Sheppard B.M. The Craft of History and the Study of the New Testament

Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literatur, 2012. — 282 p. — (Resources for Biblical Study 60). — ISBN 978-1-58983-665-5.Do professional historians and New Testament scholars use the same methods to explore the past? This interdisciplinary textbook introduces students of the New Testament to the vocabulary and methods employed by historians. It discusses various approaches to historiography and demonstrates their applicability for interpreting the New Testament text and exploring its background. Overviews of the philosophy of history, common historical fallacies, and the basics of historiography are followed by three exegetical studies that illustrate the applicability of various historical methods for New Testament interpretation.Theory.
A Meeting of Two Disciplines.
Who Is a Historian?
What Historians Do.
The Nature of History.
Defining Terms.
Theoretical Underpinnings.
The Role of Time.
Selectivity.
Sources.
Basic Philosophical Matters.
The Uses of History.
The Two Philosophical Traditions of History.
Stumbling Blocks in Histories.
Logical Traps.
Errors of Fact.
Errors of Perspective.
Problems with Project Design.
Developing an Eye for Good History.
Historiography: The History of Writing History.
Emergence of a Discipline: Methods from Antiquity to the Modern Era.
History in Western Antiquity.
The Middle Ages: Speculative History Triumphs.
The Early Modern Period: The Advent of Philological History.
The Industrial Age and Objective History.
History Blossoms: The Modern Era to the Mid-Twentieth Century.
Marxist History.
Social History.
Psychohistory.
Economic History and the Numbers.
New Lenses for History: The Late Twentieth Century to Present.
Revisionist History.
Cultural History and Approaches Influenced by Anthropology or Ethnology.
The Postmodern Critique of History.
Postcolonialism.
Imaginative Histories.
Summary.
Application.
Counting Sheep: Clothing and Textiles in Luke’s Gospel.
Methodological Caveats.
Textiles and the Ancient Economy.
Everyday Clothing and the Gospel of Luke.
Evidence for Textile Manufacturing in the Gospel of Luke.
Observations and Thoughts.
A Scarlet Woman? John 4.
Roman Contexts and New Testament Texts.
Too Many Marriages and One Peculiar Relationship?
Conclusion.
Drinking the Spirit: Ancient Medicine and Paul’s Corinth.
The Difficulty with 1 Corinthians 12:13b.
Some Basics of Greco-Roman Medicine.
In the Shadow of a Healing Cult: Health and 1 Corinthians.
The Link between Healing and Prophecy.
Pneuma and Ancient Medicine.
Conclusion.
Epilogue.Bibliography.
Index of Ancient and Medieval Texts and Persons.
Index of Modern Persons.
Index of Subjects.