Dr. Thomas Blanton

Paul of Tarsus: Labor Markets, Itinerancy, and Religious Entrepreneurship

Perhaps due to the organization of academic departments by field in the modern university, studies of religion, economic history, and urban space do not frequently intersect. This study offers a corrective to that disciplinary siloing by showing that, in the letters of the first-century-CE itinerant religious entrepreneur Paul of Tarsus, “religion” did not exist as a separate category of thought or practice, but rather was formed on the basis of ongoing interaction with “economy” and urban spaces. By the same token, neither economy nor urban space existed apart from religion, but were formed in part through religious practices, places, architecture, and movements within cities. The study argues that religion, economy, and urbanity are best conceptualized as ongoing processes of reciprocal formation rather than discrete spheres of activity. The project is significant because it shows that “religion,” “theology,” “economics,” and built environments are not adequately conceptualized as free-standing, independent subjects, but should be considered together as parts of a holistic system of human practice. Combining Classics, Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, and economic history, the project is in keeping with the MWK’s Weberian research program, with its strongly interdisciplinary and comparative social scientific emphases.