Karl Allen Kuhn is professor of religion at Lakeland College and an ordained clergy in the United Church of Christ. He has authored The Heart of Biblical Narrative: Rediscovering Biblical Appeal to the Emotions (2009), Having Words with God: The Bible as Conversation (2008), both from Fortress Press, and The Kingdom According to Luke and Acts (2015).
Description
Series Foreword Preface 1. A Socially Sensitive Reading of the Biblical Texts 2. The Political and Economic Tendencies of the Biblical Worlds 3. The Social Tendencies of the Biblical Worlds 4. Biblical Writings as Texts of Resistance and Conformity 5. Purity: Things in Their Proper Place Bibliography
"Insights from Cultural Anthropology is not another method, alongside so many other methods, for interpreting the Bible. Instead, Karl Allen Kuhn provides the reader with a foundational approach to interpreting the Bible that closes a serious lacuna in biblical scholarship. At every stage of this work, Kuhn illustrates how cultural anthropology and its models provide essential insights for interpreting and understanding the biblical text that 'refine the aim of interpreters to make sense of the biblical texts within their own social and historical contexts.' The beauty of this work lies in the way Kuhn introduces the reader to an understanding of cultural anthropology and how he applies the insights that emerge from cultural anthropology to illuminate the interpretation of specific biblical texts." --Patrick Hartin, Gonzaga University "Kuhn introduces cultural anthropology as a method of investigating the Bible by providing enough theoretical underpinning that the reader is quickly and accurately oriented to the method; and he illustrates the approach by insightful studies of a wide range of texts from both testaments. His readings of passages often stand over against standard North American readings and open up texts in eye-opening and exciting ways that are themselves worth the cost of the book. Both neophyte and expert will learn much from this volume." --Walter Taylor, Ernest W. and Edith S. Ogram Professor Emeritus of New Testament Studies, Trinity Lutheran Seminary "With clear, engaging, accessible writing, Karl Allen Kuhn provides a fascinating journey into the cultural worlds of the Bible, focusing on the people behind the texts-their worldviews, social structures, and classes-to help contemporary interpreters better understand and appreciate the ethics, values, and conflicts informing the ancient writers. Kuhn's application of cultural anthropology to biblical studies provides a needed supplement to traditional historical-critical concerns. After introducing the reader to cultural anthropology, he leads the reader on a journey through the biblical world, with insightful exegetical examples, focusing on issues of class, which show the contrast between elite groups and the general population. This book deepens one's understanding of the worldviews and experiences of various groups of people in biblical times, which can help inform our contemporary application of the Bible to address issues of oppression, injustice, ethnic diversity, and inequality." --Steven Dunn, Alverno College "Karl Allen Kuhn's Insights from Cultural Anthropology is an accessible and scholarly introduction to cross-cultural anthropological models that assist today's readers to more clearly see the historical and cultural world of Jesus in action. We learn about the political, social, and economic context of the biblical world, including the inescapable impact of the Roman Empire, the patriarchy, and the variable practice of purity on the underclass. Kuhn's applications of cross-cultural models to a variety of biblical passages from both testaments demonstrates just how helpful knowledge of cultural anthropology is to biblical interpretation. Teachers, preachers, students, and scholars alike will come away from this carefully researched book with the skills necessary to narrow the cultural distance between the world of the Bible and our twenty-first-century North American world." --Joan Cecelia Campbell, Atlantic School of Theology