Sarah E. Rollens

Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In Jesus and the Politics of Roman Palestine, Horsley continues his distinguished track record of situating the Gospels in their historical and cultural contexts. With his characteristically lucid and engaging prose, he explores Roman politics in Galilee and Judea and then scrutinizes how Jesus responded to the inherent violence of Rome. In so doing, he allows the non-specialist to immerse themselves in the everyday life of ancient Palestine to better understand the Gospel traditions.”

Jesus Tradition, Early Christian Memory, and Gospel Writing

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“In this characteristically evenhanded and detailed study, Alan Kirk showcases his expertise in scribal composition and memory theory in order to probe the history of Synoptic problem scholarship for its media assumptions. Much of this scholarship, he shows, embodies ideas about authorship and media that unfortunately do not accord with ancient compositional techniques. But all is not lost: if we can situate the Synoptic Gospels in their proper ancient media realities, then we can restore them as key data for the cultural practices and animating memories of the early Jesus movement.”

The Ancient Mediterranean Social World

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“If the past is a foreign country, then Crook’s sourcebook gives readers the tools to enter and experience that foreign culture. It primes them to articulate both traditional and newer social-scientific frameworks that can help guide their reading and interpretation of ancient texts. Drawing on a diverse range of sources, from Graeco-Roman philosophy and history to the Dead Sea Scrolls, from New Testament and early Christian texts to rabbinic literature, such a resource ensures that we understand as best we can the lived experience of the people represented in ancient texts and that we are not misled by our modern, often anachronistic assumptions, about society and culture.”

The Radical Jesus, the Bible, and the Great Transformation

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“With its careful attention to the economic dimensions of early Christianity, as well as its deliberate use of social-scientific modeling to better comprehend the world of Jesus’s first followers, this book is vintage Douglas Oakman. The essays are guided by Oakman’s longstanding interest in social justice and, as such, they will pique the curiosity of both scholars of early Christianity and theologians interested in using the New Testament to grapple with the modern condition.”