This class will explore the social structures and social
conflicts that existed in Bible times, especially the New Testament
era, so that we can better understand the context of the messages
and find the meaning the original audiences would have gotten from
hearing them. We will explore Jewish and Roman power structures,
trades and livelihoods, families and kinship, money and taxation,
oppression and rebellion, and religious practices. We will look at
how Mediterranean Honor and Shame culture worked and how it
differed from our modern American world view and cultural
practices. The objective, of course, is to give us new tools for
gaining deeper understanding of God's word and how to apply it in
our lives today.