The Gospels and the Roman Empire

This book explores how the New Testament, specifically the four canonical gospels, negotiate the Roman imperial world. Each chapter contributes to a larger goal of demonstrating how the Roman imperial world functions as a critical context that can yield new and exciting perspectives on the gospel narratives. Within this volume, scholars from a variety of contexts come together to examine a particular aspect of negotiation with the Roman Empire, including Genre and Composition, Economic Justice and Social Ethics, Ritual Purity and Ethnicity, Roman Figures, Hegemonic Narratives of Empire, and Gender Construction. The contributors provide an interdisciplinary perspective, incorporating literary studies, gender criticism, Jewish studies, and disability studies.