When reading the Bible it is important to be aware of how Mediterranean societies view the human person. While Greek philosophy uses the terms "body" and "soul," the traditional and customary understanding that is used throughout the New Testament is one of three zones of interaction.
As Bruce Malina explains (see footnote below) these zones are:
- Eyes-heart: the zone of emotion-fused thought includes will, intellect, judgment, personality, and feeling all rolled together.
- Mouth-ears: the zone of self-expressive speech includes communication, particularly that which is self-revealing. It is listening and responding.
- Hands-feet: the zone of purposeful action is the zone of external behavior or interaction with the environment. It is the zone of activity - of doing, performing, making.
David Ewart,
www.holytextures.com
Historical background information in this post is drawn from Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John, see link below, page 223.
* Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Bruce Malina, et. al., Social Science Commentary on ... The Synoptic Gospels; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Letters of Paul; The Book of Revelation; and others.
Click here for an easy to print or email Adobe PDF copy of this post.
* Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Bruce J. Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh, Social Science Commentary on ... The Synoptic Gospels; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Letters of Paul; The Book of Revelation; and others.
+ Link to Amazon.com Bibliography for Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler, Jewish Annotated New Testament, The Bible With and Without Jesus, Short Stories by Jesus, Entering the Passion of Jesus, and others.
Permission is granted for non-profit use of these materials. Acknowledgement of source is not required in oral presentations. Otherwise please note as, "David Ewart, www.holytextures.com."
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