Economics and Empire in the Roman World
Guide to the Bible and Economics, Volume 2
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock)
- Published: 2025
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Publisher's Description
Over the past few decades the study of biblical economics has developed into an important subfield of biblical studies. This subfield uses textual and archaeological evidence to uncover the economic realities behind biblical literature, resulting in greater understandings of the lives and possible intentions of those individuals and communities that composed these religious texts, and also of their potential relevance (or lack thereof) to the communities that continue to receive them. Economics and Empire in the Roman World has brought together eight scholars of biblical economics to create a repository of what is understood about the socioeconomic realities of those who penned and first received what were to become the Christian scriptures. In addition to serving the research and teaching interests of biblical scholars, this volume has also been created for the benefit of economic historians, anthropologists, and sociologists.
Endorsements (3)
“A remarkably helpful and readable collection of essays on the economics of the Roman world. Matthew Coomber’s volume offers useful context to anyone who reads the New Testament writings, whether as Holy Scripture or as historical literature. This volume deserves to be in every library.”
“This volume demonstrates how essential considerations of economics are to any historical interpretations of biblical texts. The essays address questions of labor, exchange, scarcity, survival, and value with nuance and care. They understand these questions to be about more than just the structure of daily life, but also, at heart, about questions of human relations and power.”
“This edited volume sheds new light on the economic apparatus of the Roman empire as an essential backdrop for reading biblical texts. It helpfully delineates the various ways economics intersected with and shaped religious beliefs and practices of the early Jesus movement. Commendable for its impressive breadth and depth as well as its nuanced approach to key aspects of the economic environment in the Roman world.”
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