as christians reading the bible, and looking back on bible times, it is necessary that we understand what the authors meant when they talked of certain subjects. the culture of the ancient near east was very different to our modern western one. it's very dangerous for us to read the words of the bible using our modern vocabulary and understanding. thankfully there are serious scholars, of various faiths (or lack thereof) who study the way that people in the culture of the ancient near east thought and acted. three sources of this kind of information are: Malina's The New Testament World, Malina and Neyrey's Portraits of Paul: An Archaeology of Ancient Personality and deSilva's Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity.
to give a quick taste of what's inside, please check out these essays, they may change the way you think about your christian walk: what is faith, what is hope, what is love, what is mercy, what is worship, what is humility, what is repentance?
pax
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