Big Ideas · Introduction
Ethnicity versus nation
Ethnicities are tangible: dress, diet, dialect, marriage within the group. Nations are abstract and chosen. A nation can include many ethnicities.
Nations depend on shared consciousness.
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Ancient Israel's communities east of the Jordan, in the Negev, and in the hill country were ethnically distinct. As mental constructs, nations need narratives, and the Bible is a powerful case study.
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 12–13
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