From Social Description to Social-Scientific Criticism. The History of a Society of Biblical Literature Section 1973—2005

Abstract

The thirty year history of an SBL Section reveals an essential component of the exegetical enterprise coming of age. Focused from the beginning on the social and cultural dimensions of New Testament writings and their social settings, the Section has undergone notable permutations and cleavages while also reflecting the development, refinement, and academic influence of a now standard sub-discipline of the historical critical method.