God, Money, and the 99%: Contextualizing the New Testament

The texts of the New Testament offer a rare insight into the practices and beliefs of non-elites in the ancient world. These practices and beliefs are often centered around money; financial themes are frequent in the New Testament. This chapter contextualizes the diverse texts of the New Testament and considers the intersections of religion and the economy in the ancient world. Texts from the letters of Paul and evidence from material culture are analyzed as examples of the interaction of human and divine activity in money matters in early Christianity.