![Ehepaar mit Kind](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Ehepaar_mit_Kind.JPG)
The New Testament Household Codes (in German nicknamed ''Haustafeln''), also known as New Testament Domestic Codes, consist of instructions in
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
writings associated with the apostles
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
and
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
to pairs of Christian people within the structure of a typical Roman household. The main foci of the Household Codes are upon husband/wife, parent (father)/child, and master/slave relationships. The Codes apparently were developed to urge the new first century Christians to comply with the non-negotiable requirements of Roman
Patria Potestas
The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...
law, and to meet the needs for order within the fledgling churches.
[Stagg, Evelyn and Frank Stagg. ''Woman in the World of Jesus''. Westminster Press, 1978. ][ The two main texts that address these relationships and duties are ]Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, pseudepigrapha written in Pau ...
and Colossians
The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately fr ...
. An underlying Household Code is also reflected in 1 Timothy 2:1ff., 8ff.; 3:1ff., 8ff.; 5:17ff.; 6:1f.; and . Historically, proof texts
A proof text is a passage of scripture presented as proof for a theological doctrine, belief, or principle. Prooftexting (sometimes "proof-texting" or "proof texting") is the practice of using quotations from a document, either for the purpose of ...
from the New Testament Household Codes—from the first century to the present day—have been used to define a married Christian woman's role in relation to her husband, and to disqualify women from primary ministry positions in Christian churches.[Gombis, Timothy.]
A Radically Different New Humanity: The Function of the ''Haustafel'' in Ephesians
. ''Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
The ''Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society'' is a Scholarly peer review, refereed List of theological journals, theological journal published by the Evangelical Theological Society. It was first published in 1958 as the ''Bulletin of the ...
''. 48/2 (June 2005) 317–30. Accessed 14 February 2013.
The term ''Haustafel''
The German word ''Haustafel'' ("house table"), plural ''Haustafeln'', refers to a summary table of specific actions members of each domestic pair in a household are expected to perform. The term is said to have been coined by Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
. A ''Haustafel'' is included in Luther's Small Catechism
''Luther's Small Catechism'' (german: Der Kleine Katechismus) is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Pr ...
.[
]
Historical setting
According to certain studies, the public life of women in the time of Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
was far more restricted than in Old Testament times.[ At the time the apostles were writing their letters concerning the ''Household Codes'' ''(Haustafeln)'', Roman law vested enormous power ''(]Patria Potestas
The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...
'', lit. "the rule of the fathers") in the husband over his "family" ''(pater familias
The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...
)'' which included his wife, children, agnatic descendants, slaves, and freedmen. Originally this power was absolute and included the power of life and death. He could acknowledge, banish, kill, or disown a child. A first-century jurist recounts the story of a man beating his wife to death because she had drunk some wine. His neighbors approved.
Church-state relations in the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
at the time were far from ideal.
* The Christians rejected ancestral pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
customs and Hellenistic religion
The concept of Hellenistic religion as the late form of Ancient Greek religion covers any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic period and the ...
s.
* Christian preaching about a new king Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
sounded like revolution.
* Christians were often very unpopular and severe religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within soc ...
of them had begun.
* Paul's success at Ephesus
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
had provoked a riot to defend the cult of the goddess Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
.
* In 64 AD, the Great Fire of Rome
The Great Fire of Rome ( la, incendium magnum Romae) occurred in July AD 64. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus, on the night of 19 July. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before ...
destroyed over seventy percent of Rome. A rumor had gone forth which accused Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...
of starting the fire himself, and that he had even sung a song from his Palace tower as he watched the flames engulf the city. At that time Christians were a rather obscure religious sect with a small following in the city. To "suppress this rumor" according to Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
, Nero blamed the Christians and killed a “vast multitude” of them as scapegoats. Nero supported widespread persecution of Christians
The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of b ...
, including having his victims fed to the lions during giant spectacles held in the city's remaining amphitheater. He took pleasure in the Christian persecutions and even offered many of them upon stakes to be burned to death as torches for his parties. Many others of them were sewn into skins of animals and fed to starving dogs while the mob cheered.
Sources of the concept
In a Tübingen dissertation, James E. Crouch[Crouch, James E. ''The Origin and Intention of the Colossian Haustafel''. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1972] identifies as the earliest traceable form of the Christian Household Code, with further developments being found in Ephesians, the pastorals, and 1 Peter (as well as in early patristic literature: 1 Clement, Polycarp
Polycarp (; el, Πολύκαρπος, ''Polýkarpos''; la, Polycarpus; AD 69 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed ...
, Didache
The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tr ...
, and Barnabas
Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
). Crouch concludes that the early Christians found in Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were A ...
a Code which they adapted and Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
.
The concept of Household Codes was borrowed from Greek and Roman ethics, according to Suzanne Henderson. She notes that over the past century, scholars have identified a range of parallels between the Colossians Household Code and the writings of the Greco-Roman world. She writes that Martin Dibelius
Martin Franz Dibelius (September 14, 1883 – November 11, 1947) was a German academic theologian and New Testament professor at the University of Heidelberg.
Dibelius was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1883. Along with Rudolf Bultmann he hel ...
emphasized the influence of Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
* STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
* ...
thought, while others have argued that the Code "bears the influence of Hellenistic Jewish writers such as Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
and Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
.
Stagg writes:
::"The form of the Code stressing reciprocal social duties is traced to Judaism's own Oriental background, with its strong moral/ethical demand but also with a low view of woman.... At bottom is probably to be seen the perennial tension between freedom and order.... What mattered to (Paul) was 'a new creation' and 'in Christ' there is 'not any Jew not Greek, not any slave nor free, not any male and female.[Stagg, Frank. ''New Testament Theology''. Broadman Press, 1962. , pp. 187ff]
Intent of the Codes
Various theologians have assorted opinions as to why the apostles wrote the Codes in the first place, and then why they were directed to a variety of recipients in several New Testament passages. Some believe that the intent of the Codes is not universal throughout the passages in which they appear. They believe it necessary to determine the specific function of a Code within a specific New Testament passage. Timothy Gombis[ posits that the most important factor in determining the purpose of the Code is to consider the literary context in which it appears.
# An apologetic thrust
# For order within churches and society
# To humanize antagonistic domestic relationships
# Responsibility and mutual respect
# Manifesto for maintaining hierarchical attitudes
Though the suggested intents have some common threads, the following are what appear to be the predominant theories of the original intent of the Household Codes of Paul and Peter:
]
An apologetic thrust
Margaret MacDonald argues that the ''Haustafel'', particularly as it appears in Ephesians, was aimed at “reducing the tension between community members and outsiders.”
The early Christian Church, from its inception until the persecution under Nero in 64 AD, was tolerated by the Roman authorities who regarded it as merely another Jewish sect.
The relationship between the Church and Judaism was far more tempestuous as can be seen within the Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
. Prior to the burning of Rome, their persecution was from the Jews. The Christians were regarded by both the common people and the authorities as being separatists. The Christian lifestyle itself distanced it from that of the pagan world.[
During the first centuries, imperial Roman authorities considered Christian loyalty to Christ as disloyalty to their state. Toivo Pilli reports that the vast majority of Rome’s citizens and subjects experienced no burden of conscience even to public human sacrifices. The views of Christians tended to be seen quite differently since they added theological and ethical evaluation to all civil acts. When Christians opposed an imperial cult, they were deemed to have denied the emperor’s right to rule. Toivo Pilli writes how ]Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...
(61 AD – ca. 112 AD) explained his policy for dealing with Christians:
:If for three times they did not deny being Christians, he sentenced them to death, because "whatever kind of crime it may be to which they have confessed, their pertinacity and inflexible obstinacy should certainly be punished".[Pilli, Toivo. "Christians as Citizens of a Persecuting State". ''Journal of European Baptist Studies''. September 1, 2006.]
Pilli argues that Christians may have taken too literally the attitude of the first apostles: "We must obey God rather than men". He characterizes it as a "curiously subversive" text when compared with which opens with the injunction to "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established".[
Theologian Timothy Gombis,][ in his scholarly article about the ''Haustafel'' in Ephesians, says that biblical scholars have typically treated it as a resource in the debate over the role of women in ministry and in the home. Without agreeing with that view, Gombis finds that most scholars regard the ''Haustafel'' to have an apologetic thrust in Ephesians. This majority view is that Paul was attempting to shield the new Christian movement from the suspicion that it might undermine contemporary social structures and ultimately threaten the stability of the Roman empire. Gombis cites ]Craig Keener
Craig S. Keener (born 4 July 1960) is a North American academic, Charismatic Baptist pastor, theologian, Biblical scholar and professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary.
Biography
Keener was born on 4 July 1960. Education
In 1982 ...
as claiming that:
::“groups accused of undermining the moral fabric of Roman society thus sometimes protested that they instead conformed to traditional Roman values, by producing their own lists, or ‘Household Codes’, fitting those normally used in their day.”
Similarly, Gombis cites David Balch's book about the Code in . Balch concludes that both Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
and Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
used similar strategies when facing accusations that Jewish proselytism was ruining the social fabric of Roman society.
For order within churches and society
Commentators have noted similarities between the New Testament Household Codes and Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's discussion of families in Book One of Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
. The Aristotelian tradition specified that "the first and least parts of a family are master and slave, husband and wife, father and children"
David Balch maintains that "the Household Codes in Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, pseudepigrapha written in Pau ...
and Colossians
The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately fr ...
clearly reflect the choice of an Aristotelian tradition of discourse on Household management" and that the structure of the Ephesians passage "is similar to Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's discussion of the Household in Book One of ''Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
'': three pairs of social classes (husbands/wives, parents/children, masters/slaves), with the classes reciprocally related, and one class in each pair ruling, while the other is to be ruled." Others, however, suggest that the New Testament Household Codes are significantly different from their predecessors, in that they "do not give absolute power to the men, but instead require a high degree of responsibility and mutual respect for all members of Christian families."[ However, Elliott disagrees, seeing "the Household Codes" as a call for Christians to live counter-culturally from their surroundings, with 1 Peter 2:13-3:12 used to counter assimilation, that some were in danger of because of the suffering they were going through
New Testament scholar Frank Stagg finds the basic tenets of the Code in ]Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
's discussion of the household in Book One of ''Politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
'' as well as in Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
's ''Hypothetica 7.14''. He believes the several occurrences of the Code in the New Testament were intended to meet the needs for order within the churches and in the society of the day, essentially restraints to meet the threats of moral anarchy. Labeling it as ''libertinism'', Stagg envisions a scenario in which for some of Paul's hearers, particularly women and slaves, being freed from "The Law" was an invitation to reject all restraint.[
Similarly, Crouch concludes that the Household Code was developed to counteract the threat of a form of "enthusiasm", such as that which appeared within some of the new Christian churches, that was threatening to undermine the basic structures of first century society. Crouch comments that women and slaves, in particular, sought to extend their new-found Christian freedom to relationships outside the church as well as within it.][
Galatians is considered by many scholars (including Stagg) to be one of Paul's earliest extant writings.][ Bruce, F. F. ''Commentary on Galatians'' (NIGTC), 55.] In his own words, Paul says "I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it". On his way to Damascus he was confronted by the risen Jesus in a heavenly vision. According to the three separate accounts in Acts, Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...
found himself on the ground, blinded by the intensity of a heavenly light. The risen Jesus gave Saul a commission to "be a light to the Gentiles". Called to be "God’s great missionary to the Gentiles",[Bilezikian, Gilbert. ''Beyond Sex Roles''. Baker Book House, 1989. ] Paul also can claim what Bilezikian has termed "an inaugural statement" in the New Testament:
Because of Paul's exhortations throughout Galatians about freedom "in Christ", Galatians has been called “the Magna Carta of the Reformation” and Luther’s “Katie von Bora.” It is the book on which the Protestant Reformation was founded. F.F. Bruce
Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990), usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was a Scottish biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament. His first book, ''New Testament Documents: Are They ...
writes that the purpose of this letter to the Galatian Christians was to refute the Judaizers
The Judaizers were a faction of the Jewish Christians, both of Jewish and non-Jewish origins, who regarded the Levitical laws of the Old Testament as still binding on all Christians. They tried to enforce Jewish circumcision upon the Gentile c ...
’ false gospel—a gospel in which these Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...
felt that circumcision
Circumcision is a surgical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin ...
was essential to salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
—and to remind the Galatians of the real basis of their salvation. It was the urgency of the situation which moved Paul to write even before the Jerusalem Council convened, for the churches of Galatia were at stake.
Stagg[ addresses the question of why so much of the Christian Household Code is found in what is generally recognized as the Pauline tradition. He points to a seeming irony that the Code in the New Testament is associated with the apostle who fought so openly and suffered such personal sacrifice for both freedom and equity for Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female. Citing the complexities with which Paul had to deal after his historic proclamation in Galatians 3:28, Stagg concludes that the New Testament Household Code was not a simple situation in which one man "single-handedly imposed male chauvinism on Gentile churches." He suggests that Paul's strong emphases stemmed from the "perennial tension between freedom and order." Pointing out that freedom is ever at the risk of its abuse in terms of permissiveness, disorder, anarchy, or chaos, "the twin threats of legalism and libertinism are ancient and recurrent". Stagg notes that various New Testament books reflect "this ongoing struggle for a proper relationship between law and grace, gift and demand, freedom and responsibility". He conjectures that this situation must have become acute in the early churches, especially among women and slaves who had suffered most under the heaviest restraints. Therefore, they understandably would want to make the most of their new freedom "in Christ", and Stagg concludes that Paul found himself at the center of the battle.
]
To humanize antagonistic domestic relationships
Michael Parsons takes the stance that the apostles' goal in developing the Christian Codes was to humanize relationships which, in the society of their own day, had become "battlefields of contempt and antagonism." They did this by introducing into the "new creation" relationships that which had been lost: namely, human dignity, particularly among women and slaves. While acknowledging that the Household Codes did not originate with Christianity, he considers them being "radically transformed by the Christian authors".
He writes that the apostles used the contemporary form of the ''Haustafeln'' in their ethical instruction with "creative and imaginative pastoral insight". He does not think that the apostles, generally, are making social statements on prevailing customs. Instead, they are asking the question, "What does it mean to be 'in Christ' in this situation?" or "What is the relationship between Christian freedom and this social institution?" Parsons finds the implications to be profound. Even slaves are responsible; the possibility of living a Christian life depends solely on Christ’s grace―not circumstance.[
Parsons maintains that the ''Haustafeln'' in Ephesians and Colossians are clearly written to those ''within'' the church, not those outside. Many believe that in the 2 Corinthians passage, the apostle Paul is speaking to situations of, at a minimum, potential disorder in the churches—to include the breaking of all social order. Therefore, he believes the purpose of the New Testament Household Codes likely was a call to order in an unruly church. But Parsons says whatever the overall purpose of each particular ''Haustafel'' might have been, it is certain that the paired relationships are explained by their relationship to Christ. "Correspondingly new behavior is expected from Christian believers in each of those social situations. Each member of the three pairs is equal to the other 'in Christ', but they are not to presume on that new position and make it an excuse for behaving in any unchristian manner." There is no room in an "in Christ" relationship for feelings of antagonism, of superiority and inferiority, or of dehumanizing pride.][
]
Responsibility and mutual respect
Jesuit author Felix Just also finds similarities between many other Greco-Roman moral writings and four of the later New Testament epistles (letters). The biblical Household Codes contain instructions for particular groups of people within Christian families or "Households" as to how they should treat other members of their Household. He writes that most people in the first-century Roman Empire took it for granted that a ''pater familias
The ''pater familias'', also written as ''paterfamilias'' (plural ''patres familias''), was the head of a Roman family. The ''pater familias'' was the oldest living male in a household, and could legally exercise autocratic authority over his ext ...
'' had absolute authority and control over ''his'' Household. Thus, the secular examples of such "Household Codes" usually just indicated how slaves, children, or wives should act toward their masters, fathers, or husbands, respectively. They quite rarely also tell the adult men how they should treat the slaves, children, or wives who are members of their household.
According to author Felix Just, these New Testament texts do not give absolute power to the men. Instead, they require a high degree of responsibility and mutual respect from all members of Christian families, but "do not show the full equality of the various members of a household" compared to modern egalitarian
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
views.
Manifesto for maintaining hierarchical attitudes
Timothy Gombis argues that in the Letter to the Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, pseudepigrapha written in Pau ...
, Paul of Tarsus
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
was laying out "a manifesto for the New Humanity, painting in broad strokes a vision for how believers ought to conduct themselves in new creation communities". He believes the ''status quo'' in at least the Ephesians' world was patterned after the character of what he calls the "Old Humanity"—"selfish and self-destructive behavior" that was oriented according to that of its rulers.
In , Gombis says Paul gives a comprehensive view of what relationships ''ought to look like'' in the New Humanity. He continues, "The Haustafel, therefore, is a manifesto for the new creation people of God and does not merely have the modern notion of the nuclear family in view, though certainly it includes this. In short, it presents a comprehensive view of how relationships in what he terms "the New Humanity" ''should'' be structured.
Gombis writes:
::"The Old Humanity has been corrupted by the malign influence of the powers and authorities, and the New Humanity—the Church—is the new creation people of God, created 'according to God in righteousness and holiness of the truth' (Eph. 4:24) and wholly oriented by the self-sacrificial love of Christ".
He finally concludes that Paul is not simply being socially conservative by maintaining a place for hierarchicalism, nor is he merely trying to shield early Christian communities from imperial pressure. Rather, Paul's "exhortations are radical in that they directly confront and subvert the social structures of irst centurycontemporary society".[
]
See also
* Gender roles in Christianity
* Christian views on marriage
From the earliest days of the Christian faith, Christians have honored ''holy matrimony'' (as Christian marriages are referred to) as a divinely blessed, lifelong, monogamous union between a man and a woman. According to the Episcopal Book of C ...
* Christian views on the Old Covenant
The Mosaic covenant or Law of Moses which Christians generally call the "Old Covenant" (in contrast to the New Covenant) played an important role in the origins of Christianity and has occasioned serious dispute and controversy since the beginn ...
References
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Household
A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...
Christian terminology
Christian ethics in the Bible
Codes of conduct
Pauline Christianity
Biblical law