{"product_id":"god-slavery-and-early-christianity-chance-e-bonar-9781009610629","title":"God, Slavery, and Early Christianity: Divine Possession and Ethics in the Shepherd of Hermas","description":"Ancient Christians understood themselves to be enslaved to God, an attitude that affected their ethics, theology, and self-understanding. This widespread belief is made especially clear in the Shepherd of Hermas, an overlooked early Christian text written by an enslaved person, which was nearly included in the New Testament. In this book, Chance Bonar provides a robust analysis of the ancient discourses and practices of slavery found in the Shepherd of Hermas. He shows how the text characterizes God's enslaved persons as useful, loyal property who could be put to work, surveilled, and disciplined throughout their lives - and the afterlife. Bonar also investigates the notion that God enslaved believers, which allowed the Shepherd to theorize key early Christian concepts more deeply and in light of ancient Mediterranean slavery. Bonar's study clarifies the depth to which early Christians were entrenched - intellectually, practically, and theologically - in Roman slave society. It also demonstrates how the Shepherd offers new approaches to early Christian literary and historical interpretation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Chance E. Bonar\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1009610627\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781009610629\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cambridge University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/31\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Chance E. Bonar","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47135266341119,"sku":"9781009610629","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_40f32505-5cfa-401e-a413-963e350a8875.jpg?v=1755009637","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/god-slavery-and-early-christianity-chance-e-bonar-9781009610629","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}