Constructing Early Christian Families

by Halvor Moxnes (Editor)

The family is a topical issue for studies of the Ancient world. Family, household and kinship have different connotations in antiquity from their modern ones. This volume expands that discussion to investigate the early Christian family structures within the larger Graeco-Roman context.
Particular emphasis is given to how family metaphors, such as 'brotherhood' function to describe relations in early Christian communities. Asceticism and the rejection of sexuality are considered in the context of Christian constructions of the family. Moxnes' volume presents a comprehensive and timely addition to the study of familial and social structures in the Early Christian world, which will certainly stimulate further debate.

284 pages, Paperback

First published April 24, 1997

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is, for the most part, a helpful collection of articles on families in the ancient Roman, Greek, and Jewish world. It covers kinship both natural and fictive, both literal and metaphorical, from both a social and theological perspective. If I had one critique, it's that the concept of fictive kinship in Paul, so important to his construction of the church, is not covered here in nearly enough detail. In particular, it would have been helpful to cover his kinship metaphor AS metaphor, and to provide better detail on how metaphor shaped church structure and behavior. On the whole, there are several good and helpful articles here.