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Slavery, Sexuality and House Churches: A Reassessment of Colossians 3.18–4.1 in Light of New Research on the Roman Family

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2007

MARGARET Y. MACDONALD
MARGARET Y. MACDONALD
Affiliation:
St. Francis Xavier University, P.O. Box 5000, Antigonish, N.S. B2G 2W5, Canada
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Abstract

The instructions to slaves and masters in the Colossian Haustafel have long raised questions about their concrete meaning for their intended audience. Drawing principally on recent research on the Roman family, but also on other texts, inscriptions and imagery, this article seeks to show that the implications of the household code for the sexual treatment of slaves must have varied widely. Important factors included the believing or non-believing nature of each household and the complexity of familial arrangements generally. Ultimately, Colossians appears implicitly to recognise a degree of honour in the case of slaves, a view that may sometimes have led to greater respect for familial/sexual boundaries than was otherwise usual.

Type
Research Article
Information
New Testament Studies , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 94 - 113
Copyright
2007 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This article represents an expansion of a paper presented at the summer meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in Barcelona in 2004. I am grateful to members of the Colossians Seminar for their helpful feedback