
Virtuous Friendship
The New Testament, Greco-Roman Friendship Language, and Contemporary Community
- 194 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Virtuous Friendship
The New Testament, Greco-Roman Friendship Language, and Contemporary Community
About this book
Why do so many feel so lonely today? Are our friendships in breakdown mode, or are they just changing? Why are we burdened with the creeping sense that our communities are falling apart? Sociologists report that in recent decades the number of Americans who have no one in whom to confide may have tripled. Likewise, church attendance, participation in local clubs and groups, even the number of times we invite one another over to supper are all in decline. Meanwhile, some of us have more "friends" than ever on social media. The question of friendship, its definition, virtue, and quality, is not a new one to the church or the culture in which Christianity was birthed. Greco-Roman ethicists were fascinated by the virtue of friendship. Taking a cue from Jesus, the New Testament authors transformed Greco-Roman friendship notions to express visions of Christian community that were spiritually fulfilling, sustainably flourishing, and socially just. This book traces the New Testament transformation of friendship in specific passages in Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Philippians, and James, and connects them to contemporary issues and cutting-edge experiments in Christian community. It is New Testament Theology for the twenty-first century.
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Table of contents
- Title Page
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Friendship in the Greco-Roman World
- Chapter 3: Gluttons, Drunkards, Tax Collectors, and Sinners
- Chapter 4: Friendship and Racial Reconciliation
- Chapter 5: Learning to Be Friends of God
- Chapter 6: A Friend Lays Down His Life
- Chapter 7: Friendship, Disability, and the Form of a Slave
- Chapter 8: “Whoever Wishes to Be a Friend of the World . . .”
- Chapter 9: A Biblical Theology of Friendship
- Bibliography