For stuff that really focuses on the Gospel of Luke, check out Kenneth Bailey's work. He has two books out that you can buy in a single volume ... sort of odd names about peasants and poets.

I have asked my pastor this. He always helps with questions but not very tech savy to post it.
Here is the answer he gave.
"This is an excellent question and brings up the problem with understanding the Bible from the Western culture and frame of mind and the culture that surrounded the Bible when it was written.

Learn the original language(s) that the Bible was written in. The concepts found in the original languages express the culture and thought of the day. The study of the original languages will also cause westerners problems as it will expose the error of Western interpretation of the Bible and will make it difficult to find fellowship and churches among Western believers. There is a price to pay for coming to know the truth."

@techmate I agree with you pastor. The more you really learn scripture the more you want to smack Christians and church leaders on the back of the head and say, "What are you thinking!!!".

The attention to detail is one of the things I look for in a pastor. It was one of the things I loved about Dion Garrett as my pastor and I'm looking for in his replacement. I want a pastor who has been taught that language and can go back when needed. At the very least all the pastors at my church learned it and the context in the seminary. I wouldn't be there if they hadn't.

Of course, the obvious one is a good Bible study aid (program) that will show original text and various translation notes about it. Commentaries can be helpful but just don't put too much emphasis on them and not the word (but you know that).

Another I have gotten insight from is a book by James M. Freeman named "Manners & Customs of the Bible". It's not pretty print and sometimes it's hard to find what you want but it explains things like "Thomas, which is called Didymus - Thomas being Aramaic and Didymus, Greek. It is said to have been customary for the Jews when traveling into foreign countries, or familiarly conversing with the Greeks or Romand, to assume a Greek or Latin name of similar meaning to their own." There may be a new version out - mine is quite old.

Hope it helps.

@JimSewell Good book. I couldn't think of the name of that. Glad you brought it up. I had that at one time. When moving I must of lost it or packed it where I can't find it.
Great recommendation.

Matt,

The Collapse of the Brass Heaven: Rebuilding our Worldview to Embrace the Power of God by Brad Long and Doug McMurry (see here) touches on the Eastern vs Western Worldview in its discussion of the relationship between Christians and their culture.

Micah

"Palestine in the Time of Jesus" by K.C. Hanson, Douglas E. Oakman

http://tinyurl.com/mattfarina

Another way to go about this would be to start studying different communication styles. I'm a community development major here at Covenant College, and one of my classes was "Living and Working in a Multi-Cultural Context" in which we studied (quite intensively) the differences in cultural patterns, customs, and communication styles throughout the world.

Another way of saying "Eastern" is "Indirect communication." The Bible is full of stories, parables, etc... It is incredible to note that Jesus was living in an indirect culture, and that when he told stories (parables), it wasn't just because he felt like telling a story. The parables were told specifically because it was appropriate to do so in that culture, rather than telling the people directly what they were doing wrong, and what needed to change.

The concept of "saving face" is so important to Eastern Cultures. Believe it or not, Filipinos (in the Philippines, which is in South-East Asia) are some of the most indirect people in the world. But guess what? They are also some of the most concerned people in the world for NOT "putting people down" or making others loose face - they don't blame directly, they don't point fingers, etc... It's all very interesting stuff.

Duane Elmer has a good book entitled "Cross-Cultural Conflict" which outlines these communication patterns very well. He's a Christian author, and so I would recommend it! A book that is more of an overview of "cultures" in general, written by a guy who's not a Christian (but is still a fantastic book) is "The Cultural Imperative - Global Trends in the 21st Century" by Richard Lewis.

Hope this helps add to the discussion here!

- David

A huge difference between eastern though (especially in biblical times) and western thought is that they thing visually and we think conceptually. They say, 'God is my shepherd'. We say, 'God is omnipresent'. They say, 'the four corners of the Earth.' We say, 'north, south, east, and west.' At least one of the reasons Jesus told stories is a product of the culture that operated visually and on stories. We are called a post literate culture. We no longer look to learn through stories but would rather have a raw information dump. This is another difference though, not as pronounced as the eastern vs. western thought.

What's really amazing, to me, about this is that thinking visually can provide you with an outstanding memory for detail. If you study mnemonics to improve your memory they will work to teach you to remember visually.