Culture, Society, and Embedded Religion in Antiquity

Oakman, Douglas E.

doi:10.1177/01461079050350010201

Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture

2005

DOI: 10.1177/01461079050350010201

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Culture, Society, and Embedded Religion in Antiquity

Douglas E. Oakman

Abstract: After the concepts of “society,” “culture,” and the “embeddedness of religion” have been reviewed from the standpoint of the social sciences, religion's place in antiquity is considered in relationship to the Judean temple, ecclesia and synagogue, and the controverted terms “Jew” and “Christian.” The meaning of religion, and the role it plays in human affairs, is argued to be fundamentally dependent upon its location in society or culture

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Cited by 3 publications

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Dislodging "Embedded" Religion: A Brief Note on a Scholarly Trope

Nongbri

2008

Numen

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Scholars of ancient cultures are increasingly speaking of the "embeddedness" of ancient religion -arguing that the practices modern investigators group under the heading of "religion" did not compose a well-defined category in antiquity; instead, they claim that "religion was embedded" in other aspects of ancient culture. Th ese writers use this notion of "embeddedness" to help us see that categories post-Enlightenment thinkers often regard as distinct (such as politics, economics, and religion) largely overlapped in antiquity. Th e trope of "embedded religion" can, however, also produce the false impression that religion is a descriptive concept rather than a redescriptive concept for ancient cultures (i.e., that there really is something "out there" in antiquity called "Roman religion" or "Mesopotamian religion," which scholars are simply describing rather than creating). By allowing this slippage between descriptive and redescriptive uses of "religion," the rhetoric of "embedded religion" exacerbates the very problem it is meant to solve.

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Dislodging "Embedded" Religion: A Brief Note on a Scholarly Trope

Nongbri

2008

Numen

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Jesus in Samaria (John 4:4—42): A Model for Cross-Cultural Ministry

Wyckoff¹

2005

Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture

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The narrative of Jesus' missionary journey to Samaria in John 4:4—42 had implications for the first-century Johannine community as they, like Jesus at Jacob's well, encountered new situations and new cultures. This article proposes that it may hold different but analogous implications for the church in every age. A contextual approach shaped by modern missiology, cultural anthropology, and local/contextual theology highlights the text's sensitivity to ethnic identity, cultural and religious traditions, past history, prejudice, marginalization, differences in perspective, and human processes in faith development. Read in this light, the passage can provide a model for ministry across cultural barriers in a pluralistic world still crisscrossed by divisions.

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Responses to the Religion Singularity: A Rejoinder

Slade¹,

Howard²

2019

SHERM

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Since the publication of Kenneth Howard’s 2017 article, “The Religion Singularity: A Demographic Crisis Destabilizing and Transforming Institutional Christianity,” there has been an increasing demand to understand the root causes and historical foundations for why institutional Christianity is in a state of de-institutionalization. In response to Howard’s research, a number of authors have sought to provide a contextual explanation for why the religion singularity is currently happening, including studies in epistemology, church history, psychology, anthropology, and church ministry. The purpose of this article is to offer a brief survey and response to these interactions with Howard’s research, identifying the overall implications of each researcher’s perspective for understanding the religion singularity phenomenon. It explores factors relating to denominational switching in Jeshua Branch’s research, social memory in John Lingelbach’s essay, religious politics in Kevin Seybold’s survey, scientific reductionism in Jack David Eller’s position paper, and institutional moral failure in Brian McLaren’s article.

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Culture, Society, and Embedded Religion in Antiquity

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Dislodging "Embedded" Religion: A Brief Note on a Scholarly Trope

Dislodging "Embedded" Religion: A Brief Note on a Scholarly Trope

Jesus in Samaria (John 4:4—42): A Model for Cross-Cultural Ministry

Responses to the Religion Singularity: A Rejoinder

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