Tusculum College’s Dr. Travis B. Williams, assistant professor of religion, has released his second book, entitled, “Good Works in 1 Peter: Negotiating Social Conflict and Christian Identity in the Greco-Roman World.”
In this work, Dr. Williams, who served as the 2014 Theologian-in-Residence at Tusculum College, examines the question of 1 Peter’s call to “do good.”
Dr. Travis Williams
According to Dr. Williams, “Most interpreters understand the letter’s call to ‘do good’ as an admonition to behave in a manner which was consistent with popular standards of conduct. As such, many contend that the Petrine readers could expect their good works to be favorably acknowledged by Greco-Roman society. This has been the consensus opinion in scholarship for many years, shaping and directing modern investigations of the letter’s social strategy.” The goal of this work, however, is to challenge the modern consensus regarding the meaning and function of good works in 1 Peter in order to thereby provide a fresh reading of the letter’s social strategy.
Drawing on recent insights from postcolonial theory and social psychology, the book demonstrates that the exhortation to “do good” envisages a pattern of conduct which stands opposed to popular values. The Petrine author appropriates terminology that was commonly associated with wealth and social privilege and reinscribes it with a new meaning in order to provide his marginalized readers with an alternative vision of reality, one in which the honor and approval so valued in society is finally available to them. The good works theme thus articulates a competing discourse which challenges dominant social structures and the hegemonic ideology which underlies them.
The book is available through Amazon.com or by contacting the Tusculum College Bookstore at 423.636.7300
423.636.7300.