NT201 The Cultural World of the New Testament
Overview
Join Dr. David deSilva as he describes important cultural concepts from the first century and shows how these concepts shed light on the New Testament. Learn why the author of 1 Peter spoke to the shame Christians were experiencing, and what cultural norms they had to fight against as they sought to follow Christ. Discover how grace and gratitude were viewed differently than they are today. Learn what purity meant for Jews, how patronage and reciprocity impacted everyday decisions, how families and households operated, and more. Dr. deSilva pulls from a variety of sources to explain these concepts and uses the books of Hebrews and 1 Peter to illustrate them. This course will give you a better understanding of the environment early Christians were in as they broke the rules of society for the sake of the gospel.
Top Highlights
“The other side of honor is shame. Shame has two senses. One sense, the negative sense, is the experience of that group’s disapproval—an experience of being disgraced, less highly esteemed. Shame also has a positive counterpart. That is the individual’s concern for the group’s disapproval, such that the individual is not likely to move in certain directions because it is likely to bring him or her into dishonor or at least a loss of honor.” (source)
“As an example, we could look at the value placed on courage or on generosity in the ancient world. Courage—especially in a setting where military action is often needed to preserve the well-being of a group—courage is clearly a value that is instilled in the individual for the sake of the well-being of the group. This is a period in which many people would naturally assume that dying is not the worst thing, but failing to die with honor is the worst thing. Thus, they will be motivated by their desire to be esteemed by others, even to give up so great a good as life itself in defense of their homeland or their native city or generosity.” (source)
“Now, honor is a social value. What is honorable is decided by a group of people. Within this group, an individual might find the means of self-esteem by knowing that he or she is embodying those values and those practices that the group deems to be honorable but also essential for the individual’s esteem by others.” (source)
“This is a world in which the well-being of the larger group depends upon the willingness of especially its better-resourced individuals to bestow large gifts on the group. There would hardly be a building built in the ancient world were it not for somebody’s generosity. A person who has great wealth is inclined not simply to enjoy it for his or her own benefit, but to give it away, to spend it on the common good, because generosity and the practices of generosity lead to esteem in the eyes of this significant body of others.” (source)
- Title: NT201 The Cultural World of the New Testament
- Author: David A. deSilva
- Series: Logos Mobile Education
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Print Publication Date: 2015
- Logos Release Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Courseware
- Subjects: Bible. N.T. › Social scientific criticism; Bible. N.T. › Criticism, interpretation; Bible. N.T. › Socio-rhetorical criticism; Education › Bible. N.T.--Social scientific criticism; Education › Bible. N.T.--Criticism, interpretation; Education › Bible. N.T.--Socio-rhetorical criticism
- Resource ID: LLS:NT201DESILVA
- Resource Type: Courseware Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T04:49:06Z
Dr. David A. deSilva, PhD, is the Trustees’ Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio, where he’s taught since 1995.
He’s written over 20 books in the areas of New Testament and Second Temple Judaism, including Unholy Allegiances: Heeding Revelation's Warning (Hendrickson, 2013), The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude (Oxford, 2012),Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (WJKP, 2009), An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (IVP, 2004), Introducing the Apocrypha (Baker Academic, 2002), and Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle “to the Hebrews” (Eerdmans, 2000). He’s also interested in spiritual formation, having written Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation through the Book of Common Prayer (IVP, 2008) and Praying with John Wesley (Discipleship Resources, 2001).
He’s ordained in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, and serves as director of music and organist at Christ United Methodist Church in Ashland. He and his wife, Donna Jean, have three sons.