FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

The social dynamics of the world of early Christianity is characterised by the limit of upward mobility and social disparity between classes in terms of access to both material resources such as lands and funds and nonmaterial resources such as honour and political power. This phenomenon was endemi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: I.C. Berg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2020-06-01
Series:Acta Theologica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/4466
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823858923347640320
author I.C. Berg
author_facet I.C. Berg
author_sort I.C. Berg
collection DOAJ
description The social dynamics of the world of early Christianity is characterised by the limit of upward mobility and social disparity between classes in terms of access to both material resources such as lands and funds and nonmaterial resources such as honour and political power. This phenomenon was endemic throughout the imperial Roman world, which was the immediate sociopolitical context of early Christianity. This article generally focuses on the province of Judea and its vicinities, as well as the first two centuries of the imperial Roman world as the mother womb context of early Christianity reflected in the New Testament. Social minority is not a statistical concept. The most naïve and flawed understanding of social minority has to do with the “quantity” of people. The chief benchmark identifying the social minorities in the world of early Christianity concerns the matter of the “quality” of communal life experience of a given group. This article provides the reader with four defining categorical criteria for identifying the socially marginal in the world of early Christianity: minority markers and social visibility, power deficiency, ascribed minority attributes or stereotypes, and discrimination.
format Article
id doaj-art-96aa9a42cb73490bb7591bfdf6d40bf5
institution Kabale University
issn 1015-8758
2309-9089
language English
publishDate 2020-06-01
publisher University of the Free State
record_format Article
series Acta Theologica
spelling doaj-art-96aa9a42cb73490bb7591bfdf6d40bf52025-02-11T09:46:35ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Theologica1015-87582309-90892020-06-0140110.38140/at.v40i1.4466FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENTI.C. Berg0Concordia University of Edmonton The social dynamics of the world of early Christianity is characterised by the limit of upward mobility and social disparity between classes in terms of access to both material resources such as lands and funds and nonmaterial resources such as honour and political power. This phenomenon was endemic throughout the imperial Roman world, which was the immediate sociopolitical context of early Christianity. This article generally focuses on the province of Judea and its vicinities, as well as the first two centuries of the imperial Roman world as the mother womb context of early Christianity reflected in the New Testament. Social minority is not a statistical concept. The most naïve and flawed understanding of social minority has to do with the “quantity” of people. The chief benchmark identifying the social minorities in the world of early Christianity concerns the matter of the “quality” of communal life experience of a given group. This article provides the reader with four defining categorical criteria for identifying the socially marginal in the world of early Christianity: minority markers and social visibility, power deficiency, ascribed minority attributes or stereotypes, and discrimination. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/4466Socially marginal; Social minorities; Minority attributes; Marginalisation
spellingShingle I.C. Berg
FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Acta Theologica
Socially marginal; Social minorities; Minority attributes; Marginalisation
title FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
title_full FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
title_fullStr FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
title_full_unstemmed FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
title_short FOUR CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFYING THE SOCIALLY MARGINAL IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY REFLECTED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
title_sort four criteria for identifying the socially marginal in the social context of early christianity reflected in the new testament
topic Socially marginal; Social minorities; Minority attributes; Marginalisation
url https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/at/article/view/4466
work_keys_str_mv AT icberg fourcriteriaforidentifyingthesociallymarginalinthesocialcontextofearlychristianityreflectedinthenewtestament