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Subject: Corpus-Paul
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- From: "John Dickson" <dicksonj AT bigpond.net.au>
- To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
- Subject: mixed marriages
- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 09:19:02 +1000
Dear all,
Rodney Stark (The Rise of Christianity) makes the claim, on social
scientific grounds, that marriages between believers and non-beleivers in early
Christianity were not uncommon. The point got me thinking again about Paul's
brief qualification in 1 Cor 7:39 that the widowed Christian is free to marry
MONON EN KURIW. It is traditional - with some notable exceptions - to interpret
this as meaning the woman may marry only a Christian man. Can we be confident of
this? I have several questions to which I invite others to respond:
1) Given that there were much easier ways for Paul to have indicated that
the woman must marry only a Christian may not Paul have meant "with the Lord's
blessing" or "in a way that honours the Lord" or some such thing?
2) The phrase has the ring of a 'ruling' in the church, i.e., one he would
have repeated in other churches. Given the probable small size of congregations,
would not such a ruling (understood in the 'traditional' sense) be
impractical?
3) How likely is it that Paul would have transferred Torah or
Pharisaic rulings against mixed-marriages into the context of his new Christian
communities, especially in light of his tendency to dismantle boundary
markers?
4) Do not the arguments of 1 Cor 7:14-16 provide implicit theological
justification for mixed-marriages, since a) the unbelieving partner is hGIASTAI
(whatever that means) by the believing one, and b) such a marriage contains
mission possibilities?
Looking forward to your comments.
Regards,
John Dickson
Department of Ancient History
Macquarie University
Sydney, Australia |
-
mixed marriages,
John Dickson, 10/09/2001
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: mixed marriages, Jill and Dale Walker, 10/09/2001
- Re: mixed marriages, Frich107, 10/10/2001
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