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Some introductory material on the realitysearch books can be found on
www.realitysearch.com.au
RealitySearch material on the book of Acts can be found on
www.book-acts.org
and Gospel of John can be found on www.gospel-john.org
Would you like to have a look at
Is Christian Morality Unique? Part 1 (2019)
While on the subject of morality! This material is copyright protected. Only the www.realitysearch sites
are authorised to publish it.
Efforts are still being made to get docplayer.net to take this e-book down. Apparently they, plus Google, make money from the
clicks made on included advertisements.
The title of gospelsociology.org for this web site is relevant to the Reality Search Analysis that underpins it.
This is because the analysis demonstrates that in the writing of the gospels a sociological process was being followed.
A description of sociology that fits with this idea is that of Bharat Kuma
(https://www.preservearticles.com/201102214066/8-essential-characteristics-of-sociology.html)
Kuma sets out eight points about sociology. A brief description of these is as follows
1. Sociology has its own field of study, boundary and method
2. Sociology deals with the social universe.
3. Sociology is a categorical and not a normative discipline.
4. Sociology is the acquisition of knowledge about human society.
5. .. (is concerned with) social phenomena as type's social conflict.
6 Sociology tries to find out the general laws or principles about human interaction and association...
by observing and studying a few.
7. It only studies human activities in a general way.
8. Sociology is both a rational and an empirical science.. The empiricist collects facts,
the rationalist co-ordinates and arranges them.
The Reality Search Analysis tries to show how the gospel writers described the good and bad points of Judaism and
Hellenism (Greek culture) that co-existed in Palestine in the 1st century AD. The focus of Judaism was (and is) upon
the Law of God. It has a heavy emphasis on the cause and effect of actions that are carried out within the framework of time.
The focus of Hellenism (cf. Greek culture) on the other hand, was and is (in its modern versions) focussed upon order.
It uses rationalism and imposition to impose order on multi-cultural and urban communities as they find themselves
in a particular place.
Judaism, with its focus upon time and law, can over-emphasise rules and become narrow. Hellenism on the other hand,
with its emphasis on rationalism and speech can become over-idealistic and impose its "loud voice".
The RealitySearch analysis shows how Mark sets out the bases of these two societies and world views. Matthew has a focus
on Judaism and Luke has a focus upon the Hellenism of "Gentile" converts. John tries to pull the two differing world views
into a dialectical tension that is held together by the person of a cosmic Christ.
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In order to show how the gospel writers set out this "sociological" description of Judaism, Hellenism and the hybrid society
that became Christianity, a particular method of Scriptural Interpretation has been used. This has been described by
the Catholic Pontifical Commission in its 1993 paper "The Interpretation of the Bible in the
Church" (https://catholic-resources.org/ChurchDocs/PBC_Interp-FullText.htm)
Some quotes describing this semiotic method of biblical interpretation are as follows:
"Semiotics is based upon three main principles or presuppositions.... Each text forms a unit of meaning complete in
itself, the (semiotic) analysis considers the entire text but only the text....
... There is no meaning given except in and through relationship, in particular, the relationship of "difference"
... establishing the network of relationships..... Each text follows a grammar," that is to say, a certain number of rules
or structures; in the collection of sentences that we call discourse. (there are)
.. three different levels... narrative level... level of discourse.... logico-semantic level. This (latterlevel) is the so-called
deep level. It is also the most abstract. It proceeds from the assumption that certain forms of logic and meaning
underlie the narrative and discursive organisation of all discourse.
Thus the Reality Search analysis shows how the gospel writers set out their text into paragraphs with a central idea.
They grouped
these paragraphs into Sections. The sections in turn contain the range of narratives and discourse taking place in the
gospel story. But at the same time the lists of points within the sections gradually build up a description of
the best (and worst) type of Judaic society as also the best (and worst) type of a Hellenistic society.
An exception to the "grammar" of setting out points in circular or linear paragraph patterns are those sections of the
gospels that the RealitySearch analysis claims
describe the "adult child". These passages describe the person of Jesus.
The gospel of John attempts to pull together the best of Judaism and Hellenism by presenting the sense of a
"living authority" and a "living word". The Cosmic Christ is the authorised, living Word.
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