The “Believing Woman” and Her ekklēsia: Rethinking Intersectional Households and Manuscript Variations in the Widows’ Tale (1 Tim 5:3–16)

2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-316
Author(s):  
Marianne Bjelland Kartzow
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Epistles ◽  
Alternative Housing ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Scholarly Attention

The widows of the Pastoral Epistles (1 Tim 5:3–16) have been a puzzle for interpreters for generations. In the “Widows’ Tale” different categories of women are given a whole set of instructions, including how they shall be organized and with whom to live. In this article, I will highlight the interpretative potential of the very last verse of the paragraph, where “a believing woman who has widows” is mentioned. In some important manuscripts, scribes have added “believing man” in v. 16, while others have left out the woman altogether. What can these disagreements and changes tell? I will argue that not enough scholarly attention has been directed to this verse. There is huge potential for a new understanding of the whole paragraph hidden here. Attention to alternative housing arrangements and manuscript variations will be employed as interpretative tools. I will use the disagreement among scribes to rethink variety and difference, and to reimagine ekklēsia within intersectional early Christian households.

Salvation and Childbearing

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia D. Myers
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Pastoral Epistles ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Feminine Virtue

Augustus’s prioritization of family life to promote his own masculinity resulted in a simultaneous emphasis on motherhood in the Roman world. Not only did motherhood advertise a man’s masculine purposing of his woman/wife, but it was also a legitimate path to increased agency for free(d) women. Situated in this context, New Testament and other early Christian traditions offer varying constructions of “feminine virtue,” some of which prioritize or assume motherhood and others of which downplay or even reject it. This chapter examines these themes in the Pastoral Epistles, New Testament household codes (Col 3:18–4:3; Eph 5:21–6:9; 1 Pet 2:9–3:12), the Acts of Thecla, Acts of Andrew, and the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. In their sustained wrestling with and formations of Christian gender(s), these writings present salvation as masculinization for all followers of Christ, but they disagree on whether motherhood should be a part of this process.

The Methodological Dilemma of Evaluating the Variation Unit in Romans 11:31

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-182
Author(s):  
David A. Kaden
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Secondary Literature ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Full Treatment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Scholarly Attention

AbstractRomans 9-11 has attracted much scholarly attention, and the amount of secondary literature is nearly overwhelming. Yet, no serious scholarly-length article has emerged that wrestles with the textual issues of 11:31. Why? How might a full treatment of this variation unit impact the interpretation of the surrounding chapters? This article seeks to answer these questions by examining the social situation of Jewish-Christian relations and hostilities from the late first to the late second centuries CE. It reflects a trend in early Christian textual criticism away from questing after an “original” text to instead examining the social context of variation units.

scholarly journals Rune Stones as Material Relations in Late Pagan and Early Christian Scandinavia

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Julie Lund
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Viking Age ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Early Medieval Period ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Surrounding Landscape ◽  
Scholarly Attention

In this article, the material qualities and the use of space on rune stone and its links to the landscape during the Viking Age and in the Early Medieval Period in South Scandinavia are explored and related to acts of commemoration and changing spatial perceptions. The 11th century rune stones from Denmark and Scania without iconography have previously received less scholarly attention by the archaeologists, but here they form the main focus. Whereas the commemorative aspects of the rune stones have been noticed by a number of scholars, less emphasis has been on their material qualities and the spatial aspects of the inscription on the stones; the spatial references in the rune stones to the surrounding landscape; and the bodily effect they had for the readers of the runes. The rune stones are studied as expressions of social relations between living, deceased and places in late pagan and early Christian Scandinavia. Three phenomena are explored: the rune stones at bridges and the role of the bridge in paganism and Christianity; the use of the surface and shape of the stones to separate diverging beings; and the shape of the inscription and its relation to the new concepts of afterworld in terms of heaven above, while simultaneously creating links to near and distant pasts. Further, the process of creating relations to distant pasts in the Early Christian period is explored.

A Fresh Look at P.Beatty III (P47) Towards an Integrative Study of an Early Christian Codex

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Malik
Keyword(s):  
Early Christian ◽  
Scribal Habits ◽  
Integrative Study ◽  
Integrative Method ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Apocalypse Of John

AbstractChester Beatty Biblical Papyrus III is the earliest extensive manuscript of the Apocalypse of John. It has, however, received very little scholarly attention. This gap in our knowledge will be filled by the author’s current research, where physical and nontextual features are analysed in connection with scribal habits and textual characteristics. This preliminary article draws attention to two aspects where such an integrative method has proven particularly fruitful.

scholarly journals From timely exegesis to contemporary ecclesiology: Relevant hermeneutics and provocative embodiment of faith in a corona-defined world – Generosity during a pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scot McKnight
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Pastoral Epistles ◽  
Apostle Paul ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
2 Corinthians ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Good Works ◽  
Economic Climate ◽  
Mean Equality ◽  
Fair Balance

In a world where economies have no moral conscience, biblical theologians can challenge local cultures with ancient wisdom about generosity and equity. Systemic solutions require changes in the habits of virtue, and this study focuses on the habit of generosity. Building on the work of Stephan Joubert’s Paul as Benefactor, this study concentrates on Paul’s collection in one notable instance: what he says about generosity in 2 Corinthians 8-9 and, in particular, what he means by isotēs in 2 Cor 8:13–15. Does it mean “equality” or “equity”? Beginning with a reinvigorated interest in the economic vision of the apostle Paul about what is meant by “weak” and “good works” and what the Pastoral Epistles communicate with eusebeia (not “godliness” but “social respectability and civility”), we reconsider the collection as an act on the part of the Pauline mission churches to express more than ecclesial unity. This act embodied a theology of grace in mutual reciprocity and in equitable provision on the part of the wealthy for the poor, not least and not limited to those in their own Christian assemblies. The term isotēs is too easily glossed over when translated as “fair balance”, “fairness”, and so the translation of the term with “equity” or “equality” comes closest to the vision of the apostle. Too few studies on this term baptize it sufficiently in the economics of the ancient world and the early Christian radical vision of siblingship and family.Contribution: From the perspective of the Historical Thought and Source Interpretation of the work of Paul, the question of systemic equality or equity is as crucial to navigating the current economic climate as it has ever been. Equality or equity is not limited to Christian communities but following the early church in embodying a theology of grace.

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