The Death of Herod : An Essay in the Sociology of Religion

This 1992 study demonstrates how fruitful the relationship between the social sciences and biblical studies can be if sociological method is imaginatively applied to an account of Palestinian society during the first century.

This 1992 work is intended to be a 'taster' to sociological method for students of the New Testament. Richard Fenn demonstrates how fruitful the relationship between the social sciences and biblical studies can be when sociological method is imaginatively applied to the New Testament. Fenn's point of departure is the particular historical event of the death of Herod the Great. He focuses on Josephus' account of the trials of Herod's sons, the death of Herod himself, and the crisis of succession which followed his death. Josephus' account is shown to provide a rich sociological resource, in that he observes how speech was used to conceal rather than to convey individuals' true interests and commitments. His account also reveals the failure of the trial as a critically important institution for restoring confidence in public discourse. The result, the author argues, is the intensification of conflict within, and between, generations, at every level of Palestinian society.