microcosm and mediator

This collection of Professor Malina’s various essays on the social world in which Christianity came into being is superb. One reviewer’s comment that the collection seemed uneven is warranted, but it should not bring the rating down to only three stars. I believe this is easily five-star book, but a few weaker essays bring it down to four. Malina’s meticulous work on investigating the social world of first century is highly illuminating. N.T. Wright and John P. Meier both rightly criticize excessive use of sociological models, but as can be seen in this collection of essays, they have in an important value in scholarly study of the New Testament and related literature. It is also important to know, especially for those reading the various presentations of the Historical Jesus, Crossan, Meier, and Wright all use Malina’s essays in their works.

Here are the various essays , in order, and my capsule review of them:

Part I: The Question of Reading

1 Reading Theory Perspectives:
A great introduction to this collection. It starts out with a little analogy of two American’s in Israel coming to a sign in Hebrew. And then another block quote in Greek. To the average person, these letters have no value, they are just squiggles on paper. But to the ancient person who knew Greek and/or Hebrew they had immense value, just as the words in English I am typing right now. Malina goes on to show (much like Crossan in Part I of the “The Historical Jesus”) is that the world of the Gospels (and Epistles) is vastly different than our own. Not only were they written in an ancient language, the various authors and redactors lived in a totally different social context.

Part II: The Question of First-Century Mediterranean Persons

2 First-Century Mediterranean Persons: A Preliminary View
This essay tries to reconstruct how the average Mediterranean person viewed the world. It also attempts to show how families were viewed, economics, etc. This strikes me as similar to what Crossan does in “The Historical Jesus”. Rather than reconstruct the First-Century world solely from contemporary Jewish writings (for the study of the NT) it is more focused on the general Mediterranean world. While I find this important, the portrait presented is too broad. I think John Meier makes this case forcefully in Volume III of the “A Marginal Jew” series. Nevertheless, I think this essay, read in concert with other studies (such as Wright, Borg, Crossan, Meier, Vermes, etc) is important.

3 The Mediterranean Self: A Social-Psychological Model
This is probably the most speculative of the essays. Meier in Volume II of his work, cautions against excessive use of modern sociological and psychological models on reconstructing the world of Jesus and the Gospels, and I think Malina places a little too much trust in them this time around. I still found it fascinating and when I approach the text of the New Testament I will never read it the same.

4 Mary and Jesus: Mediterranean Mother and Son
Probably one of the most interesting essays in the collection. Takes a look at family life as it could have been in the Mary/Joseph family. Speculative, yes, convincing, slightly. A great critique on patriarchal enshrinement of Mary and the cult assigned to her by the celibate male authorities. That is the one thing most important in this essay, it shatters the layers of legend, myth and theology that have grown up around Mary since her humble beginnings as a poor Nazarene mother (see Jaroslav Pelikan’s “Mary through the Centuries” for a careful review of how Mary has been interpreted in Western Culture). I think he should have incorporated more of her Jewish context, rather than focusing primarily on her Mediterranean context, as Crossan himself points out on page 16 of “The Historical Jesus” Nazareth was a “very Jewish” town. And Crossan, like Malina, discounts the Jewish context too much for the sake of the broader Mediterranean context, but even he realizes that the town where Jesus grew up was a very observant town. This is Paula Fredriksen’s critique in her book “Jesus of Nazareth” as well as N.T. Wright and John Meier’s critique of Hellenizing too much Jesus and his early followers.

Part III: The Question of Significant Roles in the First-Century Mediterranean

5 Was Jesus a Charismatic Leader?
How was Jesus honored during his lifetime? Using Max Weber’s definition of “charisma” and “charismatic” Malina then goes on to see how Jesus perceived in his social context as a religious figure. Although Vermes is not cited, he is, as far as I know (besides Marcus Borg’s adaptation of Vermes’ thesis) to associated Jesus with charismatic leadership. Is this a subtle critique of Vermes’ argument presented in his classic “Jesus the Jew”? I can’t say for sure.

6 Patron and Client the Analogy Behind Synoptic Theology
Taking the same approach Crossan does in his books about Jesus and Mediterranean society. He puts the theology of Jesus in this “economic” context of the relationships between patron and client as understood by First-Century Mediterranean. I think Wright’s discussion of Jesus’ theology (and that of the Christian community) in “Jesus and the Victory of God” is much more cogent and convincing. And interesting essay, but again one of the weaker ones.

Part IV: The Question of Time as First-Century Mediterranean Value

7 Christ and Time: Swiss or Mediterranean?
Meier in Volume II of “A Marginal Jew” highly commends this essay, but thinks Malina takes his point too far. I think he is right. The overly-apocalyptic thesis propagated by Adolf Von Harnack, Albert Schweitzer, and currently Bart Ehrman is thoroughly debunked and put in its proper context (that of 19th century Northern Europe) but this does not mean it needs to be dismissed outright (as Malina, Borg, Crossan and the Jesus Seminar in general does). A more nuanced view as developed by E.P. Sanders in “Judaism: Practice and Belief” and “Jesus and Judaism” and John Meier in the Marginal Jew series is by far the most convincing. I also find N.T. Wright’s reconstruction of Second-Temple Judaism in his “New Testament and the People of God” the best treatment available. An important essay and one of the best in this volume.

Part V: The Question of the Received View

8 The Received View and What it Cannot Do

I think I can safely say that this is one of the essays the previous reviewer was referring to as being “out of place”. This essay is not really about the New Testament, but rather about social science and its applications. Definitely geared towards those with an interest in cultural anthropology and sociology and not necessarily NT scholars or lay-theologians. I did not find it particularly interesting, but that is not to say that those with an interest in the subject matter will find it valuable in this collection

My final word:
This book should be on any person interested in the cultural milieu of the New Testament.