This book is a tool that must be used with caution. Pilch and Malina have collected approximately 100 individual articles on a variety of topics relevant for sociological analysis of the Bible. The entries are anywhere from less than a page to ten pages on honour/shame, the favourite topic of sociologists of the biblical world. The individual essays are introduced by a 25-page discussion of the differences in values between the culture of the United States and the Mediterranean world or that of the NT. This volume reflects a number of logical flaws, including over-generalization, stereotyping, false analogies, and anachronism, among others. Its most potential danger is that some might read it and think that they actually understand or know how to do sociological analysis of the Bible.

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