] References

Herzog II, William R., Foreword to Bruce J. Malina, The Social Gospel of Jesus: The Kingdom of God in Mediterranean Perspective, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001)
Malina, Bruce J., The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology, 3rd Ed., (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001)