Taking Louise Lawrence’s ethnographic study of the Gospel of Matthew as a
starting point, this article questions whether the structure vs. agency debate in
social theory can be settled by proclaiming (or presupposing) one over the other.
Indeed, sociological theory has been moving towards recognizing that society, and
alongside it culture, must include both. This theoretical question matters for our
understanding of the New Testament world. Can we, for instance, assume a single
ratio of structure to agency for the ancient and the modern worlds? I suggest that
other aspects of a culture should be brought to bear on this question, namely
collectivism and individualism. Surely, a collectivistic culture (the biblical
world) will operate with a different degree of structure than will an
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