This
article with a brief survey of
sociological studies of the New Testament scholarship. Though interest in the sociological studies of
the New Testament appeared in the early part of the last century, it revived by
the introduction of the sociological models and theories in the New Testament
studies in the later part of the last centuries. This revival brings a new
understanding of the early Christianity.
Problems Confronting Sociological
Analysis
The Problem of Methodology:
Plentiful of sociological models and theories are currently available for the
New Testament studies. However, the there is a dilemma about which is
appropriate and valid. Such context, Theissen implies by his work that an
eclecticism and pluralism is appropriate. Scroggs gives following suggestions:
firstly one need to understand fully how the method works and to be clear that
it can be applied to the data at hand. Secondly, one needs to know both the
theoretical presuppositions and implications of the use of the method.
The Problem of the Data:
The data for sociological analysis of the New Testament is little. Further, the
text is basically theological, not sociological. The sociologist must read the
text as it were palimpsest. It means the researcher should work with the utmost
caution and strictness, with adequate guard against over enthusiasm.
The Problem of Reductionism:
one can use sociological methods from a reductionist point of view to explain
any societal phenomenon completely in terms of hidden, unconscious social
dynamic. At this point, New Testament scholars should be careful about the
implication of the method that one selected, to ask weather that method
implicitly or explicitly excludes all dynamic except the immanent social.
Scroggs observes following things on this issue: 1. Social dynamics may create
the situation but may not determine the response to the situation. 2.
Subjection to the social dynamic is part of society’s encroachment on the
freedom of individuals. 3. The sociological models are not to be absolute objective
rather they are time and culture bound creatures of humans.
Report on Recent
Scholarship
There
are two types of sociological interpretations: social history and sociological
analysis. The social history tries to identify the social composition of the
Christian groups. It asks the question: What was the social level of early
Christians? But the sociological analysis tries to discover the larger
underlying dynamics at work in the group and in their relation to the wider
society. Thus, it is comparative study since it often compares data of
different groups.
Recent Research into Social History of
the Early Church
E.A
Judge, Martin Hengel, Abraham Malherbe, and Robert Grant are contributed to
social history of the early church. Hengel focused on the political and
economic history in relation to the first centuries of the church and
particularly with regard to Jesus and his followers. Diessman came to a conclusion in his studies
that early Christians were from the lower social classes-peasants, slaves,
artisans. But Judge argued that early Christians were from the all strata of
the society. Malherbe and Theissen also think social class of early
Christianity is much higher than what Diessman concluded. Now the question is that how the same date
provided new consensus that different from the Diessman. The implication of the
new consensus is relevant for the study of the early Christianity and thus the
testing of the new conclusion is also very important.
Sociological Analyses of the Early
Church
Typologies:
The sociological analysis of the religious sects in Palestine gives insights
about unconscious social protest as part of the social dynamics. Graydon Snyder
perceives early Christianity was always in tension between the trans-local
tradition and the local tradition. Further, he argues that any specific
religious phenomenon will be a result of the tension between the two traditions
in a given time and space. Scroggs and Snyder concluded that this
typology can be considered as a grid to understand the movement within the
trajectories in the New Testament.
Cognitive Dissonance:
This model is used by John Gager. “When,
in a community, religious or otherwise, a certain belief is held, specific
enough for disconfirmation to be unavoidably clear, and given certain other
condition (mentioned below), the likely result of any disconfirmation of the
belief will not be the dissolution of the group but rather an intensification of
its proselytizing.” (p.345). Following conditions are necessary if
proselytizing is to occur following disconfirmation: 1. The belief must be held
with deep conviction. 2. There must be committed action on the part of the
believers. 3. The belief must be specific enough that disconfirmation cannot be
denied. 4. The believers must recognize the disconfirmatory evidence. 5. There
must be communal support for the individual believer. (P 345).
Role Analysis:
Gerd Theissen used this model in his sociological studies. This model looks at
the description of self-understanding of people who adopt or accept certain
roles within the society, weather such roles are defined by social status, relationship
of person to group, or kinds of activity expected of the role. It also
investigates how such roles function in the larger societal context.
Sociology of Knowledge:
The world in which one lives is socially constructed and created, communicated
and sustained through language and symbols. Language including the theological
language is not independent from other social realities. Thus, theological
language and its claim cannot be explained without taking into account
socioeconomic-cultural factors of that language. The questions here are: how to
move between language and social realities and which social realities are to be
connected to which linguistic structure? Wayne Meeks used this model in his
article “The Man from Heaven in Johannine Sectarianism.”
Marxist Interpretation
Martin Robbe applied the Marxist-Leninist
perspective to read the Bible, and he perceives that Christianity emerged as a
social process, as a protest against the class society and its injustice. Milan
Machovec used humanism in his reading of the Bible. He views that Jesus is very
important figure and Jesus made his mark in the society through his teaching of
eschatology and its present implication. Machovec equates Marxism with true
humanism and humanism with the total person. He understood Jesus as the one who
cares for the total selfhood of a person.
Another
Marxist reader of the Bible is Fernando Belo who used the materialist reading
of the Bible. Materialistic reading of the gospels portrays Jesus as teacher
and actor of messianic practices. Messianic practices include the rejection of
the dominant code of society, economically giving to each according to the
need, replacing lord-servant relationship with community and ideologically it needs
a conversion from the reading of the Bible from the perspective of the dominant
codes of the society to the subversive messianic practices. Unlike idealistic
reading, Belo connects the future-resurrection of body- to the messianic
practices. One needs to follow the messianic practices to realize the future
resurrection.
Concluding Remarks
The
sociological studies reveal importance of interconnections of the message of
the New Testament and to the everyday life, social needs and context of the
human beings. It also points out the fact that the text cannot be separated
from social dynamic. Since the New Testament studies have several sociological
methodologies, the issue is the appropriateness of the single method or
eclecticism, the adequacy of the data to apply these methodologies and result
of one method in comparison with the result of the another method
(reductionism).
Summary of Robin Scroggs" article: The Sociological Interpretation of the New Testament: The Present State of Research