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Rating: 
Summary: The complicated story of a rich and conflicted land
Review: Collaboratively written by biblical scholars K. C. Hanson (School of Theology at Claremont, Creighton University) and Douglas E. Oakman (Associate Professor of Religion at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington), Palestine In The Time Of Jesus: Social Structure And Social Conflicts is an impressively presented, detailed introduction to the politics, social institutions, governmental structures, and social structure of the antiquarian Palestine of 2000 years ago. Drawing heavily on both Scriptural reference and archaeological data, Palestine In The Time of Jesus is a scholarly and thought provoking "window in time" revealing the complicated story of a rich and conflicted land. Enhanced with an accompanying CD-ROM, Palestine In The Time Of Jesus is a welcome and throughly reader friendly addition to any personal seminary, university, or community library New Testament Studies reading list and reference collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Understanding the World Jesus Lived In
Review: Palestine in the time of Jesus is an excellent resource for students of scripture, preachers, and anyone who is interested in life at the time of Jesus Christ. The book pays attention to the archeological evidence that can help us better understand scripture, but its greatest strength is the way in which it looks at the social world of Jesus' days. Hansen and Oakman delve into topics such as kinship, patronage, public religion (as opposed to personal faith) and economic realities. Some of the information in the book can be somewhat complicated, especially when a twenty first century reader attempts to think in terms of the mindset of a person living in ancient Palestine, but thinking in the mindset of a person in the ancient world can help a reader better understand the world Jesus was speaking to and apply the message to the world of today. Preachers who are tired of delivering the same old sermon or homily can find new twists for old passages after reading this book--insights that can challenge congregations to think about scripture in a new way without upsetting the faith. The book has an ample bibliography fore students doing research. It also contains a scriptural and ancient writings index, an author cited index, as well as a general index for quick reference. Just an interesting note: When I first purchased this book two years ago, I looked for reviews by putting the name Douglas Oakman in a search engine. In the process I came across his own website that includes a listing of his other publications as well as links to other scripture related sites. H e also includes links to some of his other interests including jazz and railroads.
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