Loading…

Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World is unavailable, but you can change that!

The Bible was written within collectivist cultures. When Westerners, immersed in individualism, read the Bible, it’s easy to misinterpret important elements—or miss them altogether. In any culture, the most important things usually go without being said. So to read Scripture well we benefit when we uncover the unspoken social structures and values of its world. We need to recalibrate our vision. ...

understand better what Paul meant, we need to remember the context: patronage. When put together (grace + faith), those signify a patronage relationship. God provides us the gift of salvation, and we respond by trusting in it: “For it is by grace [charis] you have been saved, through faith [pistis],” Paul writes, “and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8–9). The New Testament took everyday ideas that everyone understood to explain the spiritual truths of God. Even though we
Page 107
Buy this book at Logos.com