Subject to Whose Authority

The volumes in this series investigate early Christian literature in the context of Mediterranean literature, religion, society, and culture. The authors use interdisciplinary methods informed by social, rhetorical, and literary approaches to move beyond the limits of traditional literary historical investigations. The studies presuppose that Christianity began as a Jewish movement in various geographical, political, economic, and social locations in the Greco-Roman world.Botha contends that a socially responsible, reading of the Bible must include at least four approaches: linguistic, literary, rhetorical, and social-scientific. He examines each of these approaches theoretically, and then applies these methods to a reading of the "obedience to authorities" passage in Romans 13:1-7. The book will be of particular interest to students of biblical exegesis, New Testament, and the book of Romans.