Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity
What was the context of the New Testament? In Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity, David A. DeSilva helps you unlock New Testament culture.
The book begins immediately by looking at Honor and Shame. My own culture as an Asian American gave me some insight into this, but I was pleased to see DeSilva show how a person’s attributed or ascribed honor could change through adoption. Of course, this has particular meaning to Christians as we have been adopted into the family of God.
Patronage and Reciprocity
I was stunned to learn of the social game of challenge and riposte. This is a game of honor, where honor can be gained by publicly posing a challenge that cannot be successfully answered. The bystanders would deem if the challenged person could defend his own honor. This makes sense of all of the interactions between Jesus and the Pharisees.
Chapter 3 looks at Patronage and Reciprocity, and I was surprised to see what the social context of “grace” meant in a Greco-Roman society. Grace is a type of showing favor, and it socially requires a response of gratitude. This is in contrast to how the western world makes grace a “free gift,” inconsequential of a relationship between the giver and receiver.
Kinship and the Church
Kinship comes next, and DeSilva shows how it is connected with identity. Cooperation, harmony, hiding the shame of kin, and forgiveness, reconciliation, and patience go together. Chapter 6 connects the idea of kinship with the idea of the “household of God” in the New Testament. It brings a fullness to the ideas of a “church family” and “church community” that I had not before considered.
The book ends with a look at purity and pollution, and links them closely with the concepts of sin and not being stained by the world. This book is a revelatory read that will help you better understand your Bible. Academic yet accessible, your eyes will be opened to better see and understand Christ and his kingdom.
I received a media copy of Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.