In The Moral World of James, James Riley Strange compares the moral system in the Epistle of James with other Greco-Roman and Judaic texts. The author of the epistle prescribed moral practices in a world in which other people, both pagan and Jewish, had long been expressing similar concerns, and more would continue to take up the task centuries after Christianity was well established in the Roman Empire. In this fresh and thick analysis, Strange's systemic comparison of texts (among them works of Plato, Plutarch, Epictetus, and Aelius Aristides, as well as Greek Magical Papyri, tractates of the Mishnah, and the Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls) reveals how James's vision of a distinctive way of community life was both part of and distinct from the moral and religious systems among which it emerged.

This first of two volumes on ancient Galilee provides general surveys of modern studies of Galilee and of Galilean history followed by specialized studies on taxation, ethnicity, religious practices, road system, trade and markets, education, health, village life, houses, and the urban-rural divide. The volume draws on the expertise of archaeologists, historians, biblical scholars, and social-science interpreters; Christians, Jews, and secular scholars; North Americans, Europeans, and Israelis; and those who have devoted a significant amount of time and energy in this research, especially those who have excavated in Galilee for many years. A key goal of this volume and its companion volume devoted to the archaeological record of towns and villages is to make this information easily accessible to New Testament scholars and Mishnah scholars not familiar with these materials while also usable to the average interested reader. This book includes several images, figures, charts, and maps.