Hierarchies & Jesus: Behavioral Science & The Gospel of Matthew

Humans have an innate sense for detecting where they stand in the hierarchical structure of social groups. As social creatures, hierarchical structures are inevitable. From the family, to the military, school and even church- every where there are human communities, there are social status competitions and delineated pecking orders.  In Matthew's Gospel in particular, Jesus is presented as an authoritative figure, perhaps even one with the authority to knock out the "alpha" at the top of the hierarchy of the 1st Century Mediterranean & Near Eastern world, but as Matthew's portrait of Jesus unfolds it becomes clear that Jesus' Lordship completely subverts our expectations of normal hierarchical ordering.Does Jesus completely eliminate hierarchy or does he re-order its functioning?_______________________TAGS: theology and science, theology and cognitive science, theology and behavioral science, evolution and theology, biblical theology, theology podcast________________________ If you find this podcast to be helpful and you want to see it continue ad-free, would you consider becoming a supporter on Patreon? Members of the Deep Talks Patreon Community receive bonus Q & A Episodes, articles, charts, discussion forums and more. We even have a MONTHLY Group Hangout on Zoom so you can build relationships with others across the world and practice theology and meaning-making together. Help us reach our first goal of 300 patrons in order to sustain weekly, ad-free theological and philosophical education to anyone with an internet connection! https://www.patreon.com/deeptalkstheologypodcast To Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deep-talks-exploring-theology-and-meaning-making/id1401730159   Connect with Paul Anleitner on Twitter at:https://twitter.com/PaulAnleitner