Handbook of Early Christianity ─ Social Science Approaches

A general orientation and background for people interested in the social-science study of early Christianity. The organizing themes are the history, theories, and methods of the field; perspectives of specific disciplines such as archaeology and history; social process in the sociocultural world in which Christianity emerged and within Christian groups themselves; the status group and power dimensions of inequality in the world of the early Christians; the economic dimension of inequality; and the psychological aspects of individual people. Because of space constraints, gender is mentioned only in passing. Sorry girls, next car (again). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Anthony J. Blasi holds a B.A. in history from St. Edward's University in Texas, an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in biblical studies from the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, an S.T.L. from Regis College in Toronto, and a conjoint Th.D. from Regis College and the University of Toronto. He is a professor of sociology at Tennessee State University in Nashville. His books include A Phenomenological Transformation of the Social Scientific Study of Religion (1985), Moral Conflict and Christian Religion (1988), Early Christianity as a Social Movement (1989), Making Charisma: The Social Construction of Paul's Public Image (1991), A Sociology of Johannine Christianity (1996), and Organized Religion and Seniors' Mental Health (1999). He is past president of the Association for the Sociology of Religion.

Jean Duhaime earned a B.A. from the Seminaire de Chicoutimi; a Bachelor's in Secondary-level Religious Education from the Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi; a Licentiate in religious studies, an M.A. in theology-biblical studies, and an M.Sc in sociology from the Universite de Montreal; and a Diplome from the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Francaise de Jerusalem. Duhaime is professeur titulaire [full professor] d'interpretation de la Bible at the Faculte de Theologie at the Universite de Montreal. His books include Entendre la voix du Dieu vivant (coeditor, 1994), Loi et autonomie dans la Bible et la tradition chretienne (coeditor, 1994), L'adhesion a la conscience de Krishna aux Etats-Unis vers 1970 (1996). His works have also appeared in the Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Revue de Qumra, Revue Scriptura, Religiologiques, and Eglise et Theologie.

Paul-Andre Turcotte holds a B.A., M.A., and Lic. from the Universite de Montreal; a B. Ped. from the Universite Laval; a Ph.D. in social sciences from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Sciences Sociales in Par