Fri. 04.28

Ryan gave us a primer on practice theory Friday, and I like it quite a bit. Could be quite the helpful tool for analyzing culture, as well as scripture, and I appreciate the fact that it takes account of reciprocity. People form cultures, which then shape people, and we tend to focus our analyses on one or the other, rather than accounting for this basic reality.

One thought of many that were stirred:
The modern approach to the social sciences tended to focus on either the micro or macro level, rather than meshing the two together (as practice theory does, and which I believe Andrew Davey indicates in Urban Christianity and Global Order. When it comes to the study of the New Testament, my hunch is that we tend to read the epistles in particular at the macro level, searching for universals and broader trends, rather than considering the micro-components of particular letters to particular churches. If we were to look at these documents with an eye on practices, what might we linger upon? What would be the bridges between local churches and the broader contours of the early Christian movement?