This study is intended to provide readers with an introduction to Social Identity Theory and its use as a heuristic device for biblical interpretation. After a general overview of Social Identity Theory and some important related concepts, the study summarizes some of the scholarly works that have employed this model in studies of Hebrew and Christian texts.
In this article, the author traces four trajectories in which early Christian identity formation has been studied in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: ethnicity, theology, social-scientific, and literary. The author concludes by suggesting a way forward that includes interdisciplinary work that combines the insights of these four trends.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.