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Social and Cognitive Perspectives on the Sermon on the Mount

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Social and Cognitive Perspectives on the Sermon on the Mount introduces a broader group of scholars, students, and clergy to the relevance of social scientific and cognitive studies for interpretation of the Bible, by applying these approaches to what is possibly the most read and discussed text in the Bible. Because these approaches are invested in patterns of human cognition and social mechanisms, this collection highlights the persistent appeal and persuasiveness of the Sermon: from innate moral drives, to the biology of emotion and risk-taking, to the formation and obliteration of in-group/out-group distinctions. Through these socio-cognitive theories the authors show why—even across cultures and history—the Sermon continues to grip both individual minds and groups of people to shape moral communities.

Published: Oct 6, 2021

Series

Section Chapter Authors
Prelims
Foreword Rikard Roitto, Colleen Shantz, Petri Luomanen
Introduction
1. Social and Cognitive Perspectives on the Sermon on the Mount: Introduction Rikard Roitto, Colleen Shantz, Petri Luomanen
Part 1: Individual Cognition
2. It's All in How You Look at It: The Eyes and Morality in Matthew 6:22-23 Colleen Shantz
3. Perception of Risk in the Sermon on the Mount Rikard Roitto
4. Altruism and Prosocial Ideals in the Sermon: Between Human Nature and Divine Potential Thomas Kazen
5. Ritual Acts in the Sermon on the Mount Rodney Werline
Part 2: Text and Cognition
6. Emotional Repression and Physical Mutilation? The Cognitive and Behavioural Impact of Exaggeration in the Sermon on the Mount Thomas Kazen
7. Parables in the Sermon on the Mount: A Cognitive and Rhetorical Perspective Lauri Thuren
8. Is there a Reason to Worry? A Pragma-Dialectical Analysis of Matthew 6: 25-34 Niilo Lahti
Part 3: Social Dynamics
9. Hypocrites and the Pure in Heart: Religion as an Evolved Strategy for In-Group Formation John Teehan
10. 'Whoever is Kind to the poor Lends to Yahweh, and will be Repaid in Full' (Prov 19:17): Patterns of Indirect Reciprocity in the Book of Proverbs and in the Sermon on the Mount Anne Katrine Gudme
11. Macarisms and Identity Formation: Insights from the Comparison of 4Q525 and the Sermon on the Mount Elisa Uusimaki
12. Remembering the Sermon in the Mountains of France Alicia Batten
End Matter
Index of References Rikard Roitto, Colleen Shantz, Petri Luomanen
Index of Modern Authors Rikard Roitto, Colleen Shantz, Petri Luomanen
Index of Subjects Rikard Roitto, Colleen Shantz, Petri Luomanen

Reviews

An intriguing and stimulating study which re-interprets the text with more attention to social and cultural perspectives here and now.
Baptist Times

There is a lot within this volume that is thought-provoking, particularly content that connects evolutionary psychology with the tricky subject of altruism, or exploring in greater depth types of reciprocity and their social functions. Overall, the book is helpful in causing one to think in different ways about the ethical difficulties of the Sermon.
Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist