Paul and the Power of Sin : Redefining 'Beyond the Pale' (Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series)

Paul and the Power of Sin, first published in 2001, seeks to ground Paul's language of sin in the socio-cultural context of his original letters. T. L. Carter draws on the work of social anthropologist Mary Douglas to conduct a cross-cultural analysis of the symbolism of the power of sin in the letters, examining thoroughly Douglas' 'Grid and Group' model and defending its use as a heuristic tool for New Testament scholars. He uses this model to examine the social location of Paul and the communities to which he wrote and offers a fresh insight into key passages from 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Romans. Carter concludes that an important part of Paul's purpose was to safeguard the position of law-free Gentile believers by redrawing social boundaries along eschatological rather than ethnic lines.