2026/03/01 by Robert J. Myles · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Class (philosophy) #Class conflict #Construals #Development, Ethics, and Society #Dialectic #Masculinity #Materialism #Negotiation #Theme (computing) #Theological Perspectives and Practices
paper · doi:10.15699/jbl.1451.2026.5
openalex publication_date 2026/03/01 · openalex created_date 2026/04/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract Toughness appears to have been an important theme associated with the early Jesus movement. In this article, I combine critical masculinity studies with a historical materialist approach to explore how the Jesus movement’s negotiation of gender and class conflict can be contextualized within the broader totality of social relations. As ordinary Galileans reacted to the social and material changes generated by Antipas’s urbanization projects, masculinity functioned as a coded terrain of struggle through which some members of the Jesus movement could emphasize their manliness while simultaneously attacking the masculine credentials of their perceived opponents. I analyze Q 7:24–25 to show how gendered invective was used to assert masculine resilience and to voice protest at the perceived injustices of a changing world.