EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND THE FAMILY

by
PATRICK H. MAILLE, B.A.

A THESIS
IN
HISTORY
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS

Approved

Chairperson of the Committee

Accepted

Dean q^ the Graduate School

December, 1998
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND FAMILY VALUES 1

1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Defining Family 6
1.3 Scholarship 10
1.4 Primary Sources 15
II. NEW TESTAMENT 19
2.1 Jesus and the Redefining of Family 19
2.2 Paul's Views on the Christian Family 23
III. APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE 29
3.1 Eschatology 29
3.2 Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles 31
IV. THE MARTYRS 38
V. FATHERS OF THE CHURCH 54
5.1 The Apostolic Fathers 54
5.2 The Apologists' Writing on Marriage 59
5.3 The Apologists' Writing on Children 65
VI. LEGAL SOURCES 73
VII. PAGAN WRITERS 79
7.1Celsus 79
7.2 Marcus Cornelius Fronto 85

VIII. CONCLUSION 89
BIBLIOGRAPHY 93

11
 CHAPTER I
EARLY CHRISTIANITY AS FAMILY VALUES

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to
bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household.
—Matthew^

1.1 Introduction

The term "family values" in contemporary politics associates religion and the
family. The same would have been tme 2000 years ago in the Roman Empire had such a
term been in use. Indeed, in almost any society family and religion are linked to one
another. As the anthropologist Jack Goody has noted, all societies have an institution
recognizable as the family.^ It is equally clear that all societies have some form of
religion. Both institutions are reinforced by their interaction.
The rise of the Christian religion, nearly 2000 years ago, was blamed by many
Roman citizens for the decline of the Roman Empire. Just as modem American
conservatives associate the decline of American greatness with a decline in American
Christianity, so too did conservatives of ancient Rome link the decline of their Empire to
a decline in reverence for the traditional gods. When Rome was sacked m 410 by Alaric
and his Goths, many conservative Roman citizens saw Christianity as the real culprit. It
was left to Augustine, one of the greatest Christian intellects of his (or any other) era to
respond to the accusations by producing one of his greatest works. The City of God.^ But

1 Matthew 10:34-36.

^ Jack Goody, "Evolution of the Family," Household and Family in Past Time, ed.
Peter Laslett (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), 124.

^ Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo (Berkeley: University of California Press,

1969), 289.
this controversy was only a single incident in the finale of a long process. The
destabilizing effects of Christianity on traditional Roman social institutions of family and
religion had begun long before the sack of Rome.

"Christianizing the Roman Empire," to use Ramsay MacMuUen's well known

title,"^ took nearly four centuries before the Christians achieved even a popular majority.
During this period of transition, Christianity went from being a marginal, sometimes
persecuted, minority group to being the official religion of ancient society. But before it
could become the dominant religious institution h had to displace its predecessors.
While a discussion of pre-Christian religion in the Roman world is outside the scope of
this essay, it is to be noted that the religious institutions of the Empire, like most religious
institutions in any society, were closely linked to the family.

In order for Christianity to triumph, it would, of necessity, have had to have

dismpted the family insofar as it was bound with the related institutions of other
religions. Then, as now, religion and family shared strong bonds. To dismpt the former
would have dismpted the latter and vice versa. A generation before the birth of Jesus,
Cicero had noted the benefits of religion as a socially cohesive agent. ^ When emperors
such as Decius, Valerian, and Diocletion initiated persecutions, they were concemed
with the damage Christian superstitio could do to the Roman religio licita. They were
trying to protect traditional Roman values against the new "superstition."^ As the

"^ Ramsay MacMuUen, Christianizing the Roman Empire (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1984).

^ Cicero, de Natura Deomm. I, 4.

^ For brief discussions on persecution and traditional mores see W. H. C. Frend,

"Persecution in the Early Church," Christian History. 9 (1990) 5-11, and Everett
Ferguson, "The Legal Status of Christianity," from his book Backgrounds of Early
Christianity. 480-486.
Christian community displaced pagan religion, it also dismpted the institution of the
family

Looking at the first centuries of Christianity, Jaroslav Pelikan has noted the
concern which the established society had with the dismption it caused. Pelikan writes,
"In the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan, and in much of the apologetic
literature to follow until the tracts of the emperor Julian, two of the charges that
constantly recurred were those of encouraging civil disobedience and of practicing
immorality."^ Both of these charges have a definite relation to the institution of the
familia.

Certainly family was not the only institution disrupted by Christianity. Any other
social institution with a connection to the religious institutions of the era would have
been affected in some fashion. Moreover, such a phenomenon would not have been
limited to nascent Christianity. Any religion which was at one time new in a given
society and later became prevalent would have to follow a comparable course. A good
example is Richard W. Bulliet's Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period.^ While
conversion to Islam is not the issue here, Bulliet's work offers an example of how a major
religious transition requires people at the social level to break from the "traditions of
their fathers," as Clement of Alexandna phrased it.^ Bulliet uses the term "early
adapters" to describe those individuals who leave the established religious (and other
social) institutions to take part in the early development of a new religion outside the

^ Jaroslav Pelikan, The Chnstian Tradition: A History of the Development of

Doctrine vol. 1, The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600) (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 1971), 28.

^ Richard W. Bulliet, Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in

Quantitative History (Cambridge: Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1979), 26-43.

^ Clement of Alexandria, The Rich Man's Salvation. 22-25.

mainstream of society. Such individuals may break with the practices and traditions of
their families. They might face charges of lack of respect for family, disobedience, and
immorality. The individuals to be discussed in this essay could rightly be called the early
adapters of Christianity.

These early Christians consciously adopted, or at least honored, a teaching which

was fundamentally opposed to the traditional family values of Roman society. As
Ferdinand Mount has offered perhaps the most detailed theoretical explanation of this
problem. ^^ He posits:

The New Testament itself points away from exclusive concentration on

family concerns towards other outward-looking possibilities. Jesus is
presented as warning us that ties of kinship are not necessarily the most
important in God's Kingdom, and proclaiming that his brothers and sisters
are 'all those who do God's will'. There are times when it is right and
necessary to break the bonds of family. ^ ^

Mount then goes on to show that the function and family value of producing
children brought the early believer into a sphere of potential conflict with the early
Church. While this may seem, on the surface, to be a strange assertion, consider the
context which Mount points to here:

Having children involves planning. Parents have to take thought for the
morrow and lay up treasure on earth...in the sense of devoting time and
emotion to the upbringing of their children. Love, attention and
forethought have to be invested m huge quantities. The Christian message
that faith will free us of worry about the future does not fit in with the
parental message that it is right to worry, that our children cannot be left
to look after themselves. ^^

^^ Ferdinand Mount, The Subversive Family: An Alternative History of Love and

Marriage (London: Jonathan Cape, 1982), 17.

^1 Ibid, 27.

12 Ibid., 27-28.
It should be stressed here that the relationship of Christianity to the family values of
Roman society changed over time. By the fourth century marriage and the birth of
children were woven into the fabric of the Church in the form of liturgy and teaching.
Indeed, the institutions of Church and family would become wedded to one another just
as pagan religion and family were woven together to their mutual support in the larger
society.

Yet, Mount argues that the family has exerted a subversive effect upon the
Church which persists throughout the histor\' of Christianity. ^^ Mount describes an
evolutionary sequence of conditions which unfold in the relationship between family and
Church as the development of the latter progresses. The sequence is as follows: (1)
hostility and propaganda to devalue the family, (2) reluctant recognition of the family's
strength, (3) collapse of effort to promote pseudo-families, (4) Church acceptance of
family, (5) history- rewritten to show the Church always respected the family, and (6) the
gradual imposition of the family's own terms upon the Church. ^"^ An analysis of the
broad applicability of this model is outside the scope of the present essay. Indeed, Mount
attempts to apply it to all "revolutionary" movements (Marxism, for example). Further,
the stages of development which Mount traces are said to occur over significant periods
of time. Yet, his recognition that the relationship between the Church and the family was
evolving and developing over time, provides a useful perspective for research.

With this study I hope to add something to the field of early Christian history.
Examining early Christianity's effect on the family should lead to a better understanding

^' Ibid, 15-28.

l^ftid, 3-4.
of both the dynamics of conversion within the early Church and the relationship of the
new religion to its contemporary surroundings. In addition I hope to shed some light on a
dimension of the conflict between pagan and Christian society by focusing on the family,
a particular aspect of that conflict which is often overlooked in studies about the nse of
Christianity.

1.2 Defining family

What constitutes a family? As Richard Sailer has pointed out, the Latin terms
familia and damns carry a muhitude of connotations. ^^ Sailer refers to Ulpian's
definitions of familia and domus in Digest 50.16.195.1-4 to show the wide range of the
terms, which involve geographical, ancestral, and social aspects. As m the English terms
"family" and "house," context often clarifies how the words are being used. Thus, one
person could be a member of the house of Caesar by virtue of a blood relationship to the
emperor: another could be a part of the same household by being an imperial slave. In
addition, the patronage system of the ancient Mediterranean world created bonds which
were comparable to those associated with extended kinship groups. It must also be kept
in mind that families in different parts of the empire were perceived in different terms:
North African families were not the same as Italian ones. Besides geographical
differences one may note differences based on wealth. Further, urban and mral locations
bring about subtle differences in the paradigm of family. To explore the nuances of this
issue would require a depth of examination beyond the scope of this essay A
generalized conception of the universal aspects of the ancient family will serve
satisfactorily for this thesis.

1^ Richard P. Sailer, "Familia, Domus, and the Roman Conception of the Family,"
Phoenix. 38 (1984), 336-355.
 It is often argued that the term family in the ancient world encompassed a much
broader grouping than does its modem usage. Certainly, extended kin are a part of the
family. This is at least as true of ancient Rome as h is of the modem world. Yet, modem
scholars have sometimes exaggerated the relative importance of extended kin groups in
the ancient world. Richard P. Sailer argues, "neithex familia nor domus has as a regular
meaning the nuclear family, and yet much evidence suggests that this was the dominant
family type. Funerary inscriptions and literary evidence...seem to show that though the
Romans had no word for it, they drew a conceptual circle around the mother-father-
children triad and made it the center of primary obligations. "^^

The conclusions of historians such as Sailer are consistent with those of

anthropologists such as Jack Goody. Goody rejects the premise that the "elementary
family" emerged from extended kin groups. He claims that small domestic groups have
always and everywhere been universal. ^^ Thus, the nuclear family was a recognizable
constmct in the ancient world even though it was situated in a larger social context.
Beryl Rawson has provided an intelligent assessment of that larger social context:

in most families...who existed above the bare subsistence level,

there would be a group of people who had been closely associated with a
child's birth by their very presence at or near the birth. In a large
household, slave and freed members of the familia often provided this
network for 'one of their own.'....[A] set of relatives and friends filled a
number of functions: they provided moral support to the mother,...they
provided social support for both parents, they filled a potentially legal
function for both parent and child, and they provided the foundation for
the child's support network for the future. ^^

1^ Richard P. Sailer, "Familia, Domus, and the Roman Conception of the Family,"
355.

^^ Jack Goody, "The Evolution of the Family," Household and Family in Past
Time, ed. Peter Laslett (London: Cambridge University Press, 1972), 103-124.

1^ Beryl Rawson, "Adult-Child Relationships in Roman Society," Marriage.

 Noting a variety of social factors such as festivals, political programs, and

cultural symbols relative to children and family, Rawson posits that "children grew up

expecting to marry, to value children, and to form families of their own."^^ This is an

image of stability within, and over, generations. Authors such as Paul Veyne^^ and

Everett Ferguson^^ emphasize the supposed moral inferiority and de-stabilizing effects of

paganism in connection with divorce, infidelity, sexual immorality, and death within the

pagan family context, in a rather negative light when contrasted with Christianity which

was supposed to have had an elevating effect upon morality. Paul Veyne describes pagan

marriage:

Divorce and remarriage were quite common, and nearly every family had
children bom of different mothers...The wedding night took the form of a
legal rape....accustomed to using his slave women as he pleased, [the
husband] found it difficult to distinguish between raping a woman and
taking the initiative in sexual relations. It was customary for the groom to
forgo deflowering his wife on the first night, out of concem for her
timidity; but he made up for his forbearance by sodomizing her.^-

Divorce and Children in Ancient Rome, ed. Beryl Rawson (New York: Clarendon Press,
1991), 7-30, esp. 15.

1^ Ibid,17.

2^ Paul Veyne, "The Roman Empire," A History of Private Life From Pagan
Rome to Byzantium, eds. Philippe Aries and Georges Duby (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1987), 5-206.

21 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

William B. Eerdman's, 1987), 52-57.

22 Paul Veyne, A History of Private Life from Pagan Rome to Byzantium, ed.
Philippe Aries and Georges Duby (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1987),
34-35.

8
 Veyne sees the Empire as so dominated by men, and women as having such an
inferior status, that he writes, "the wife was but one of the elements of a household" and
that "Needless to say, it was impossible for a woman to make a fool of her lord and
master. Cuckoldry...was not a part of the Romans' conceptual universe."2^

This negative view of the Roman family may be overdrawn. Rawson observes:

The effects on children of parents' divorce or death are relevant to this

public~priv?>e context....The potential for destabilizing and dismptive
effects is obvious; but children in blended families also had access to
more than one household and this broadened their social network. Early
difficulties are not always as traumatizing as we might suppose, especially
if the child's expectations made the experience of divorce or death seem
more normal than abnormal.^^

Thus, the familia would appear to be stable and enduring while, at the same time,
possessed of its inherent limitations. While it would be an exaggeration to say that
Christianity eventually changed the concept of family, it can be stated with certainty that
the nascent religion did dismpt families. Converts to the new religion frequently found
themselves not only detached from their families but also in opposition to them.
While the family is certainly an enduring institution, it has also been a dynamic
one. The history of early Christianity certainly bears witness to this fact. As will be
seen, the institution of the family initially provided a significant amount of resistance to
the nascent Church. At the same time, those families who were incorporated into the
Church influenced the Church's later development. Conversely, the Church hself would

2^ Ibid., 38-39. Such a statement is erroneous. Consider, for example, Greek and
Roman mythology which portrays Vulcan, the husband of Venus, being made to appear
foolish as he confronts Mars in public about the affair between Venus and Mars. In an
attempt to humiliate the lovers he only embarrasses himself

2"^ Rawson, "Adult-Child Relationships in Roman Society," 22-23 (The italics are
Rawson's).
have a dramatic influence upon the development of the institution of the family. And, as
Mount suggested, the relationship between the Church and the family proved capable of
development over time.

1.3 Scholarship

The historiographic literature on early Christianity can only lightly be touched

upon here. Edward Gibbon's famous Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire considered
the subject at the height of the Enlightenment and still continues to influence
contemporary perspectives. Nineteenth century German historians went on to seek the
"historical Jesus," culminating in the famous survey by Albert Schweitzer. 2^ This quest
has been embarked upon again by modem scholars in the form of the Jesus Seminar, a
group that has met with some controversy in both academic and popular circles.2^ This
quest for the histoncal Jesus is, of course, limited to the central figure of Christianity.

The present topic, while obviously influenced by Jesus directly, will focus more
on his followers who described themselves as Christians in the first two centuries
following his death. Much has been produced by modem scholars wishing to contribute
to a better understanding of Christianity in late antiquity. Among the recent works of
note, perhaps the most popular has been Robin Lane Fox's Pagans and Christians.2"^
More scholarly writers who have explored the topic of pagan-Christian relationships

2^ Albert Schweitzer, The Quest for the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of its
Progress from Reimams to Wrede. trans. W. Montgomery (1910; New York: MacMillan,
1964).

2^ Luke T. Johnson, "Search for (the Wrong) Jesus," Bible Review (December ,
1995), 20-25, 44.

2^ Robin Lane Fox. Pagans and Christians (San Francisco: Harper, 1986).

10
include W. H. C. Frend, whose broad survey of early Christianity serves as a basic
requisite for historians of the period and makes him, arguably, the most important writer
on the eariy Christian period,28 as does his study on persecution in the early Church. 2^
Everett Ferguson has produced an excellent survey of eariy Christianity and its relation
to traditional pagan and Jewish societies.^^ R. A. Markus^^ and Robert M. Grant^2 j^^ve
also eamed admiration for their work in developing an understanding of the interaction
of early Christians with their pagan neighbors in the context of the Ancient Roman
world. Historians such as Wayne Meeks have made immense contributions to the
understanding of the world in which the first Christians lived by studying the urban
setting in which Pauline Christianity first developed and by examining pattems and
trends of a moral context in nascent Christian society.^^ These are but a few who have
made valuable contributions in the field of the historical understanding of pagan and
Christian relationships in late antiquity. All of them, however, focus on the rise of

28 W. H. C. Frend. Rise of Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984).

2^ W. H. C. Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church (Garden

City, New York: Anchor Books, 1967).

^^ Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1987).

^ 1 R. A. Markus, Christianity in the Roman World (New York: Charles Scribner's

Sons, 1974).

^2 Robert M. Grant, Early Christianity and Society (San Francisco: Harper and
Row Publishers, 1977).

^^ Wayne A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle
Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), and The Origins of Christian Morality
The First Two Centuries (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).

11
Christianity and the decline of paganism. This thesis is more concemed with the
dynamics between the two groups centering on the family.

To understand family and religion an interdisciplinary approach can be valuable.

As Frend has said, "serious study of early Christian origins and history must be
interdisciplinary. "-^"^ Sociology and anthropology offer insights. Anthropology has been
used to augment the study of the historical Jesus in, for example, the work of John
Dominic Crossan.^^ Sociologists have produced an entire body of literature on Jesus and
early Christianity.^^ One sociologist, Rodney Stark, has sparked a recent debate over the
applicability of modem sociological models of conversion to the historical situations of
the early Christians.^^

The more generalized field of religious studies has also made a contribution.
Elaine Pagels' popular works, such as The Gnostic Gospels and The Origin of Satan,
benefit scholars studying early Christian communities because they aid in understanding
how such communities defined themselves in contrast to outsiders and created new
contexts for self-definitions within their own groups. Other professors from the field of
religious studies have contributed to this area of history, such as Paula Fredricksen who

^"^ Frend, Saints and Sinners in the Early Church: Differing and Conflicting
Traditions in the First Six Centuries (Wilmington. Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1985),
176.

^^ See Bmce J. Malina The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural
Anthropology, revised ed. (Westminster: John Knox, 1993).

^^ See Abraham Malherbe, Social Aspects of Early Chrisfiamty (Baton Rouge:

Louisiana State University Press, 1977) for a survey of scholarship in this field.

^^ Rodney Stark, The Rise of Chrisfianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History.

(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996).

12
explores the attitudes of early Christians by examining their portrayals of Jesus in the
gospels. ^8

Another valuable contribution from a professor of religious studies is found in the

recent work of Margaret Y. MacDonald.^^ MacDonald's work could be classified as
women's studies, an area which itself has made many contributions to the present topic.
A prime example is Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza's In Memory of Her: A Feminist
Theological Reconstmction of Christian Origins. Other names deserve mention in this
context, such as Chariotte Methuen"^^ and Steven Davies.^^l The field of women's
studies and feminist approaches to history have, as a related discipline, a connection to
the study of the history of the family. In the study of family history, there is relevant
material. Anthropology has yielded valuable research on marriage and the family from
Jack Goody.'^2 YhQ family and private life have been the subject of several informative
collections of essays.^^

^8 Paula Fredricksen, From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament
Images of Jesus (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988).

^^ Margaret MacDonald, Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion: The Power
of the Hysterical Woman. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

^^ Charlotte Methuen, "Widows, Bishops, and the Stmggle for Authority in the
Didascalia Apostolorum" Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 46 (1995), 197-213.

^^ Stevan L. Davies, The Revolt of the Widows: The Social World of the
Apocryphal Acts (Carbondale. Illinois: Southern fllinois University Press, 1980).

"^2 Jack Goody, The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

"^^ For example, Philippe Aries and Georges Duby, eds, A History of Private Life:
From Pagan Rome to Byzantium, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1987).

13
 Moving beyond broad surveys, one can find considerable information on marriage
and family in ancient Rome. Beryl Rawson's Marriage. Divorce, and Children in Ancient
Rome and Judith Evans Gmbbs' "Pagan and Christian Marriage: The State of the
Question'"^"^ are excellent examples of focused scholarship on the family in late antiquity.
So, too, is John Boswell's study on child abandonment and infanticide."^^ The work of
Richard P. Sailer has been important in generating a more precise understanding of the
ambiguities and extent of the term "family" in the context of the ancient Roman
Empire."^^ A recent publication by Carolyn Osiek and David L. Balch offers an
exploration of the late antique family based largely on archeological evidence, looking
more specifically at Christian families by examining house-churches in addition to
households in general."^^ Ferdinand Mount, as has already been noted, applies studies of
the family to the understanding of revolutionary social movements including Christianity,
offering a framework for the development of Christian attitudes toward the ancient
family that is useful here.'^^ Nevertheless, despite all that has been written on the family
in late antiquity, the conflict between nascent Christianity and pagan society m the arena
of the family is a topic usually only treated tangentially.

^ Judith Evans Gmbbs, "Pagan and Chnstian Mamage: The State of the
Question," Journal of Early Chnstian Studies. 2 (1998), 361-412.

^^ John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children m

Westem Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon Books,
1988).

'^^ Sailer, "Familia, Domus, and the Roman Conception of the Family," 336-355.

"^^ Carolyn Oseik and David L. Balch, Families in the New Testament World:
Households and House Churches (Louisville. Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1997).

^8 Mount, The Subversive Family, esp. 15-28.

14
 1.4 Primarv Source.s

A study of Christianity's influence on Imperial Rome's family values and vice

versa is possible because of the tremendous amount of relevant primary source material.
Many sources from the first three centuries of the common era discuss early Christianity's
effect upon the institution of the family. These can be divided by origin and genre in a
way that offers a developing chronological perspective. Those documents which would
later be called the New Testament are among the earliest Within this body of literature
the documents most relevant for this thesis are the synoptic gospels (which will be
considered as a single unit), the Gospel of John, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline
Episties. Other writings from the New Testament will be considered in a supplementary
fashion. English language quotations from the New Testament will come from the
Revised Standard Version. The original Greek language will be used in those instances
where a quotation requires more precision than an English translation may allow or when
the context is better established by consideration of Greek terminology."^^
Also of significant importance here, is Christian apocryphal literature. While one
might debate the merits and flaws of such sources, they certainly embody the ideals and
values of some early Christian communities. In addition, such documents can be said to
dramatize the conflicts between Christianity and the wider world, especially in their
emphasis on celibacy and rejection of the family. For example, the Acts of Paul and
Thecla tell how a young woman, recently converted to Christianity by the preaching of
Saint Paul, ultimately rejects her fiance and her mother in accepting her new religion.
Also valuable is the Gospel of Thomas, which shares numerous elements with the
synoptic tradition. It has also been argued that this gospel is very eariy in the
development of Christian literature (early second century). The two apocryphal writings

^^ The Greek New Testament, ed. Barbara Aland, Kurt Aland, et al., 4th rev ed.
(1966; Stuttgart: United Bible Societies, 1994).

15
just mentioned, and numerous others, appear in Wilhelm Schneemelcher's New
Testament Apocrypha

Martyrdom sometimes tested the limhs of familial bonds. I have used Herbert
Musurillo's Acts of the Christian Martyrs as the prime source for the acta sincera, for the
most contemporary and historical accounts of the martyrs. Like Lightfoot's Apostolic
Fathers, Musurillo's Acts of the Christian Martyrs provides the original language and an
English translation. In terms of family dynamics, the most detailed of these is the
martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas.
The next genre of literature to be considered will be writings from the fathers of
the early patristic period. The apostolic fathers offer early witnesses contemporary with
the canonical and apocryphal sources. The "apostolic fathers" include anonymous
writers such as the authors of the Didache. and the Epistle to Diognetus: Documents
whose authors' are known include Hippolytus' Apostolic Tradition: Clement's first letter
to the Corinthians;^^ the letters of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch; and the letter of Polycarp,
bishop of Smyma. For these writings I have used the collection by J. B. Lightfoot and J.
R. Harmer which includes both the original Greek and the English translations. ^^
Apologetic literature provides information on how Christians interacted with
pagan ideals. One apologist (who was also a martyr), Justin, gives us a specific example
wherein a marriage between a pagan man and a Christian woman ends in divorce. The
divorce brings the couple, and the new religion, into contact with the courts. Tatian,
another apologist to be considered in this essay, portrays a general antagonism between

^^ The second letter is generally rejected as a later document written in the

bishop's name.

^1 The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations of Their

Writings, ed. and trans. J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Baker Book House, 1992).

16
Christians and the rest of society. The same can be said of Tertullian of Carthage,
another prominent apologist whose work sheds light on the present topic. The English
language quotations from these sources will be rendered from the Fathers of the Church
series published by the Catholic University of America Press and checked against the
original Greek or Latin from Migne's compilation of patristic sources

The Patristic period goes well beyond the first through third century sources cited
here. Augustine and Jerome, for example, who lived in the late fourth and early fifth
centuries are counted among the fathers of the Church. This thesis, however, is
concemed only with the earlier Patristic period. It makes complete use of the apostolic
fathers and apologists, covering Christian writers through the start of the third century,
but does not include the homelies and theological writings of the later pre-Nicene fathers
such as Cyprian and Origen (who does appear here as a source for the earlier writings of
Celsus). Nor does it include the prolific writings of the post-Nicene fathers. Systematic
study of the family values of these later sources would be a valuable enterprise, but is not
possible within the scope of the present project.
Non-Christians in the Empire reacted to Christian family ideals. Anti-Christian
writers are known to us less through their own works than through Christian responses to
them. Thus, we know Porphyry's polemics^2 through Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. ^^
The prominent anti-Christian writings of Celsus, a pagan who appears to have been
extremely well informed regarding Christianity, are no longer extant, but Origen's Contra
Celsum.^^ which responds to Celsus' many criticisms of Christian society, offers

^2 R. Joseph Hoffman, ed.. Porphyry's Against the Christians: The Literary

Remains (Amherst. New York: Prometheus Books, 1994).

^^ Eusebius, The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine. ed. Andrew
Louth, trans. G.A. Williamson (New York: Penguin, 1989).

^^ Origen. • Contra Celsum. trans, by Henry Chadwick (London: Cambridge

University Press, 1965).

17
numerous direct quotations. It can be seen then, that a multitude of sources exist for the
first centuries of Christianity that can touch on ecclesiastical attitudes toward the family.
These sources represent a variety of genres and are associated with a wide range of social
elements.

This research project focuses on Christianity from its origins to the early third
century. In this period, several elements of Mount's model seem to manifest themselves
in varying degrees. During the course of this study it will be seen that the nascent Church
did, in many respects, adopt a hostile stance toward the famil^-^roacily dofined, as an
institution representing a vehicle for the perpetuation of traditional society. It will also
be seen that the Christian community developed its own models of what Mount would
call "pseudo-families." By making such propositions as "Whoever does the will of my
Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother,"^^ Jesus is portrayed as offering
an altemative model to the traditional family. As time passed, Christianity gained wider
social acceptance. The apologists would portray the Christian community as meriting
acceptance because of its adherence to (many) traditional family values. At such a point,
however. Mount's paradigm would predict that any effort to promote such "pseudo-
families" would collapse, a scenario more difficult to sustain on the basis of the evidence
examined here. In any case. Mount's arguments offer a dynamic perspective from which
to view the early Church and the social institution of the family.

^5 Matthew 12:50.

18
 CHAPTER II
THE NEW TESTAMENT

And call no one your father on earth, for you have one
father—the one in heaven.
—Matthew^^

2.1 Jesus and the Redefining of Family

An effort to understand the effect that early Christianity could have on the home
must, of necessity, begin with Jesus. The primary sources for the life of Jesus are the
gospels, because the Pauline epistles, although they seem to be older documents, do not
tell us much about the historical figure of Jesus. The writers of the synoptic gospels in
general suggest that Jesus taught a rejection of family^^ but, at the same time, preached a
broader and more inclusive understanding of family, creating what might be called fictive
kinships.^8 This apparent contradiction can be explained if we take into account the
eschatological element of Jesus' Kripuyfia (message). Jesus' rejection of family is usually
associated with rejection of "earthly" institutions. When speaking of family in a broader,
perhaps metaphorical, sense, Jesus is often discussing the "kingdom of God." Such a
dynamic is consistent with Mount's claims that radical innovators tend to attack
traditional understandings of the family and substitute alternative pseudo-families.

For example, in Mark 3:31-35, when Jesus' mother and brothers come to call him
away from his disciples, Jesus responds by saying, "Who are my mothers and my
brothers?... Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother"; And in

5^ Matthew 23: 9.

5^ Ibid

^8 Matthew 12:46-50

19
Matthew 10:34-38, Jesus takes an aggressively oppositional tone towards the institution
of the family.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth: I have not
come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his
father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law; and a man's foes will be those of his own household.
He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he
who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who
does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.^^

Even Luke, who, more than any other gospel writer, seems to emphasize the love
(ayaTrri) of the Christian message (KTipuyiua,) writes this parallel passage: "If anyone
comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and
brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does
not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. "^^
Although the parable of the prodigal son^^ seems to relate the quintessential
example of a father's love, it looks beyond the earthly family, seeing it as a metaphor of
God's love for sinners who are, despite their shortcomings, God's children. In fact, Jesus
repeatedly associates the rejection of earthly family with the ethereal kingdom of God.
Consider one more example:

And Peter said, "Lo, we have left our homes and followed you." And he
[Jesus] said to them, "Tmly, I say to you, there is no man who has left
house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the

^9 Matthew 10: 34-38.

^^ Luke 14: 26-27. A comparable passage is found in the gospel according to

Tliomas. saying 55. Here, Jesus says, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother
cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and
take up his cross in my way will not be worthy of me."

^^Luke 15.

20
 kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in
flie age to come etemal life. "^2

Thus, the rejection of family in the passages refened to above is linked to the
kingdom of God. That is to say, family is not to be rejected for what it is (or is not), but,
rather, is to be transcended and made into something far greater. The understanding of
family continues to include the love of one's brothers and sisters, but it extends this love
to all those within the kingdom of God and, beyond this, even to one's enemies. The
earthly Jesus accepts, even pre-supposes, the value of earthly families even as he looks
beyond them.

One simple example is in the touching conclusion of the cmcifixion as told m the
gospel of John "The disciple whom Jesus loved" (presumably, John himself) stands by
Jesus' family at the foot of the cross. ^^

When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved
standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he
said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the
disciple took her to his own home.^"^

The beauty of the passage is not merely in the love and concem expressed toward his
mother, but in Jesus' merger of his own earthly family with his family from the
kingdom of God as expressed through his "brother" John. There is an aspect of family
which Jesus gave attention to which rejects his contemporanes' views of family and,
yet, somehow enhances them.

62 Luke 18: 28-30.

6^ In the synoptic gospels the disciples are not present at the cross. However, in
all accounts, family members are present for the execution of the sentence.

6"^ M m 19: 26-27.

21
 Jesus' opposition to divorce and his views on remarriage should be considered
next. However, it must be kept m mind when considering the gospels as literary
sources that the historian is reading a report from early Christian evangelists writing
about Jesus as opposed to a report directly from Jesus. Jesus is said to have
acknowledged Moses' declaration that a man may divorce his wife.^^ However, he
tries to render h obsolete by claiming that it had been permitted only because of the
peoples' "hardness of heart. "^^ Jesus, without actually giving a command that would
contradict Mosaic law, calls on people to refrain from divorce. The inconsistency is not
between Jesus' teaching and the Mosaic law so much as between the spirit of the law
(as Jesus understood it) and the "family values" of Jesus' opponents.

E. P. Sanders has given attention to this issue m his Historical Figure of Jesus. He
contends that Jesus was calling for an "idealistic perfectionism" from his followers. ^^
Though he has acknowledged Moses and the Law, Jesus goes on to say, "Whoever
divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, makes her commit
adultery."68 When Jesus quotes Genesis. 2:24 he is proclaiming that marriages should
not end. So he goes on to say that "What therefore God has joined together, let no man
put asunder. "6^ Sanders contends, "Jesus cites the law and then says, in effect, it is not
good enough. "^^

6- Mark 10:2-12. It might be noted here that, unlike Roman society, Palestinian
society did not allow women to divorce men. It is only the man who can divorce.

66 Ibid.

6^ E.P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (London: Penguin, 1993), 198-
204.

68 Matthew 19: 9.

69 Matthew 19: 6.

^^ Sanders, 201.

22
 After Jesus discusses mamage and divorce in Matthew, his disciples comment
that it is, then, not expedient to marry. Next, Jesus talks about eunuchs and how "some
have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven."^! While many
interpretations of this passage may be posited, it must at least in part allude to the value
of chastity in the kingdom of God. The most famous exegete to act upon these words is
Origen who reportedly cut off his own testicles in an effort to be loyal to the words of
Jesus.^2 ^ t any rate, the issue of celibacy continued to be a significant point of
contention between the emerging Christian community of the Pauline era and
traditional society.

2.2 Paul's Views on the Christian Family

Although Paul has (not without reason) been called "the second founder of
Christianity," in some ways he does not appear to have gone as far as Jesus with radical
new conceptions of family. Though he opposed divorce, he looked more to the law than
to the Kingdom of God in regard to remarriage. The following passage shows this
tendency along with Paul's desire to address issues at a more mundane level rather than
the spiritually transcendent style typical of Jesus.

Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives;

but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the
husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with
another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free
from that law, and if she manies another man she is not an adulteress.^-^

^1 Matthew 19: 10-12.

^2 Eusebius, History of the Church. VI, 8.

^^ Romans 7 2-3.

23
 In one of his letters to the Church in Corinth, Paul's preference for celibacy is
apparent. Acceptance of marriage is given amidst an eschatological context which extols
celibacy. Notice also that the passage is cleariy addressed to the men of the Church.

I think that in view of the impending distress it is well for a person to

remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you
free from a wife? Do not seek maniage... Brethren, the appointed time has
grown very short; from now on, let those who have wives live as though
they have none... for the form of this world is passing away.^"^

As the passage continues, Paul reiterates the preference for celibacy over marriage.
Notice too, that women who do marry are only allowed to marry other Christians.

...he who marries his virgin does well; and he who refrains from marriage
will do better. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If the
husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the
Lord. But in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I
think that I have the spirit of God. ^^

Besides demonstrating Paul's preference for not marrying, this passage, again, shows the
woman's inability to divorce. Marriage, though inferior to chastity, is a sacred institution
for Paul. In fact, a Christian parent (though married to a pagan) makes the children in the
family holy (a^fioc,). However, Paul, "the Apostle to the gentiles," looks the other way if
divorce is desired by such a Christian mamed to a pagan, even a woman divorcing the
husband.

For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the
unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband. Otherwise, your
children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy. But if the unbelieving

^^ I Corinthians 7: 26-31.

^^ I Corinthians 7: 38-40.

24
 partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister
is not bound. ^6

In the letter to the Church in Ephesus the stmcture of the family as described by
Paul is one of order. It is hierarchical: "Wives be subject to your husbands...Children,
obey your parents in the Lord. Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly
masters. "^^ At the same time though, Paul tries to infuse love into the hierarchy:
"Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies...Fathers, do not provoke your
children to anger..."^8

Slaves were part of the ancient family. Paul appears to accept their roles when he
exhorts masters to treat their slaves with good will as the heavenly master treats his
servants. But Christianity implicitly called certain aspects of slavery into question. Not
all masters were Christians, and slaves who were used for prostitutes or for the purpose
of fornication (Tiopvsia,) would have no choice in the activity. Yet, Paul insists that
"those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."^^ Biblical scholars
easily miss the point that since most prostitutes were slaves, they would not be able to
participate in the Church because of its insistence that sex outside of marriage is not
permitted. 80 Jennifer Glancy has noted that it is "impossible to maintain both that servile
status was no impediment to full involvement in the Christian body and that within the

^6 I Corinthians 7: 14-15 (my italics).

^^ Ephesians 5: 21-6: 9.

78 Ibid.

79 Galatians 5:19-21

8Q 1 Corinthians 7

25
Christian body the only sexual relations tolerated were those between husband and
wife."8l

It is interesting to note, though, that Paul uses the term 6ouA.oi for slave in the

passage mentioned above. Another Greek term for slaves is naidoc, which can also mean

child. The former term has the singularly definite meaning of slave as property. The

latter term could have been used to provide the connotation of a more paternalistic and

humane relationship. 82 Thus, Paul's choice of words above may indicate greater concem

with order rather than with the love which he interlaces through the nanative. It should

also be noted here that the term noLiboc, may have been more likely to be used in

association with child slaves. Regardless, this passage embodies a status quo acceptance

of social structure despite the revolutionary spiritual message of Christian love.

An effort to bridge this distance between the social conventions already in place

and the propagation of the new religion is also seen m the First Epistle of Peter. Peter

exhorts wives to be "submissive to" their husbands in hopes that they will win them over

to the new faith through displays of feminine obedience.8^

Of the letters written in Paul's name which are usually thought not to have been

written by the apostle himself,8^ I Timothy should be mentioned here. This pastoral

81 Jenmfer A. Glancy, "Obstacles to Slaves' Participation in the Corinthian

Church," Journal of Biblical Literature. 17 (1998), 501.

82 For example, in the Martyrdom of Polvcarp (6: 1-2) the author uses the phrase
7rai5apia 5ijo for the two slave boys from Polycarp's own household (auxov oiKSioi)
that turned the elderiy bishop into the authorities. They had revealed the martyr's
whereabouts after being tortured. It is interesting, though, that the author chose the more
paternal connotation of the word despite circumstances which the author compares to
Judas' betrayal of Christ.

83 1 Peter 3:1-7.

8"^ Robert J. Kams, "The Pastoral Letters," The Oxford Companion to the Bible.
1993 e d , 574.

26
 letter discusses Church offices and the character of those who hold them. Bishops and
deacons are required to manage their children and their households well. They are also
allowed only one wife.85 The pastoral epistles lack the emphasis on celibacy seen in
Paul's earlier letters such as 1 Corinthians Instead, there is an acceptance of marriage
and an effort to validate marriage within a traditional (pagan) context. This difference
has been noted by several scholars, but it has rarely been mentioned in the context of
family issues. Carolyn Osiek and David L. Balch argue that a post-Paulme Christian
community can be perceived attempting to gam social acceptance by validating the pagan
status quo within the Christian community. The\ write:

The pastorals oppose an ascetic forbidding of marriage (1 Tinx 4:3),

emphasizing the goodness of creation (4:4-5), just as Paul himself had
argued (1 Cor7:28; 10:26.), but the\ suppress Paul's preference for
celibacy (1 Cor. 7:7-8, 26, 28, 38). msistmg against him that young
women marry (1 Tim. 5:14, against 1 Cor 7:25-26). It is theologically and
morally outrageous when this "Pauline" author argues that a woman "will
be saved through childbearing" (1 Tim. 2:15). The deutero-Pauline author
puts into Paul's mouth the words of the Emperor Augustus and the medical
doctor Soranus: thus he removes all boundaries between the world and the
church, and his theology of salvation for women becomes heretical. 86

It should be noted that in the scenario just mentioned there is a traditional element within
the Christian community attempting to impose traditional pagan attitudes toward
marriage upon the rest of the community. This does not mean, though, that the rest of the
communiu shares such views. Indeed, the perceived need to write such an epistle argues
the possibility of an extant opposition to such a social stmcture.
Reflecting back on Mount's observations one notes that Chnstianity did indeed
challenge conventional attitudes of family. The transcendent view of family seen in the

8^ I Timothy 2

86 Osiek and Balch, Families in the New Testament World. 122.

27
preaching of Jesus and the eschatologically motivated value of Paul's message portray an
imperative to establish a new community in contrast to traditional ancient society, a
community wherein celibacy is preferable to marriage and fellow members in the faith
can have a status equal to, if not higher than, one's own family members. On the other
hand, by the time the religion passes through Paul's era (and into a Gentile context) there
is at least a gmdging acceptance of traditional family values such as marriage and a
tolerance of divorce in certain circumstances. Furthermore, the "deutero-Pauline"
pastorals and I Peter indicate an acceptance of traditional values and the status quo in
relation to marriage and child rearing couched in terms of feminine submissiveness
which is itself a family value of Graeco-Roman societies. Thus some evidence in the
earliest Christian literature seems to support Mount's assertions that "revolutionary"
Christianity rejected earthly families in favor of fictive kinships; yet even in the first
generation of Christianity, writers were seeking to reconcile their new religion with more
traditional family values.

28
 CHAPTER III

CHRISTIAN APOCRYPHAL LITERATURE

Every Christian rejected with contempt the superstitions of his family, his
city, and his province. The whole body of Christians unanimously refused
to hold any communion with the gods of Rome, of the Empire, and of
mankind.
—Edward Gibbon^^

3.1 Eschatology

For the new religion to prosper the old one had to die. Many early Christians

thought of the world itself as coming to an end and, subsequently, a new beginning. This

eschatological belief was associated with a rejection of the world, sometimes specifically

including the rejection of family. Members of the Christian community rejected the

society from which they came so that they might be part of the impending kingdom of

God. W. H. C. Frend, in discussing the antagonistic relationship between the emerging

Christian religion and society, noted eschatology as a point of conflict. He writes,

"Christian prophecy and apocalyptic always tended to envision the violent downfall of

the existing order before its replacement by the millennium. "88 Frend cites as literary

examples here the apocalyptic writings the Shepherd of Hernias, the Apocalypse of Peter

and the Revelation of John.89

Most of the New Testament writers explicitly declare their belief in an imminent

end of time. 90 Along with the end of this world there is an expectation of a new one in

87 Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed.
David Womersley, vol. 1 (1776; London: Allen Lane, 1994), 518.

88 W. H. C. Frend The Rise of Christianitv (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984),

149.

89 Ibid.

90 In the first epistie of John (2.18) the author writes "...it is the last hour..." The
first letter of Peter (4.7) states "The end of all things is at hand." Paul writes to the

29
which God reigns and all members of the Christian community live. John refers to

himself as the brother of those he expects to be in this new community.9l This reference

is metaphorical as are references to God the Father, but the establishment of a new

kingdom seems literal. Thus, the members of the new kingdom constitute a pseudo-

family which will replace (or, at least, expand upon) the earthly mstitution of family.

While the fate of those who are not part of the Church is clear, it must also be

remembered that many of those outside the Church would be members of the families

from which the new community originated. These earthly families would become either

extinct or obsolete. This, then, was the expectation of John's readers who anticipated a

new kingdom under Christ's rule on earth.

There are apocalyptic elements m the Shepherd of Hennas as well. However, this

text will be discussed below in a section on the apostolic fathers. The Apocalypse of

Peter primarily describes hell. It concems this study because of its descriptions of

particular groups relegated to various etemal tortures on the basis of their earthly sins.

Those who procured abortions are described as being stmck by lightning, which comes

forth from the children which they aborted.92 Women who had pre-mantal sex are said

to have their flesh "torn to pieces. "9^ There is also a punishment for children who

disobey their parents. It seems a safe assumption that children who reject their families

Connthian church that "...the end of the ages has come." (1 Corinthians 10.11.) The
author of Hebrews introduces the text with the phrase "...in these last days" (Hebrews
1.2.) while John's Revelation begins and ends by noting that "...the time is near."
(Revelation 1:1-3 and 22.20). See also Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Histoncal
Jesus, trans. W. Montgomery (1910: New York: MacMillan, 1964), 223-241.

91 Revelation 1.9.

92 Apocalypse of Peter 8.

93 Ibid., 11.

30
 in order to join the Church are not included in this group. Rather, the passage may refer
to Christian children who have defied their parents.

3.2 Apocrvphal Acts of Apostles

The Acts of Paul and Thecla yield a great deal of information on the dismptive
effects of the conversion of a family member in matters of mother and daughter
relationships as well as betrothal anangements. All that is known of Thecla comes from
this text. Much of the background information in the text is factual but some elements of
the story seem to be obvious embellishments.

The influence of the text upon nascent Christianity should be taken seriously as
several early Church leaders refened to it. The Acts of Paul and Thecla constitute one
section of the Acts of Paul. Although Paul is the central figure m the Acts of Paul.
Thecla is of primary importance in the section in which we are here interested. To quote
Schneemelcher, "In the entire section it is not so much Paul as Thecla who stands in the
foreground. "94 Indeed, the section was probably originally written and treated as an
independent text apart from the Acts of Paul. The oldest extant copy of the text dates
from about the penod 300 CE.95 Eusebius mentions the Hpa^siq nau>.OD as one of the
texts not to be included in the canon of sacred te.xts, placing it under the heading
"disputed."96 The prominence of the text is also attested by Hippolytus who uses it
"without hesitation" in his commentary on Daniel.97 Finally, Tertullian mentions the

94 Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha. 221.

95 Schneemelcher, 216.

96 Eusebius, History of the ChurcK III, 25. In this same classification, however,
Eusebius had listed the Revelation of John and the epistle to the Hebrews among several
other writings promment in the early Church.

97 Schneemelcher, 215.

31
book as not being worthy of the status which it held in his own second century North

Afiica. He does not call the book heretical; rather, he disapproves of its apparent

acceptance of a relatively important role of women in die liturgy and in teaching roles. 98

The book was also known to Origen. 99 it can thus be asserted that it was widely known

and valued by the early Christian community of the late second century in the East and

in North Africa.

While place names, geographic features, and even personal names used in the

narrative have been demonstrated to have existed, whether Thecla herself was an actual

Christian heroine can be debated. 100 it can not be disputed that Thecla at least

represented an ideal of what a Christian woman should be. Furthermore, the

circumstances and setting of her life must have been familiar to those Christians who

listened to her story wath awe and admiration.

The story begins when, having heard Paul preach, the young Thecla fell in love

with the Christian message. The sermon attributed to Paul is in the style of the Sermon

on the Mount but more elaborated. Sexual renunciation, a major element of Paul's

sermon, 101 which Thecla adopted as a life-style, creates problems between Thecla and

her family. Her mother, Theocleia, and her fiance, Thamyris, are angered at Paul. So are

some of the town's leading citizens, one of which is Thamyris himself They say.

Who this man is, we do not know. But he deprives young men of
wives and maidens of husbands, saying: "Otherwise there is no

98 Tertullian, de Baptismo.

99 Origen, de Principiis. I, 2.3.

100 Schneemelcher, 222.

10lActsofPaul3:5-6.

32
 resunection for you, except ye remain chaste and do not defile the flesh,
but keep it pure. "102

Soon the men of the city are agitated to the point of running Paul out of town (something
the evangelist had probably gotten used to judging from Luke's Acts of the Apostles!
The town's men form a mob and shout, "Away with the sorcerer! For he has cormpted all
our wives. "103

Though Paul is anested, Thecla follows him to prison that she might learn more
of the new religion. As Thecla's attention to Paul and Christianity increases, so too does
her mother's rage. Eventually, the mother cries out, "Bum the lawless one...that all the
women that have been taught by this man be afraid!"104 Thecla miraculously escapes
only to find herself in a different city but yet again in the same circumstances.

Having rejected the advances of a city official named Alexander, she is

condemned to the beasts in Antioch. But God protected her from the beasts, and in the
crowd was a wealthy woman named Tryphaena, who adopted Thecla and made her an
heiress. It should be noted here that Thecla's acceptance into the home of Tryphaena 10^
is, in some respects, comparable to the fictive kinship which Jesus established between
his disciple John and his (Jesus') mother in John 19: 25-28. Both incidents are not only
beautiful gestures and shining moral examples but also represent the actual replacement
of traditional family bonds with the establishment of transcendent, though fictive,
kinship.

102 Ibid, 3: 12.

103 Ibid, 3: 15.

104 Ibid, 3:20.

105 Ibid, 3: 39.

33
 There are several important elements in this story which illustrate the conflict
between the traditional institution of the family and nascent Christianity. Sexual
renunciation, though by no means unique to Christianity, was (conectly) perceived as a
rejection of society in the eyes of Thecla's contemporaries. Thecla refused to behave in
the manner hex familia expected, and this made her a rebel. Her family put the blame on
Paul, the representative of the new superstitio. After all, it was he who "cormpted" the
women of Iconium.

This text has much in common with other Acts of the Apostles. Sexual
renunciation and the negative impact such behavior can have on the family is a persistent
theme. Asceticism had an unquestionably divisive unpact on traditional families.
Christians valued asceticism and saw its attack on family as demonstrating the superior
value of their religion. Pagans, on the other hand, were angered and hostile toward the
superstitio for its dismptive effect.

David Konstan's recent study begins by noting this factor as a persistent theme in
the genre of apocryphal acts. He wntes:

Taken generally, the Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles share an ascetic

orientation in regard to sexuality that finds expression in a repeated
nanative formula: the apostle converts a married man or woman to the
worship of Christ, which entails in turn the renunciation of carnal
relations. If one of the partners to the mamage remains unconverted, she
or he may seek to retaliate for this dismption in conjugal life. When the
offended spouse is powerful enough to encompass the apostle's death, the
nanative is brought to a conclusion in the form of a martyrdom or passion.
Three out of the five Acts that survive in substantial portions terminate m
this way. 106

106 David Konstan, "Acts of Love: A Nanative Pattern in the Apocryphal Acts,"
.loumal of Eariv Christian Studies 6 (1998), 15.

34
 One of these apocryphal texts, from the late second century, which is important to

the cunent topic is the Acts of Peter Like the Acts of Paul, this book is mentioned by

both Tertullian and Eusebius. 107 it is of an early date and was well known though not

thought of as scriptural. Again, like the Acts of Paul, this text contains elements which

seem legendary (i.e. the death of Simon Magus in a supernatural "shootout" in the

Fomm) and elements which are probably based in fact though perhaps embellished.

The final section of the text is the part of the book which needs to be focused on

in the context of division of families as a result of the Kr|poY)j.a and sexual renunciation.

This portion, which seems to have been also transmitted independently of the other parts

of the Acts of Peter focuses upon the martyrdom of this early Christian leader. It is

fascinating that Peter's martyrdom is directly linked to his dismption of the mamages of

prominent Roman citizens.

Indeed, Nero himself is said to have wanted to be the one to put Peter to death,

"for he would have liked to punish him more cmelly and with extra severity; for Peter

had made disciples of some of his servants and caused them to leave him. "108 Instead, it

was Agrippa the prefect \\ ho gave the sentence. But what is of particular interest is the

motivation behind the sentence-resentment that the new religion had deprived men of

their sexual relationships with their wives and concubines.

Consider the portion of the text which leads up to the execution:

And the concubines of the prefect Agrippa also came to Peter, being four
in number....And hearing the preaching of purity and all the words of the
Lord they...agreed with each other to remain in purity (renouncing)
intercourse with Agrippa; and they were molested by him. 109

107 Schneemelcher, 283.

108 Acts of Peter, 30.

109 Ibid, 33.

35
When Agrippa discovers the cause of his concubines' change of attitude, he becomes
enraged He says to them.

That Christian has taught you not to consort with me; I tell you, I will
destroy you and bum him alive. HO

As if Peter had not enough trouble of this sort, he goes on to frustrate the love life
of one of Caesar's friends:

But one woman who was especially beautiful, the wife of Albinus the
friend of [Nero] Caesar, Xanthippe by name, came with the other ladies to
Peter, and she too separated from Albinus. He therefore, filled with fury
and passionate love for Xanthippe, and amazed that she would not even
sleep in the same bed with him, was raging like a wild beast and wished to
do away with Peter; for he knew that he was responsible for her leaving
his bed. And many other women besides fell in love with the doctrine of
purity and separated from their husbands, and men too, ceased to sleep
with their own wq\es since they wished to worship God in sobriety and
purity. So there was the greatest disquiet in Rome. 111

Albinus and Agnppa then make plans to have Peter executed. It is at this point
that the nanati\ e goes on to describe the martyrdom of Peter in Rome. Peter, having
been inspired by a manifestation of the risen Christ, goes nobly to his death amidst the
protestations of his flock. He is, as is well known, cmcified upside down (at his own
request). 112 But it is less known that, if one accepts the testimony of the Apocryphal
Acts of Peter, his martyrdom resulted directly from the divisive effect of his preaching
upon the Roman familia.

110 Ibid

111 Ibid, 33-34.

112 Ibid., 37-38.

 As was the case with the gospels, the Christian apocrypha demonstrate that the
nascent religion conflicted with the wider society by violating traditional family values.
Instead of the eschaton and a transcendent view of fictive kinships, the Christian
apocrypha pivot on the issue of celibacy which Paul's epistles advocated. Mount's
conclusion that Christianity challenged Roman families is on firm ground in the context
of the Christian apocrypha. In at least one respect Christianity is more radical in this
literature than in canonical scripture: The theme of celibacy is far more persistent and its
divisive impact more thoroughly described. When the canonical texts are taken as a
whole, as demonstrated above, there is evidence of both Christian accommodation, and
opposition to social norms related to the family. Mount's conclusions, then, find even
stronger support in the Christian apocrypha than in the New Testament.

37
 CHAPTER IV

THE MARTYRS

Crucify us—torture us—destroy us! Your iniquity is the proof of our innocence. For this
reason God permits us to suffer these things....your tortures accomplish nothing..rather,
they are an enticement to our religion. We become more numerous every time we are
hewn down by you: the blood of Christians is seed.
—Tertullian^ ^^

TertuUian's declaration that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church
is no understatement. Famous converts such as Justin Martyr originally were attracted to
the Church after having seen the seemingly supematural courage with which Christians
could face death. 114 The persecutions which occuned sporadically throughout the pre-
Constantinian era were launched by pagans because of their concem wdth the deviant
behavior of Christians. As has already been mentioned, the Christians were not seen as
having been part of a recognized religious movement (religio licita) but, rather, an
inational cult or superstitio. Thus, they were perceived as a threat to the state. In the
case of the martyrdoms which were focused around sacrificial activity, the Christians
were again seen as deviant. Though it was clear to all that Christians did have cult and
worship behavior, it was equally clear that this behavior rejected the traditional gods and
the quasi-divinity of the Emperor. For this reason, not because of a disbelief in the
supematural forces behind the traditional gods, the Christians were called atheists. The
Christians were a dismptive force in society because they rejected traditional values
which included the cult of the Emperor or of the imperial genius. 11^

113 Tertullian, Apobgi^, 50.12-13.

114 Justin Martyr, Apology. 2.12.

115 The term genius was used by pagans in reference to the guardian spirit and/ or
the divinely granted talent of the emperor. Christian refusal to sacrifice to the emperor's
genius was based on their rejection of his divinity.

38
 Pagan writers commented on the Christian martyrs. Still extant is the work of

Lucian of Samosata whose Death of Perigrinus tells about a somewhat obscure martyr

who, while dying as a Cynic philosopher, had previously gamered some fame as a

Christian confessor. 116 In addition, the second century philosopher and physician Galen

of Pergamum mentions some Chnstians whom he met in the amphitheaters of the Eastern

Empire while he was working as a gladiatorial physician. His remarks include some of

the first kind words about the Christians from an outside source. Galen was impressed

with the Christian martyrs whose "contempt of death and of its sequel..."i 17 seemed to

put the Christians on the same level as "those who philosophize. "118 Lucian, too, though

criticizing the Christian community, notes that they had a "contempt of death, "i 19 The

respect which the Christians gained through their martyrs is also evident in that the Stoic

Emperor Marcus Aurelius, clearly opposed to Christianity, nonetheless, felt the need to

respond to the impression that Christians made on people. Even though he praises the

ability of Stoics to face death bravely, he criticizes the Christians' obstinance to authority

and recklessness with life in an obviously comparable situation. 120

As a consequence of disturbing the cult behavior of the Empire and arousing the

wrath of the government. Christian martyrs came into conflict with their families who

116 A confessor was one who had undergone torture and imprisonment for
proclaiming themselves as Christian but, for whatever reason, was not required to
undergo martyrdom.

117 R. Walzer, Galen on Jews and Christians (London: Oxford University Press,
1949), r e / 6 .

118 Ibid

119 Lucian of Samosata, The Death of Peregrinus. 13.

120 Meditations, 11.3.

39
often pleaded with them to conform to traditional values. The acts of the Christian

martyrs refer several times to such dismptions and conflicts within the families of the

martyrs. While prior to Decian, the persecutions may have been infrequent and often

localized incidents, they did occur in many different places over many years. Such

persecutions not only created divisions between the Christian community and the wider

society but also between Christian mdividuals and their families.

Perhaps the best example of a family being antagonized by the strife between

Christians and the wider society is the familia of Vibia Perpetua from Thuburbo (near

Carthage) in North Africa. Musurillo has called this passio "the archetype of all later

Acts of the Christian martyrs. "121 Frend posits, "This first hand nanative shows vividly

the utter dismption to family life and tradition that a conversion to Christianity could

cause. "122 The details of the Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas will serve as a model of

comparison for the present examination of martyrs in relation to the dismptive impact of

early Christianity upon the family.

Perpetua's father was not a Christian. Her acceptance of the new religion met

with a harsh response from him:

[M]y father was so angered by the word Christian that he moved toward
me as though he would pluck my eyes out....For a few days afterwards I
gave thanks to the Lord that I was separated from my father, and I was
comforted by his absence. During these few days I was baptized... 123

121 Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs, xxv.

122 Frend, Martyrdom and Persecution in the Eariy Church. 240.

123 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. J.

40
 The relationship between the father and daughter becomes even more conflicted

when Perpetua is brought before the magistrate and her father makes a final appeal to his

daughter's sense of family in an effort to get her out of harm.

Daughter, pity my grey head! Have pity on me your father, if I deserve to

be called father by you; if with these hands I have brought you up to this
your prime of life, if I have prefened you above all your brothers! Do not
abandon me to the reproach of men! Think of your brothers. Think of
your mother and your mother's sister, look upon your son who cannot live
after you are gone! Give up your pride. You will destroy all of us, for
none of us will ever speak freely again, if anything happens to you!.' 124

Perpetua claims that of all her relatives only her father "would not have joy in my

suffering." 125 Her father's appeal is emotionally powerful, reflecting not only his love for

his daughter but also his concem for the family's place in society. He feels that his

daughter's acceptance of the new religion rejects society and imperils her entire family.

At the same time, however, Perpetua claims that the rest of the family would take joy in

her martyrdom. This may indicate that they, unlike the paterfamilias, have become

Christians. Indeed, we are told that one of her brothers was among the catechumens

anested with Perpetua's group.

However, the father's concem about the dishonor brought to the family was well

founded. Before sentencing, the governor attempted to use the father's position as

paterfamilias to make Perpetua obey. The governor demands that Perpetua take heed of

her father. His inability to function adequately as the paterfamilias makes him a failure

in the eyes of the state and, perhaps, in his own mind as well. The father's failed efforts

at tuming his daughter around meet with harsh physical consequences:

124 Ibid, 5.

125 Ibid

41
 ...my father appeared with my son...and said: Perform the sacrifice-have
pity on your baby!' Hillarianus the govemor...said to me: 'Have pity on
your father's grey head; have pity on your infant son' ....when my father
persisted in trying to dissuade me, Hillarianus ordered him to be...beaten
with a rod....I sent the deacon Pomponius to my father to ask for my baby.
But my father reftised to give him. But, as God willed, the baby had no
more desire for the breast...and so I was relieved of any anxiety for my
child... 126

It cannot be argued, though, that she was so caught up in martyrdom so as to be

indifferent to her child. We see in an earlier passage that

Tertius and Pomponius, those blessed deacons who were ministering to

us, paid for us to be removed for a few hours to a better part of the prison
and refresh ourselves. Then all went out of the prison and were left to
themselves. My baby was brought to me, and I suckled him, for he was
already faint for want of food. I spoke anxiously to my mother on his
behalf, and strengthened my brother, and commended my son to their
charge....I obtained leave for my baby to remain in the prison with
me...and my prison suddenly became a palace to me... 127

Thus, while awaiting her fate in jail, Perpetua was greatiy relieved to have the

opportunity to bond with her child. She also was in a position to encourage her family in

the faith (with the obvious exception of her father). Note that, at this point, the baby is

cared for by the martyr's family. It seems that later, however, she tried to give the baby to

the Church (in the persons of the deacons Tertius and Pomponius). Note also the

reference to payment for better conditions. Today this would be seen as a bribe from the

Church to the guards.

126 Ibid, 6.

127 Ibid, 3.

42
 These passages deserve serious attention. As noted, the role of the paterfamilias
in the eyes of the state is to maintain obedience in the familia. In this regard, Perpetua's
father has failed. Consequently, he is beaten by the govemor's men. Worse yet, he has
lost his daughter to a subversive superstitio and, furthermore, his entire family seems (to
him) on the brink of mm. Broken are the ties linking father and daughter, mother and
son.

But what of Perpetua's husband? He is mentioned nowhere in the text. This is a

very curious omission, to say the least. It is impossible to explain this without relying
upon speculation. However, as Joyce E Salisbury has noted m her recent book, "At the
very least, the omission of the husband likely signals the form of marriage contract that
Perpetua had entered into. "128 Females m late ancient society often moved from the
control of their father to that of their brother or husband. In this case, though, Perpetua
remains under her father's authonty despite her marriage. Salisbury notes that "By the
Late Republic (tw^o centuries before Perpetua's marriage) most marriages were contracted
so that mamed women remained in their father's power. "129
Returning to the child, it should be noted that the loss of a child to a mother is
perhaps the most agonizing pain that can be felt. Yet, Perpetua accepts this loss. As
mentioned above, an effort had been made to get the baby away from the father by
members of the Church, but the father, still acting as paterfamilias, remained within his
legal rights to refuse the deacons. It seems possible that the child would have died not
long after the incident. Perpetua's reaction seems to be one of resignation to divine plan
rather than remorse.

128 Joyce E. Salisbury, Perpetua's Passion: The Death and Memory of a Young
Roman Woman (New York: Routledge, 1997), 8.

I29lb,d

4^
j>
 Perpetua was not the only mother in that North African prison awaiting an
execution which would entertain a crowded amphitheater. Her slave Felicitas was
pregnant when she was anested and, according to the Passio, gave birth in jail soon
before her death. It is interesting to read m the following passage how the glory of
martyrdom so outweighs the bonds of mother and child that all the Christians in the
nanative focus their hopes on Felicitas' chances of participating in martyrdom.

As for Felicitas indeed, she also was visited by the grace of God in this
wise. Being eight months gone with child (for she was pregnant at the
time of her anest), as the day for the spectacle drew near she was in great
sonow for fear lest because of her pregnancy her martyrdom should be
delayed, since it is against the law for women with child to be exposed for
punishment, and lest she should shed her sacred and innocent blood
among others afterwards who were malefactors. Her fellow-martyrs too
were deeply grieved at the thought of leaving so good a comrade and
fellow-traveler behind alone on the way to the same hope. So in one flood
of common lamentation they poured forth a prayer to the Lord two days
before the games. Immediately after the prayer her pains came upon her.
And since from the natural difficulty of an eight-months' labour she
suffered much in child-birth, one of there warders said to her: "You who
so suffer now, what will you do when you are flung to the beasts which,
when you refused to sacnfice, you despised?" And she answered: "Now I
suffer what I suffer: But then Another will be in me who wall suffer for
me, because I too am to suffer for Him." So she gave birth to a girl, whom
one of the sisters brought up as her own daughter. 130

Wayne Meeks has considered the profound implications of motherhood in the

social context of martyTdom. He posits a conflicting set of social roles that were
particularly poignant for Christian women. "Here we see clearly signaled an enduring
tension that would beset the Christian ethos. On one side is the traditional household, in
which precisely the body of the woman...is the focus of her established roles. On the
other side are the active, gender-transcending roles to which the Spirit might call a

130 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. 15.

44
 woman in the new faith."l3l Meeks says that "in Perpetua's memoirs we see from her
point of view the tensions and obligations of family, in which ordinarily the woman was
expected to play a limited, private, and submissive role. "132

Perpetua and Felicitas were martyred in North Africa. Yet, the same dynamic of
a new mother taking on a socially radical role on behalf of the Church and in defiance of
the state can also be seen in the martyrdom of Agathonice in the Asian provmce in the
city of Pergamum. The date of this martyrdom is under some dispute but Musurillo
suggests the text was written during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180). At any rate,
it shows another woman willing to leave behind her child in order to pursue the "crown
of martyrdom." Agathonice was a witness to the executions of the Christian men Papylus
and Carpus. As the sentence was being camed out, she decided to announce to the
crowd that she too was a Christian and sought the same fate as the two men. The stunned
crowd did not, however, seek her death-she actually volunteered.

The mob shouted out: 'Have pity on your son!'

And the blessed Agathonice said: 'He has God who can take pity
on him; for he has providence over all. Let me do what Fve come for!'
And taking off her cloak, she threw herself joyfully upon the stake. 133

It seems an incredible sacrifice to submit to martyrdom when one's executioners

do not demand it, especially when martyxdom means leaving behind one's child.
Another incident can be added to this list of pregnant women or new mothers who were
martyred. During the reign of Diocletian (ca. 304) m the Macedonian city of

131 Wayne Meeks, The Origins of Christian Morality: The First Two Centuries
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 147.

132 Ibid

133
The Martyrdom of Carpus. Papylus, and Agothonice.

45
Thessalonica a young woman named Eutychia,i34 several months pregnant, appeared

before the proconsul. Her sentence was delayed because of her condition. 135 Martyrs

who were women who were pregnant or mothers represent a striking example of the

division that occuned not only within families but also, and for comparable reasons,

between the family and the state.

Returning to Perpetua and Felicitas, Perpetua's time in prison while awaiting her

martyrdom was a period presented as a time when the martyrs had the full attention and

unparalleled admiration of the Church. It is at this moment in the story that one reads,

"My prison had become a palace. "136 Though in prison, Perpetua had her child with her

if only for the moment. She also had some privacy and was able to meet with friends and

eat food which they had brought to her. Her brother, a Christian catechumen as well,

said to her, "Dear sister, you are greatly privileged. "137 it would seem that those

awaiting death as a martyr had a privileged status in the early Church. It comes as no

surprise, then, to hear that Perpetua was encouraged to seek a vision and that she had a

vision where her younger brother (who had died unconverted some years before) was

released by prayers from etemal condemnation. 138 Felicitas, too, was seen as having

been granted powers from God on account of her status. Thus her prayers for an early

labor were granted by God so that she might be martyred with her fellows. 139

134 If as Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers. 120, has suggested, the name
Eutychia (happily found) was often given to foundlings, this may be a case where the
martyr was a foundling raised by the Church. Of course, this is rather speculative.

135 The Martyrdom of Agape. Irene. Chione and Companions. 3.

136 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. 3.

137 Ibid, 4.

I38lbid,7.

139lbid,15.

46
 Paying guards for privileges for imprisoned friends and relatives was not unusual

in the ancient world, but qbove all, what the Christian community sought to obtain was

contact with its future martyrs. The communities around martyrs resembled new

families. Christians ananged for the company of disciples and admirers in their cells as

seen, for example, in the Acts of Paul and Theclal4Q and the Death of Pengrinus.141

Powerful relics were obtained from the martyrs. For example, Satums uses his blood as

he is dying to dip the ring of a soldier named Pudens "as a pledge." 142 Martyrs spoke on

behalf of their friends and relatives to a Church hierarchy which was obligated to defer to

the martyrs and confessors in cases of laity who had apostatized. 143

The attention paid to the Christians awaiting torture and death in prison and the

amphitheater is well known. Widows, bishops, and deacons in the early Church were

often called upon to participate in aiding the imprisoned Christians. Margaret

MacDonald has noted that the social "invisibility" of old widows and young orphans

made it possible for them to keep watch outside of jails so that they could keep both

prisoners and clergy aware of events around the jail which might be of concem to the

Christians. i"^4 when Lucian of Samosata writes of Perigrmus, he describes the Christian

community's response to his imprisonment.

140 Acts of Paul and Thecla. 17-18.

141 I ncian of Samosata. Death of Perigrinus. 12-13.

142 Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. 21.

143 Fox, Pagans and Christians. 494-495.

l'^4 Margaret Y. MacDonald, Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion: The
Power of the Hysterical Woman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 76.

47
 Orphans and ancient widows may be seen hanging about the prison from
break of day. Their officials bribed the gaolers to let them sleep inside
with them. Elegant dinners were conveyed in; their sacred writings were
read...and...Peregrine...became for them, "the modem Socrates. "In some
of the Asiatic cities, too, the Christian communities put themselves to the
expense of sending deputations, with offers of sympathy, assistance, and
legal advice...they spare no trouble, no expense....Peregrine, all tiiis time,
was making quite an income on the strength of his bondage; money came
pouring in. 145

Making allowances for the fact that Lucian is satirizing Perigrinus and sees the Christian
community as gullible and foolish, Lucian and his audience clearly assume that the
Christian community lavishes attention upon those destined for martyrdom. A new
"family," metaphorical "brothers" and "sisters" of the martyrs, is created out of the rites of
passage of the martyrs.
One way in which this new spiritual family undermined traditional ideas of family
was the way in which slaves became transformed. Slave martyrs particularly undermined
authority. It has been mentioned above that Perpetua's father failed as paterfamilias
when his authority could not command his daughter's obedience, but in addition he failed
to dominate the slave girl Felicitas, who was also part of the domus. There is no record of
this in the text but, knowing the fate of the girl and knowing the disposition of the father,
it is quite obvious that Felicitas' actions also defied her master.
Subversive effects of slave martyrdom are further attested in the Martyrdom of
Pionius and his Companions. We read how the slave girl (servo) named Sabina (who
later takes the name Theodote) was tried and sentenced along with the Smyman
presbyter Pionius:

'"^5 Lucian of Samosata, The Death of Perigrinus. 13.

48
 Then he [Polemon the verger] intenogated him for the sake of the
record, while a notary took everything down. 'What is your name?' he
asked him.
Pionius,' was the answer.
'Are you a Christian?' asked Polemon.
'Yes,' said Pionius.
Polemon the verger said: 'What church do you belong to?'
'The Catholic Church,' was the answer; 'with Christ there is no
other.'
Next he came to Sabina. But first Pionius spoke to her: 'Call
yourself Theodote.' This he did that she might not, because of her tme
name, fall into the hands of the unmoral Politta, who had been her former
mistress. Under the Emperor Gordian this woman, in an attempt to
change the girl's faith, had Sabina bound and cast out on the mountains;
but here she received sustenance secretly from the brethren. After this,
however, efforts were made to free her from her bonds and from Politta,
and since for the most part she lived with Pionius, she was captured in the
present persecution.
At any rate Polemon spoke to her next: 'What is your name?'
'Theodote,' she said.
'Are you a Christian?' he asked.
'Yes, I am,' she said
'What IS your church?' said Polemon.
Sabina answered: 'The Catholic Church.'
'Whom do you worship?' said Polemon.
Sabina answered: 'Almighty God, who made the heavens and the
earth and all of us, and who has been made known to us through his Word,
Jesus Christ.' 146

This passage reveals a tremendous amount of mformation regarding the position

slaves might have in the conflict between Church and State or, more to the point,
between Church and family. In Ephesians 6:5 Paul commands, "Slaves be obedient to
those who are your earthly masters." In the pastoral epistle Titus 6:9 he again urges them
"...to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect." Yet, in this
episode of the martyrdom we are seeing a church leader (an elder) helping Sabina hide
her social status from the notary's records so that Sabina's mistress will remain unable to

146 The Acts of Pionius and his Companions. 9.

49
find her. Robin Lane Fox argues that the family and mistress are identifiable in the

historical record as that of Flavia Politta a wealthy Roman matron who owned an estate

near Apollonia (in Macedonia.) 147 He writes;

Pionius' girl must have been a slave in this family's household, perhaps of
Flavia Politta herself, or if not, of her daughter. It only took a hint of
Christianity belowstairs for a slave giri, around the 240s, to be out of
Politta's house for good. No wonder the Christians had told the girl to
conceal her identity and call herself "Theodote," "gift of God." Behind a
family like Politta's ran networks of high Roman friends who could divert
the course of justice, intercede and help each other in cases of mutual
interest before the govemor of the province. Runaway slaves like Sabina
could never feel safe from their influence. 148

The text makes it clear that Sabina had gotten involved with the Christians

against the wall of her mistress and was, consequently, severely punished. The Church, it

appears, cared for the girl and kept her hidden from the rest of the community as well as

from the wrath of her owner. This action, while obviously filled with compassionate

sympathy, seems to betray not only the mles Paul gave to the churches but also those put

forth by Ignatius in his letter to Polycarp who says of slaves and freedom, "they should

not be puffed up, but rather better workers for the glory of God, so that they may be given

by God an even better freedom." 149

In the context of martyrdom, however, it was not possible for the Church to

satisfy both a desire to accommodate the laws of society and the values of the faithful.

This is certainly obvious from the standpoint of sacnficial activity but, h is equally tme

from the standpoint of the legal and social position of slaves and their masters. The slave

147 Fox, Pagans and Chnstians. 464-465.

148 Ibid, 465.

149 Ignatius, To Polycarp. 4.

50
facing martyrdom is a heroic figure for the members of the Church. While many
members of the early Church clearly wished to show respect to society as a whole, 150 in
the context of martyrdom, this was sometimes not possible. One consequence, then, of
being present in this rift between society and the Church is the exposure of conflicts at
different social levels shown in the acta. In other words, while the conflict between the
nascent Church and society is presented as the larger drama played out at the level of
state institutions, it is also played out in miniature as a conflict between the slave and the
master at the level of the familia.

Like Sabina, Felicitas was a slave who defied the master of the house whom she
was obligated to ser\ e. Because Felicitas had risen to the status of a martyr, the Church
was no longer concemed with her status as a slave, though, up until a certain point, the
Church may well have taught Sabina obedience. By the time that Sabina and Felicitas
became martyrs it was clear that they were in defiance, not only of the law, but also of
their traditional familia. This very defiance, though, contributed all the more to their
high status in the eyes of their C^msixd^n familia, which could echo Paul in proclaiming
that "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one m Christ." 151 Perhaps these were the words in Felicitas'
mind as she went with her mistress to face death in the amphitheater. The crowd would
have looked at the women as now outside of their community The Christians were an
altogether different people in the minds of the Greeks and Jews of Northern Africa and in
their own minds as well. They were a third race. As Felicitas and her mistress Perpetua
walked into Carthage's amphitheater prepared to sacrifice themselves for the

l50ColQssians, 4.5

1^1 GalMiam, 3.28.

51
 entertainment of the mob and for their faith in Christ, no doubt they heard the

bloodthirsty crowd, both pagan and Jewish, screaming, "Away with the third race!"152

While the martyrs themselves are fascinating hidividuals who are credited as

essential in flie propagation of the faith, the communities of Christians which gathered

around them are also fascinating. It is these communities which embody the unity and

resolute loyalty which the Christian faith was able to provide its members. These

members, gathered around the focal point of the martyr, represent a fictive kinship group.

It would be unlikely that martyrs such as Perpetua and Felicitas, or confessors such as

Thecla, were the only ones who rejected their families for the faith. The relationships

which developed around these martyr-centered communities helped to bind together the

Christian community in the face of intense, even lethal, social opposition.

Joyce Salisbury articulates this notion well in her biography on Perpetua. She
writes:

Previous strangers became "brothers and sisters" of the Christian

communities. Leaders became "fathers" and the faithful were
"children"'...and thus all were siblings. Within these egalitarian "families,"
there was a familiar and comforting space for those who had to give up
their own families. The nanative of Perpetua was dominated by family
attachment to the new community that had become her family. 153

Yet, early Christians did not, on the whole, merely trade one family for another.

That is, they continued to live in both the pagan and Christian worlds (which, like pagan

and Christian families) co-existed. It became necessary, then, for Christian leaders to

justify the existence of the new faith to the pagans m terms which would yield

accommodation. The purpose was not only to win converts to the new faith as the

152 Tertullian, Scorpiace. 10.

153 Salisbury, Perpetua's Passion. 72.

52
martyrs had done, but also, to plead to those in power for tolerance on behalf of the new

religion which, contrary to popular belief, the apologists tell us, was deserving of the

respect and admiration of the rest of the society m which it stmggled for a place. The

next chapter will address this issue as one of accommodation. While the martyrs

represented conflict with traditional society, the apologists represent an effort to make

Chnstianity an acceptable, e\'en honorable, part of society the society which killed the

martyrs.

53
 CPLAPTERV

FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country language or
custom.... They marry like everyone else, and have children but they do not expose their
offspring.
Epistle to Diognetus. ^^^

5.1 The Apostolic Fathers;

The early Christian writers who wrote during the era of canonical and apocryphal

scriptures, often described as the apostolic fathers, treat the subject of family only

tangentially. For example, one can find family imagery in the letters of Ignatius, bishop

of Antioch (died ca. 107) is a bishop of the Church who attained the high status of

martyr. 155 He was brought to Rome from Antioch to be thrown to wild animals. Along

the way he was met by Christian delegations from a variety of cities who wished to see

the martyr and benefit from his presence. He wrote letters to congregations in cities

along his journey. In a letter addressed to the Church in Rome, Ignatius asks the

Christians there not to interfere on his behalf 156 His fame had spread far and wide as a

result of his impending martyrdom. The affection which the Church felt for Ignatius is

quite evident.

In fact, in all of Ignatius' letters the reader may note that Christians have gathered

around the bishop as he makes his journey (under escort of Roman soldiers) to the capital

of the empire. This gathering around the martyr of Christians from far and wide is

reminiscent of Lucian's description of Perigrinus mentioned earlier. The recognition and

154 Epistle to Diognetus. 5.

155 Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, is another significant example.

156 Ignatius, To the Romans. 2.

54
admiration which Ignatius gains in these circumstances is comparable to that which

Perpetua achieved and, unlike Perigrinus, Ignatius uses the opportunity to strengthen the

Church. Each of his letters alludes to the authority of the office of bishop. While this is

generally recognized, the fact that Ignatius invokes the metaphor of a household is less

well known.

He tells the Church in Ephesus that the bishop is the master of the Christian

household (oiKo6sG7roTr](;) and is to be regarded as the Lord himself 157 It is in this

capacity as bishop that Ignatius seeks to strengthen the unity of the Christian community

in opposition to the earthly society and in doing so he uses familial terminology. He

advises one congregation that the deacons from another congregation are "your

brothers."158 He closes his epistles with familial terminology as well. For example, in

the letter To the Smymaeans he writes "I greet the households of my brothers with their

wives and children, and the virgins who are called wddows. I bid you farewell in the

power of the father. "159

In his letter to Polycarp, Ignatius discusses household relationships m a context

which puts the bishop m a role comparable to the paterfamilias. He discusses how slaves

are to be treated, how widows are to be cared for, and how wives and husbands should

relate to one another. 160 Then he goes on to assert that the bishop's consent should be

sought in marriages. 161

157 Ignatius, To the Ephesians. 6.

158 Ignatius, To the Smymaeans. 12.

159 Ibid, 13.

160 Ignatius, To Polycarp. 4-5.

161 Ibid., 5.

55
 Against an eschatological background, 162 Ignatius demands a unity and a

morality within the Church that will inspire the love and respect of the Church's

persecutors. He writes to the Ephesians "Let us show ourselves their [the pagans']

brothers by our forbearance. "163 These same themes are echoed in Polycarp's letter to

the Philippians where Church officers, waves, husbands, young men, widows, and

children are told how to live righteous lives. 164 What may be called a pseudo-family, or

a fictive kinship, is being advocated in an idealized form at a moment of critical

importance to the Christian communities of the empire. And like Ignatius and the

apologists, Polycarp hopes that the Christian community will win over more converts

with the appeal of this lifestyle. He admonishes the Philippian Church to "stand fast...in

the faith, loving the brotherhood...Maintain an ineproachable standard of conduct among

the Gentiles. "165

The eschatological element of the writings of the apostolic fathers with hs

relationship to familial and Church purity also is exhibited in the writing of Hermas. The

Shepherd of Hermas was probably written m Rome dunng the early part of the second

century. 166 Hermas, a leader in the Christian community in Rome was possibly the same

man greeted by Paul in his treatise to the Roman Church written many years before. 167

162 Ignatius, To the Ephesians. 11 claims "These are the last times."

163 Ibid, 10.

164 Polycarp, To the Philippians. 4-5.

165 Ibid, 10.

166 Wilhelm Schneemelcher, New Testament Apocrypha. Volume Two: Writings

Relating to the Apostles: Apocalypses and Related Subjects, trans. R. McL. Wilson, rev
ed. (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992), 601-602.

167 Romans 16 14

56
Schneemelcher notes that the problem which concemed Hermas was "not the...end of the
worid, but the relation of the ideal and the empirical Church...Only when the ideal and
the empirical Church coincide...then comes the end."168 Thus, Hermas was concemed
with the purity of the Christian community because it was seen as a necessary
precondition for the retum of Christ. Hermas' own family members are offenders in this
process of preparation for the end. His wife has an unrestrained tongue and his children
are apostates. 169 He is unable to exercise the authority of a paterfamilias in his own
Christian family It must have been seen as tragic for an eariy Christian leader of such
repute to have had his own children reject the faith. As Oseik and Balch state,
"Hermas...IS expected to remedy the situation by...assert[ing] proper authority and
thereby keep[ing] her under control."170 This is an important consideration because, as
we shall see below, it actually minors the problems which pagan husbands and fathers
were seen as having with their Chnstian wives and daughters. 171 That is to say, the
advent of Christianity carried with it a challenge to normative gender roles. This had a
dismptive effect mostly for pagan society but, as seen here, also in Christian
communities.

In the writings of the apostolic fathers are foreshadowed some of the themes that
apologists will later develop. The apologists and the author of The Epistie to Diognetus
(ca. 124,) repeatedly tried to portray Christians as inoffensive and ordinary members of

168 Ibid, 601.

169 Shepherd of Hermas. Visions. 2.2.3.

170 Osiek and Balch, Families in the New Testament World. 147.

171 Contra Celsum Ifl, 50.

57
 society who were nonetheless part of the society of Christ. 172 This viewpoint is
expressed eloquently:

For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country
language or custom. For nowhere do they live in chies of their own, nor do
they speak some unusual dialect, nor do they practice an eccentric life-
style. This teaching of theirs has not been discovered by the thought and
reflection of ingenious men, nor do they promote any human doctrine, as
some do. But, while they live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each
one's lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and
other aspects of life, at the same time they demonstrate the remarkable
and admittedly unusual character of their own citizenship. They live in
their own countries, but only as aliens; they participate in everything as
citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is
their fatherland and every fatherland is foreign. They marry like everyone
else, and have children but they do not expose their offspring. They share
their food but not their wives. They are "in the flesh" but do not live
"according to the flesh." They live on earth but, their citizenship is in
heaven. They obey the established laws; indeed in their private lives they
transcend the laws. They love everyone and by everyone they are
persecuted. They are unknown, yet they are condemned; they are put to
death, yet they are brought to life. They are poor, yet they make many
rich; they are in need of everything, yet they abound in everything. They
are dishonored, yet they are glorified in their dishonor; they are slandered,
yet they are vindicated. They are cursed, yet they bless: they are insulted,
yet they offer respect. When they do good they are punished as evildoers;
when they are punished they rejoice as though they are brought to life. By
the Jews they are assaulted as foreigners, and by the Greeks they are
persecuted, yet those who hate them are unable to give a reason for their
hostility. 173

172 Dom P Andriessen has argued that this "epistle" is actually the lost Apology
ofOuadratus. From "Epistle to Diognetus,' Farty Christian Writings, ed. and trans.
Maxwell Staniforth (1968; New York: Barnes and Noble, 1993), 171.

173 Epistle to Diognetus, 5.

58
5.2 The Aoologi.sts' Writing on Mamage

Of the handful of Christian apologists, writers from the mid second to mid third

century who attempted to justify and validate their faith to the wider society, there are

two who provide important insights on the issue of family divisiveness, Justin Martyr and

Tertullian. Justin Martyr is, perhaps, the most important. His orthodoxy has never been

questioned. He was held in high esteem at the popular level as well as within the

hierarchy of the Church. Furthermore, he gave his life for the faith which he professed.

He even seems to have been aware of the inevitability of this fate when he writes in his

second apology, "I also expect to be the victim of a plot and to be affixed to the stake by

those just mentioned, or perhaps even by Crescens..."i74

The second chapter of the Second Apology of Justin Martyr describes a Christian

wife and a pagan husband going through a divorce in which the wife's new religious

views play a central role. Her divorce was brought on by the conflict between her

Christian ideals of morality and her husband's "unchaste" behavior. "There was a certain

woman," Justin writes.

who lived with an unchaste husband, and she, too, had once been
unchaste. After learning the doctrines of Christ, she became a self-
controlled person and she tried to effect a similar change in her husband,
explaining the Christian teachings and warning him of the etemal
punishment by fire reserved for those who live without chastity or right
reason. But by clinging to the same shameful conduct he lost his v/ife's
affections, and she desired a divorce from him...^'^

The woman divorcing her pagan husband is a good example of female

assertiveness in family conflicts in eariy Chnstianity. Men often stood behind the

174 A Cyme philosopher residing in Rome and known to have been in conflict
with the Chnstian community. See Second Apology, ch. 3.

175 Justin, Second Apology, 2.

59
traditional social values while women, and sometunes their children, defied the wider

cultural standards. This apology, as was typical of the genre, was addressed to the

emperor, although whether the emperor actually received it remains unknown. Both of

Justin's apologies were written around the mid-point of the second century. 176 These

works, along with his Dialogue with Trypho^ are important for what they reveal about the

early Christian community m terms of liturgy, doctrine, and most importantiy for the

present context, social status of the movement. Understanding what that status was is

pi\otal for this essay. Eariy Christians, as anyone who has heard of the Christian martyTs

well knows, had a socially deviant, even criminal, status.

The high value which the Church placed on chastity, already seen in the Pauline

episties and the various apocryphal Acta, persists into second century Rome. Despite

Justm's portrayal of the husband's conduct as shameful, it seems probable that the man

wished to continue with the sexual behavior to which he and his wife had been

accustomed. As the tale proceeds, Justin describes the husband's behavior as having

become worse, though he gives no details. Nonetheless, it is clear that divorce resulted

from the adoption of Christianity and its associated stricter sexual morality.

Notice also that the divorce is initiated by the wife. She formally rejects the

husband after her (Chnstian) friends had persuaded her to remain married in the hope

that he w^ould e\ entually become a Christian too. This did not happen and the husband

reacted thusly. "when she left him against his will, [he] brought a charge against her,

claiming that she was a Christian. "177 The wife seems to have avoided punishment.

176 Robert M. Grant, Augustus to Constantine: The Emergence of Chnstianity- in

the Roman Worid (New York: Bames and Noble, 1970), 109-110.

177 Justin, Second Apology. 2.

60
 The husband next leveled the same accusation against the wife's "teacher," a man

named Ptolemaeus. Ptolemaeus admitted being a Christian. This, in and of hself, was

enough to establish culpability, and he was convicted along with another man who

questioned the legitimacy of conviction for the mere name of Christian-he was also a

Christian. Justin makes a point m his work to argue that it is the mere fact of being a

Christian which will result in a conviction (if a charge is actually leveled).

It should be clear that the wider society viewed Christianity as dismptive. The

motivation for prosecution then, is the dismption of social order and social institutions

such as the family. It is interesting to note, also, that the wife was able to obtain a

divorce without the consent of her husband, even while she was under investigation for

being a Christian. 178 Justin does not tell us of her fate in court, only that "...her husband

could not answer her. "179 This implies that she was not executed or convicted.

It is clear that the adoption of the new religion was a decisive factor in the

divorce. At the same time, the mstitution of family is seen within the context of the

larger society. In other words, the divorce, while an issue of personal and familial

concem, is conducted in the wider social context of a court of law. The court punishes

those individuals involved in the case who profess to be Christian. The role played by

Christians in the divorce is obvious. Only the extent of that role can be debated. In the

present context, the issue of concem is simply that the negative impact upon the family

(in this case, divorce) is played out in both the context of the family and the wider

community.

178 For a complete discussion on pagan and Christian maniages in the Roman
Empire, see Judith Evans Gmbbs, "Pagan and Chnstian Mamage: The State of the
Question," Joumal of Early Chnstian Studies. 2 (1994), 361-412.

179 Justin, Second Apology. 2.

61
 Certainly, there were instances where the wife's conversion eventually led to the
conversion of the unbelieving husband. 180 It is also tme that there would have been
conversions of women who remained married to husbands who rejected the new
superstitio but, nevertheless, maintained their marriage. Such circumstances conjure up
myriad scenarios. The writings of Tertullian allow an opportunity to examine more
specific circumstances. Tertullian, perhaps more than any other early Christian source,
has provided historians with material on maniage, divorce, pagan/ Christian relationships
and the role of women in society. While Tertullian may be considered a somewhat
suspect source because of his eventual departure from Catiiolicism, he reflects
mainstream thought in his early writings. 181 Not only was he an apologist but he also
wrote many other works which allow the historian to glimpse inside the world in which
he lived and wrote. Apologetic literature is an attempt to have an outsider look into
another group through the lens presented by that group. But, when Tertullian wntes Ad
Uxorem (To His Wife) we have the opportunity to peer into the world of early
Christianity as if through a keyhole. That is to say. Ad Uxorem is written by a Christian
with the intent of being read by other Christians, and so it allows us something of an
insider's view.
The conflict inherent within "mixed marriages" between pagans and Christians
has been discussed already in the context of Paul's letters, the apocryphal acta, and
Justin's apologies. Tertullian addresses this problem by strongly advising only "maniage
in the Lord" by which he means Christian marriage. Even in this context he advocates
chastity and opposes remarriage.

180 1 Peter 3:1-5,

1^1 Ad Uxorem, for example.

62
 Tertullian refers to a woman in Carthage who had married a pagan, and he

laments this fact in the treatise. 182 it seems that some in the community accepted this

situation citing I Corinthians wherein Paul says that "...the unbelieving husband is

sanctified by the believing wife."183 But Tertullian insists that to allow such marriages

the passage is being misunderstood (perhaps deliberately). TertuUian's interpretation is

better grounded in scripture. The eschatological context of the epistle makes this so.

Consider these verses from the same passage: "...in view of the impending distress h is

well for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free.

Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. "184 He notes that the apostle was

refenmg to marriages which had already occuned prior to conversion and argues that the

passage never intended to allow those who already converted to take pagan spouses. 185

Tertullian was so adamant about this issue that, referring again to Paul's letter to

the Corinthians, he suggests shunning the woman.

In the light of all this it is evident that Christians who enter into marriage
with pagans commit a sin of fornication and are to be cut off completely
from communion with the brethren, in accordance with the letter of the
Apostle w^ho says, ^ith such a one we must not even break bread. 186

182 Ad Uxorem. 11,2.

183 I Corinthians 7: 12-14.

184 1 Corinthians 7:26-27.

185 Ad Uxorem. IL 2.

186 Ibid, 3.

63
TertuUian's uncompromising attitude shows when he writes of a member of the

congregation, asking rhetorically, "What, then, did tiiat man mean who said that to marry

a pagan is a fault, but a very small one?" 187

Tertullian notes that a woman cannot serve two masters and that her faith will

necessarily be compromised. He questions her ability to perform die rituals associated

with the Church and suggests she will not be able to behave as a Christian without

arousing the suspicions of her pagan husband. The conflict between the two

communities can be seen almost twenty centuries away as Tertullian writes about how

daily life was impacted by such circumstances. The following passage is somewhat

lengthy, but deserves the reader's attention:

Her duties to the Lord she certainly can not [sic] fulfill...since she has by
her side a servant of Satan....Thus, for example, if a station is to be kept,
her husband will make an appointment to go to the baths; if a fast is to be
observed, her husband will, that very day, prepare a feast; if it be
necessary to go out on an enand of Christian Charity, never are duties at
home more urgent! Who, indeed, would permit his wife to go about the
streets to the houses of strangers, calling at every hovel in town to visit the
brethren"^ Who would be pleased to permit his wife to be taken from his
side, when she is obliged to be present at evening devotions?...[W]ho
would not be concemed when she spends the whole night away from the
house during the Paschal solemnities'^ Who, without feeling some
suspicion, would let her go to assist at the Lord's Supper, when such vile
rumors are spread about it? Who would suffer her to slip into prison to
kiss the fetters of a martyr?...If one of the brethren, in traveling, stops at
her house, what hospitality will he receive in the home of a pagan? 188

Tertullian goes on.

Do you think to escape notice when you make the sign of the cross on
your bed or body? Or when you blow away with your breath some
unclean thing? Or when you get up...at night to say your prayers? In all

187 Ibid, 3.

188 Ibid, 4.

64
 fliis, will it not seem tiiat you observe some magic ritual? Will not your
husband know what it is you take in secret before eating any other food?
If he recognizes it [die Eucharist] as bread, will he not believe it to be
[human flesh and blood] what it is rumored to be? 189

Tertullian sees the Christian and pagan communities as so diametrically opposed

that they simply can not be merged into a marriage acceptable to either party. In the

course of his argument we see some of the day-to-day affairs and some of the ritual life

of early Christians. We also get an impression of what pagans thought of such a lifestyle.

It is clear that opposition to mixed marriages on the part of the Church reflected

certain ideals indicative of eariy Christian family values. On the other hand, the need for

leaders such as Tertullian to write at length on the matter indicates that the practice was

well known. It seems then, that, as is often the case, what is put forth as an ideal is

frequently unachieved.

5.3 The Apologists' Writing on Children

If we consider the issue of the exposure of infants, an interesting conclusion can

be drawn from the sources. A typical example from the primary sources would be that of

the Letter to Diognetus written, perhaps, in the late second or early third century 190

Here, the author is discussing the similarities between the "third race" and pagans when

he writes of Christians, "They marry as all men, they bear children, but they do not

expose their offspring. "191 Everett Ferguson has noted that the rejection of the practice

of exposure was an adoption of Jewish custom in the Christian community. 19- While

189 Ibid, 5.

190 G. p. Goold, "Introduction to The Epistle to Diognetus," Apostolic Fathers, ed.

G. P. Goold, vol. 2 (1913; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976), 348-349.

1^1 Epistle to Diognetus, 5.6.

192 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Eariy Christianity (Grand Rapids,

65
this may be an accurate assessment, Ferguson goes on to equate exposure with death (a

common assumption seen in ancient as well as modem writers). 193 Justin Martyr, on the

contrary, presumes that exposure would not necessarily lead to death but rather to

prostitution. Justin writes in his first Apology:

But as for us, we have been taught that to expose newly-bom

children is the part of wdcked men; and this we have been taught lest we
should do any one an injury, and lest we should sin against God, first,
because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the
males) are brought up to prostitution....And any one who uses such
persons, besides the godless and infamous and impure, may possibly be
having intercourse with his own child, or relative, or brother. And there
are some who prostitute even their own children and wives, and some are
openly mutilated for the purpose of sodomy; and they refer these
mysteries to the mother of the gods....[T]hese you lay to our charge;
which, in tmth, does no harm to us who shrink from doing any such
things, but only to those who do them and bear false wimess against us. 194

In addition to Justin, Clement of Alexandria also refers to exposed infants being

prostituted later in life. 195 The implications are contradictory: on the one hand, death is

mentioned and thought of as the outcome of exposure; while on the other hand,

prostitution is said to be the fate of those poor children who were abandoned. The moral

and ethical implications are given even more weight when the Christians point out to

pagans the possibility of unintended incest.

Michigan: William B. Eerdman's, 1987), 59-60.

193 Ibid, 59-60.

194 Justin Martyr, 1 Apologv. 27.1-3. (My italics.)

195 Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus. 3.3.

66
 This comment should be seen as tuming another pagan criticism back upon the

Christians' accusers. Like Minucius Felix, Justin (in the passage just quoted) has heard

accusations of incestuous intercourse at Christian gatherings. These charges, too, are, of

course, denied. Further, the apologists counter by pointing to a situation wherein the

pagans are, perhaps unknowingly, guilty of committing the crimes of which they accuse

the Christians. While such accusations may, in the modem Christian mind, sound too

extremely distasteful to believe (and, in all probability are, at most, gross exaggerations),

it should be mentioned here that, as Margaret MacDonald has pointed out, Justin applied

the same accusations of incest, promiscuity, and cannibalism to some "gnostic" Christian

groups. 196 The conflict between "catholic" or "orthodox" and "gnostic" Christians is,

however, outside the scope of the present essay despite the relevant and interesting

connection.

Again, with regard to exposure, as John Boswell has astutely pointed out, many

have confused abandonment with infanticide. "Exposing" infants is not known to have

led to death, nor is it ascertainable what percentage of abandoned babies died. Boswell

also chides both ancient and modem writers for having conflated the terms abandonment

and exposure. 197 it is a safe conclusion, then, that some sort of social mechanism existed

(however loosely stmctured and vaguely defined) wherein babies could be "exposed"

and, yet, expected to be taken by someone or some group, albeit with possibly nefarious

intentions.

Boswell goes on to explore the legal ramifications of abandonment in late

Antiquity with the implication that abandoned children's custody, inheritance, and legal

196 MacDonald, Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion. 64-65. The author
refers to Justin 1 Apologv. 26 and Tertullian Apology. 7.

197 Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers. 40-45.

67
 status were often issues which found their way into the imperial statutes. 198 BosweU
also notes that pagan literary motifs frequently employ "a male figure order[ing] the
abandonment, to the regret of the mother; they are actually taken away and left by
servants; they are found by shepherds and reared by foster parents; they subsequently rise
to greatness. "199 Finally, Boswell posits that the Latin term alumnus (Opznxoq in Greek)
was used to define an abandoned child brought up in another person's home. 200 He then
points out that the name Eutyche, meaning "happily found" was a common name for
alumnae ^^^ Boswell suggests the possibility tiiat "Leaving children at tiie doors of a
church may be a Christian continuation of exposing them in public places, since churches
were often converted Roman public buildings, or an adaptation of the Jewish practice of
employing synagogues for this purpose. "202 The practice of exposure, then, did not die
out with the rise of Christianity. It merely manifested itself in different forms.

Abortion, on the other hand, seems to have been met wdth stem opposition from
the leaders of the early Church. Early Christian writings such as the Didache and the
Epistle of Barnabas speak out against the practice of abortion. In the Didache, the author
lists a number of commands which include "thou shalt not procure abortion, nor commit

198 Ibid, 61-65.

199 Ibid, 76.

200 Ibid., 117-118.

201 The name Eutyche appears in the New Testament in the context of a Christian
meeting. (Acts 20:9) He was a member of the audience listening to Paul give a sermon.
He fell asleep in the middle of the sermon and, consequently, fell out the window from
where he was sitting onto the street nearly killed from the fall.

202 Boswell. The Kindness of Strangers. 174.

68
infanticide. "203 The exact same words are used in Bamabas and in the very similar

context of a list of behaviors proscribed by the Church.204

These commands are sometimes made in contrast to the practices of the pagan
community, as is the case in the Epistle to Diognetus. This is also the case in the
Embassy for the Christians written by Athenagoras in second-century Alexandna."05
Athenagoras was rebutting the pagan accusations expressed above and responding to
them by pointing out that Christians were not killing children. Quite the contrary, they
(Christians) did not commit homicide of any sort whatsoever. He argues,

Who can charge with murder or canmbalism men who are known
to be unwilling to countenance even lawful homicide? Who is not held in
thrall by armed contests and beast fights, especially when they are
sponsored by yourselves? But we consider the looking on at a murder to
be nigh to murder itself and forbid ourselves such spectacles. If, then, we
do not even look on at these shows (so as not to be under a curse and to
incur defilement) how can we be capable of murder? Again, we call it
murder and say it will be accountable to God if women use instmments to
procure abortion: how shall we be called murderers ourselves? The same
man cannot regard that which a woman carries in her womb as a living
creature, and therefore as an object of value to God, and then go about to
slay the creature that has come forth to the light of day. The same man
cannot forbid the exposure of children, equating such exposure with child
murder, and then slay a child that has found one to bring it up. No, we are
always consistent, everywhere the same, obedient to our mle and not
masters of it. 206

203 Didache. 2.2.

204 Bamabas. 19.5.

205 Joseph Hugh Crehan, "Introduction to Embassy for the Christians." Ancient
Chnstian Writers, eds. Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe, vol. 23 (Westminster,
Maryland: Newman Press, 1956), 6.

206 Athenagoras, Embassy, 35.

69
 Unlike some of the more aggressive apologists, Tatian and Tertullian for
example, Athenagoras does not try here to level an equivalent counter accusation against
the pagans. His goal is more to gain acceptance in the wider society than simply to
defend the Christian community against it.207 in fact, as W. H. C. Frend points out, "...he
accepted many of the social values of pagan society, including slave holding. For him,
Christianity would be associated with the best of pagan society and was to be regarded as
an entirely positive force on the side of the state. "208 But Athenagoras does make it clear
that the Chnstians are a better people than their accusers would have others believe.
Indeed, it would seem that Athenagoras claims the higher ground in reference to the
practice of abortion.

Of course, the apologetic sources are not the only early Christian documents that
reveal something about pagan views on abortion. The passions of the martyrs can also be
mined for information. For example, in the Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas we have
seen that Felicitas was nearly exempt from the execution she sought due to the fact that
she was pregnant. The premature birth of the baby was a divine blessing because it
allowed the martyrdom. Had she remained pregnant, Felicitas would not have been
martv red. It should be noted that one of the sisters of the Church raised the daughter of
Felicitas and that the Roman legal system did have at least a degree of respect for the
unborn child in this situation.209

Further East, in Thessalonika, the prefect Dulcitius refused to execute a Christian

prisoner because she was pregnant.2i0 Thus both the pagans and the Christians accused

207 Ibid, 37.

208 Frend, Saints and Sinners in the Early Church. 63.

209 The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas. 15.

210 The Martyrdom of Saints Agape. Irene, and Chione at Saloniki. 3.

70
one another of atrocities against children. Perhaps there is a degree of tmth in both
claims but it seems that the claims which the Christians made regarding their greater care
of children were largely valid.

Even so, the principle and the teaching of opposition to such behavior is quite
clear in the writings of the early Church. The Christians certainly saw the practices of
abortion and infanticide as morally outrageous and associated such behavior with pagan
society, despite the fact that some Christians were probably guilty of the same behavior
and, also, that a (limited) number of pagans had written against the practice as well. As
Richard Sailer has observed.

[I]t would seem that infanticide and exposure must be incontrovertible

evidence of lack of affection toward newboms, yet P. D. A. Gamsey has
pointed out that such practices could also be interpreted as the result of
parental concem for the survival of the whole family in economic
circumstances deserving "stem realism." Plutarch went so far as to
suggest that some poor men, judging poverty a worse fate than death,
decided not to rear their children out of love for them 211

It may be little more than pointing out the obvious to say that Christian and pagan
families had much in common despite the allegations of immoral, even inhumane,
treatment of children which they leveled against one another. The allegations of
cannibalism and infanticide betray a hostile suspicion of the moral position of Christians
in the eyes of their pagan contemporaries.2l2 These charges must have been quite
widespread because they appear throughout the Empire and over the entire first three
centuries. The Christian apologists Tertullian, Justin, Athenagoras and the waiter of the

211 Moralia. 497E, quoted in Sailer, Patriarchy. Property and Death in the Roman
Family, 7.

212 Andrew McGowan, "Eating People: Accusations of Cannibalism Against

Christians in the Second Century," Joumal of Early Christian Studies. 2 (1994), 413-442.

71
Epistie to Diognetus were all compelled to respond to the accusations. The writers of the
Didache and the Epistle of Bamabas also commanded theu following not to permit these
acts and, many years later. Church synods were still commanding die faithful not to
perform abortions or to abandon children, as well as meting out punishments for
perpetrators of these crimes.

The treatment of children by their families, then, was seen by both pagan and
Christian communities as indicative of the moral caliber of those communities' members.
While the Christians defended themselves against such allegations, they consistently tried
to tum the tables on the wider society, not only by denying the charges but by claiming
that pagan behavior, in fact, bore the stigma of reprehensible treatment of children. The
apologists saw in the Christian communities' treatment of children a higher moral
ground. And, while it would seem safe to conjecture, as John Boswell has, that some sort
of social mechanism or institution existed to make possible the rearing of children
exposed by their original families as alumnae and OpsTiioc; in secondary families (unless
they were raised for prostitution), it should be pointed out that Christians, too, had the
will and the means to care for children in need. No doubt, such care for children, along
with the care given to the elderly and sick, gave the Christian community a slow, but
certain, respect from the outside. Like the example of the martyrs, these elements must
be considered to be factors in the successful rise of the Christian religion.

72
 CHAPTER VI
LEGAL SOURCES

They employed within their own society, the two most efficacious instruments of
government, rewards and punishments.
—Edward Gibbon^^^

While the early Church fathers provide examples of the views and experiences of
particular Church leaders, it is also profitable to consider other sources which reflect the
consensus of Church leaders as a body. To do so, one has to consider Church councils
and the canons they produced related to "mixed" marriages between pagan and Christian.
The surviving conciliar records are later than the period surveyed here, but, inasmuch as
they address the same concems witnessed in die writings of tiie early Church fathers, they
appear to describe situations that must have long been endemic.
Judith Evans Gmbbs analyzes early conciliar records.2l4 She discusses the early
fourth century councils at Elvira, Aries, AncyTa, and Neocaesarea, citing them for what
they reveal about "guidelines church leaders wanted to impose...[and]...situations
requiring guidance...in Christian communities.2i- A significant percentage of the canons
at these councils dealt with issues of sexual morality and marriage. Perhaps the most
interesting of the group are those from Elvira. "Thirty-five of the eighty-one canons
attributed to the Council of Elvira concem marriage, sexuality or the behavior of women;
another four refer to grave sins, including sexual offenses."216

213 Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall. 490.

214 Judith Evans Gmbbs, Law and Family in Late Antiquity: The Emperor
Constantine's Marriage Legislation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), 74-78. See also
"Pagan' and 'Christian' Maniage, 399-406.

215 Gmbbs, Law and Family, 74.

216 Gmbbs, "Pagan and Christian Marriage," 400.

73
 Some of these canons reflect the Church's concem about how to treat mixed
marriages. Avoiding such maniages is the council's clear preference, but the means
available to compel behavior are limited to ecclesiastical sanctions (i.e. penance, or
excommunication). Actions that result in pregnancy are expected to lead to marriage.
Infidelity is expected to end in divorce and remarriage after divorce is basically
impossible for those wishing to remain in the Church.2l7 in Asia Minor remarriage was
not approved even if one's first spouse had died.2i8

The gender composition of the Church can be gleaned by the mention of an

abundance of girls (copiam puellarum) in canon 15 of Elvira. Compare this with
TertuUian's insistence on having daughters marry around the time of puberty2l9 so they
do not have time to become attached to pagan men of whom their parents (presumably)
would disapprove and a few important conclusions present themselves.
First of all, it should be apparent that marriages were ananged by parents in the
Christian community just as they were in the pagan community. This should not be a
surprise as the idea of romantic love leading to marriage is somewhat modem. What is
intriguing, though, is the fact that Chnstian parents were giving their daughters to pagans
for marriage. In Elvira it seems that this problem was partially aggravated by a much
higher percentage of females within the congregation. Thus, should a girl get manied at
all, there would be a high probability that her husband would not be a Christian.
Furthermore, the apparent frequency of such maniages betrays a degree of rejection of
the Christian ascetic value placed on celibacy as an ahemative life-style among the
population of Chnstians of Spain and North Africa.

217 Elvira, canons 7-10 and 63-72.

218 Ancyra, canon 19; Neocaesarea, canon 7.

219 Tertullian, Ad Uxorem, 2.

74
 Rodney Stark has claimed that the anti-abortion and anti-infanticide mles of the

Church would have led to a higher percentage of females in the Church. Evidence for

this has already been cited in TertuUian's works on maniage and in the canons of the

Council of Elvira. Stark goes on to argue that despite the fact that many young Christian

women, if they manied, would have had to marry pagan men, there would have been a

likelihood of the children being raised as Christian due to the mothers' influence and a

further possibility of the husbands' becoming converts themselves.220 However,

Elizabeth A. Castelli has argued that Stark's conclusions are not as forceful as he makes

them seem.221 While possible, it is speculative to assert that early Christian attitudes

toward infanticide and abortion led to an increase in the female population of the group

followed by a greater potential to perpetuate the religion. If prohibitions of inter-

marriage and abortion cannot be seen as vehicles to propagate the new faith, they

certainly remained a point of contention between pagans and the leaders of early

Christian communities.

Both the limitations of the Church's power and the voice of its hopes are shown in

the decrees that Chnstian girls are not to be given to pagans in marriage. No penalty is

prescribed by the Church in the second century. Perhaps it is assumed that, once married

to pagans, they are no longer susceptible to the authority of the Church. It must be

remembered, though, that there are many instances of Christian women leading active

Church lives while manied to pagan husbands. One example, from a slightly later

period, is Monica, the mother of Augustine. By the fourth century, however, punishments

are meted out to Christians who marry pagan priests or heretics.222 As Gibbon wTote of

220 Stark. The Rise of Christianity. 122-128.

221 Elizabeth A. Castelli, "Gender, Theory, and The Rise of Christianity: A

Response to Rodney Stark,' Joumal of Eariy Chn.stian Studies. 6 (1998), 227-257.

222 Elvira, canons 17 and 16.

75
the early clergy, "they employed wdthin their own society, the two most efficacious
instruments of government, rewards and punishments. "223

Thus, mixed marriages, while frowned upon or punished, were also well known,
even commonplace. The clergy attempted to limit the impact of such maniages upon the
faithful, but could not prevent them. The information gathered from an examination of
the councils of the later third and early fourth century show that many of the same issues
that concemed Tertullian and his fellow Carthaginian Christians, such as Perpetua,
persisted into the fourth century in much the same form and context. The problems of
"mixed maniage" which were first seen in New Testament epistles such as 1 Peter (3:1-
6), persisted throughout the Pre-Consta.^ aian period. Indeed, one can well argue that
such problems persisted beyond this era. The central point here, however, is that the
issues discussed above relative to "mixed marriages" were a constant force throughout
the period under discussion. The fact that such marriages could be both common and
controversial leads to the question of the differences between the basic concept of
maniage in a pagan context as opposed to a Christian context.

Judith Evans Gmbbs has argued that, as late as Constantine, there was no
distinctly Christian view to contrast with a pagan view of maniage (divorce being only a
partial exception). Any idea of a "Christian marriage," she argues, would be an
anachronism if applied to the pre-Constantinian Empire.224 She charges that.

The notion of a sharp break between pagan and Christian mores has been
further reinforced by Peter Brown's book. The Body and
Society... [because].. .Brown focuses on polemical tracts praising celibacy

223 Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 490.

224 Evans Gmbbs, Law and Family. 317-321.

76
 and virginity written by Christian writers...who quite often did not
represent the mainstream of Christian thought.225

Evans Gmbbs strengthens her argument by citing epigraphic evidence. Looking at Latin
funerary inscriptions of the late Republic, she shows that pudicitia (modesty,) castitas
(chastity,) marriage to one man, and industriousness in the household were honored traits
in a wife. These same traits are mentioned on both Christian and pagan graves.226

In stark contrast to Veyne's negative portrayal of pagan marriage, she contends

maniage was "envisioned as a lifelong union" by pagans (though she admits that divorce
was more common than among Christians). 227 Rather than seeing a great difference
between the two groups, Evans Gmbbs argues.

In general. Christians followed the traditional nuptial rites of the province

in which they lived, except that they rejected any customs involving
sacrifice to pagan gods....Christians were all too ready to accept traditional
pagan wedding rites, including dmnken carousing and the serenading of
newlyweds with obscene songs.228

She maintains that differences between pagans and Christians relative to marriage may
not have been so great as some might argue. Differences in attitudes toward
abandonment and abortion were more significant but, here too, similarities persisted.
It is unlikely that, as the apologist Athenagoras claimed of Christians, "we are
always consistent, everywhere the same, obedient to our mle and not masters of it. "229 it

225 Evans Gmbbs, "Pagan and Christian Marriage," 362.

226 Ibid., 370 and 407.

227 Ibid, 365.

228 Ibid. 389.

229 Athenagoras, Embassy for the Christians. 35.

77
is probably the case that some members of the Christian community continued to procure
abortions (if more discreetly and in secrecy), just as child abandonment also continued
beyond the decline of paganism, even amidst the rise of Christianity. By the year 314 it
was deemed necessary for the church council at Ancyra to legislate punishments for
members of the Church who committed these acts.230 ^^ ^^g other end of the Empire,
five years prior, another Church council (at Elvira) leveled disciplinary measures against
its members committing the same acts.23i The need to legislate punishments against
Chnstians who violate these moral precepts indicates that Christians did. in fact, \iolate
them.

230 Ancyra, canon 21.

2^1 Elvira, canons 63 and 68.

78
 CHAPTER VII

PAGAN WRITERS

They are incapable of contributing to any common good, but when it comes to
undermining home life, bringing trouble and discord into families and claiming to be
leaders of all things, they are the most skillful men.
—Aelius Aristides^^^

The words above Aelius Aristides (ca. 128-181) appUed to a group of "Palestinian

blasphemers" which Stephen Benko believes to have been the Christian community in

Palestine.2-^3 j^ ^^^ noted in the discussion about martyrdom that one of the earliest

positi\ e remarks about Christianity by a pagan came from the physician Galen. Most

pagan comments on Christianity, however, were harsh. Mention has been made above of

the criticisms of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius towards Christian martyrs and the

cancatures of gullible children and old women which the satirist Lucian of Samosata

wrote in his Death of Perigrinus. There remain, however, a number of other pagan

writers who extend some of the same criticisms and who articulate additional themes

with which to attack the Christian superstitio as anti-family.

7 1 Celsus

Justin's complaint that the mere name of "Christian" was enough to merit

conviction is echoed in the work of Origen. Many other complaints commonly lodged

against Christians are also found in his treatise Contra Celsum. For example. Christians

are accused of sorcery (magium).-^'^ They are chided for having "left the law of their

232 Aelius Aristides. 'YTcsp TOV TsxTapov. 2.

233 Stephen Benko. Pagan Rome and the Early Christians (Bloomington. Indiana:
Indiana University Press, 1984), 46.

234 Origen, Contra Celsum. translated and introduced by Henry Chadwick

79 '-
fathers, and have been qmte ludicrously deceived, and have deserted to another name and
another life. "-^5 QQI^^^< arguments against the Christians emphasize their anti-social
characteristics. In fact, Celsus writes, "If all men wanted to be Christians, the Christians
would no longer want them. "236

Clearly, Celsus sees the Christians as a group which defined itself in opposition to
the rest of society, so much so that it could not exist without this confrontational
modality. While this is merely caricature, it is clear that Celsus' concem in AXTJOTIC
^QTQ^ is with the socially dismptive impact of the new religion. It is in this context that
Celsus gives the historian much to consider in terms of the way pagans saw Christianity
impacting the family. But first, a brief discussion on Origen's Contra Celsum is m order.
Origen provides the historian with a rare source. One actually has a debate
wherein the works of both sides are presented. Celsus' AXriOriq Aoyoc; (Tme Reasoa or
Tme Doctrine) seems to have been produced ca. 177-180.237 The criticisms in the book
show that this outsider had an impressive knowledge of the Christian religion. It must
have been a well respected and well known piece of writing, for Origen's response, which
contains the direct quotations upon which our knowledge of Celsus' work rests, was not
produced until some time between 246 and 248.238 Ongen himself was a major figure
at the time he was asked to produce the refutation. It should also be noted that for Celsus
to feel the need to refute the growing superstitio, and for him to know so much about it.

(London: Cambridge University Press, 1953), I, 68.

235 Contra Celsum. II, 1.

236 Ibid., in, 9.

237 Henry Chadwick, introduction to Origen, Contra Celsum. xxiv-xxix.

238 Ibid., XV.

80
Christianity probably had become well known (if not well respected) by the later second
century.

The stmcture of the Contra Cebum is such that Origen takes many of Celsus'
arguments and addresses them one after another. Much of tiiis includes attacks on
doctrinal issues and repudiations of Jesus and his followers as well as the miracles
supposed to have been associated with them. What is of interest here, however, is the
depiction of the religion as socially dismptive. James A. Frances has developed this
issue in his book Subversive Virtue 239 ^or the present purpose, however, focus should
be placed on Celsus' charges associated specifically with family

The two passages in which Origen quotes the pagan Celsus' understanding of
Christian proselytizers and proselytes are especially fascinating. They portray a
Christianity in which ignorant people attempt to seduce children and social misfits into
the grand delusion of a new superstitio:

Moreover, we see that those who display their trickery in the market
places and go about begging would never enter a gathering of intelligent
men, nor would they dare to reveal their noble beliefs in their presence;
but whenever they see adolescent boys and a crowd of slaves and a
company of fools they push themselves in and show off.240

Here, Christian proselytizers are portrayed as second-rate hustlers targeting the lower

elements of society. The next passage is a bit more revealing of Celsus' opinion in this

regard.

In private houses also we see wool workers, cobblers, laundry workers,

and the most illiterate and bucolic yokels, who would not dare to say
anything at all in front of their elders and more intelligent masters. But

239 Francis, Subversive Virtue. 151-162.

240 Contra Celsum. HI, 50.

81
 whenever they get hold of children in private and some stupid women with
them, they let out some astounding statements as, for example, that they
must not pay any attention to their fathers and school teachers, but must
obey them; they say that these talk nonsense and have no understanding,
and that in reality they neither know nor are able to do anything good, but
are taken up with mere empty chatter. But they alone, they say, know the
right way to live, and if the children would believe them, they would
become happy and make their home happy as well. And if just as they are
speaking they see one of the school teachers coming, or some intelligent
person, or even the father himself, the more cautious of them flee in all
directions; but the more reckless urge the children on to rebel. They
whisper to them that in the presence of their father and their
schoolmasters they do not feel able to explain anything to the children,
since they do not want to have anything to do with the silly and obtuse
teachers who are totally cormpted and far gone in wickedness and who
inflict punishment on the children. But, if they like, they should leave
father and their schoolmasters, and go along with the women and little
children who are their playfellows, to the wool dresser's shop, or the
cobbler's, or the washerwoman's shop, that they may learn perfection.
And by saying this they persuade them.^^^

Celsus' argument against Christianity then, hinges upon two factors. First, the

articles of the faith are false. He argues along these lines throughout much of his Tme

Reason. Secondly, and more importantly for the present context, those who are seen as

simple enough to accept the faith have the perverse characteristic of dismpting the social

order. The Chnstians "showing off in the market place are seen as fools deluded into

thinking they are philosophers. We are told of the most common people professing a

faith which they can not defend in the presence of intelligent people. In their zeal to

profess the faith, however, the Christians are purported to proselytize those who are

ignorant and impressionable. Thus, children are led astray from their fathers and school

teachers; women are duped into leaving their husbands. Celsus sees Christianity as a

foolish superstition, and he is quite angered by the fact that it is dismpting the traditional

institutions of Roman society. He sees the Christians as successful enough to pose a

241 Ibid., Ill, 55 (The italics are my own).

82
 tiireat to tiie order of decent pagan society and notes the divisive impact of Christian
preaching upon the traditional family. By dividing the family, Celsus argues, the
Christians are dividing, indeed destroying, society. It can be seen that the criticisms of
Celsus were, perhaps, typical and well known among the apologists.242 it seems likely
that such criticisms were held among the general population. In other words, the
criticism that Christianity was dividing families and, consequently, dismpting society
itself was commonplace.

Origen's response to these criticisms is interesting. He claims that Celsus is only

trying to abuse "the Christian race."243 it has already been noted that Christian writers,
particulariy apologists, used the constmct of Christians as a third race (TO xpizoc, ysvoq.)
Here we see that constmct in use, and it may be noted tiiat the context is sectarian (i.e.
both writers define the Christian community in opposition to the broader society).
Regarding the lack of "intelligent men" in the Christian community and the teachings
given to the simpler people, Origen has this to say:

[W]e do everything in our power to see that our gatherings consist of

intelligent men, and we do dare to bring forward in the common discourse
at the time of our gathering our most noble and divine beliefs when we
have an intelligent audience. But we conceal and pass over the more
profound tmths whenever we see that the meeting consists of simple
minded folk who are in need of teaching which is figuratively called
milk.244

242 Similar criticisms are met by the Syrian Christian apologist Tatian, a pupil of
Justin's in Rome who wrote "[W]e reject all that is based upon human opinion; and not
only the rich philosophize, but the poor also enjoy teaching...Thus we admit all who
wish to hear, even if they are old women or youngsters, and in general every age enjoys
respect with us.... You say that we talk mbbish at meetings of women and boys and girls,
and you jeer at us because we do not go along with you." Oratio ad Graecos. 32.

2^3 Contra Celsum III, 53.

244 Ibid., Ill, 52.

83
 The tendency for Christian missionaries to try to separate children from their
teachers and fathers is acknowledged, but it is seen as necessary because of the evil
influence that pagan fathers and teachers have over their children. Rather than denying
the charge, Origen puts such a practice on the same level as philosophers: "Do not
philosophers call adolescent boys to hear them? And do they not exhort boys to abandon
a very evil life for better things?"245

According to Origen, Christians and pagans use the same methods for different
reasons. Ultimately, though, Origen would see the ends (adding members to the Church)
as justifying the means of dividing the family. Celsus' focus was on the negative attribute
of social dismption, a consequence of secondary importance to Origen, who viewed the
Church's removal of a child or wife from the pagan paterfamilias as entirely appropriate.
Consider the following passage as an example.

But let Celsus show us what pmdent father or what teachers who teach
noble doctrines we have made children and women to leave. And let him
consider the women and children before and after the conversion to our
faith....[W]e deliver women from licentiousness and from perversion
caused by their associates, and from all mania for theatres and dancing,
and from superstition; while we make boys self-controlled when they
come to the age of puberty and bum with desires for sexual pleasures
showing them not only the disgrace of their sins, but also what a state
these pleasures produce in the souls of bad men, and what penalties they
will suffer and how they will be punished.246

Finally, the debate seems reduced to Origen's point that Christians have a mission
to transform society into what might be called "the kingdom of God" while Celsus sees
Christianity as an attack upon traditional social institutions such as the family. Each

245 Ibid, III, 54.

246 Ibid., Ill, 56.

84
wnter, then, must criticize the character of the individuals who compose the conflicting
groups. Origen quotes Celsus as saying, "But let us hear what folk these Christians caO.
Whosoever is a sinner, they say, whosoever is unwise, whosoever is a child, and, in a
word, whosoever is a wretch, the kingdom of God will receive him. "247

Origen, while not disagreeing with this part of Celsus' analysis in the least,
adroitly makes the foUowing contention: "We reply to this that it is not the same tiling to
call men who are sick m their souls to be cured, as it is to call healthy men to a
knowledge and understanding of deeper spiritual tmths. We consider both of these."
Origen defends the members and the methods of the emerging Christian community. But
the very fact that they are new on the earth, along with, and especially because of, the
fact that they challenge and reject the traditional culture, makes TO xpiTOC ysvoq
contemptible in the eyes of traditional pagan culture. As James A. Francis has observed,
"[Christians]...seek to create their own society in opposition to that which sunounds
them..."248 The new sect, then, took its members from the old society to create a new-
one. But it seems that these recmits were frequently children and women.

7 2 Marcus Comelius Fronto

While Christianity's detractors often attacked the new religion on moral grounds,
its adherents, particularly the apologists, defended h not only by denying the charges but
by reversing them. Minucius Felix's Octavius is a perfect example of such a strategy
being employed by the Christians in their ongoing conflict with the wider society.
Minucius Felix lived in the first half of the third century and, along with Octavius (for
whom the work is named), was a pagan lawyer who witnessed first-hand the conviction

247 Ibid., ffl, 59.

248 Francis, Subversive Virtue. 158.

85
and punishment of Christians in the Roman legal system. While accusations of
cannibalism, infanticide, and sexual immorality were both typical and persistent charges
against Christians, apologists such as Minucius Felix and Justin Martyr argued that these
charges were not only false but that the pagans were, in fact, guilty of the same.

Like Origen, Minucius Felix was writing in response to popular criticisms leveled
against Christians. His apology responds to a number of specific charges made by a
pagan named Marcus Cornelius Fronto. Again, as was the case with Celsus, what is
known of this pagan critic of the new faith comes down to the modem reader through the
vehicle of an ancient Christian text. In the ninth chapter of this apology, the author
articulates a standard accusation against the Christian community by describing the
barbarous rituals attributed to the Christians:

And, now, the stories told about the initiation of their novices: they
are as detestable as they are notonous. An infant covered with a dough
cmst to deceive the unsuspecting is placed beside the person to be
initiated into their sacred rites. The infant is killed at the hands of the
novice by wounds inflicted unintentionally and hidden from his eyes,
since he has been urged on as if to harmless blows upon the surface of the
dough. The infant's blood-oh, honible-they sip up eagerly: its limbs the\
tear to pieces, trying to outdo each other; by this victim the\ are leagued
together....they pledge themselves to mutual silence.
Their form of banqueting is notorious; far and wide everyone
speaks of it....they assemble for their banquets with all their children,
sisters and mothers-people of both sexes and every age....[After] the
passion of incestuous lust has been fired by dmnkenness, a dog which has
been tied to a lampstand is tempted by throwing a morsel beyond the
length of the leash by which it is bound. It makes a dash, and jumps for
the catch. Thus, when the witnessing light has been overtumed and
extinguished, in the ensuing darkness which favors shamelessness, they
unite in whatever revoltingly lustful embraces the hazard of chance will
permit. Thus, they are all equally guilty of incest, if not in deed, yet by
privity, since whatever can happen in the actions of individuals is sought
for by the general desire of all.249

249 Minucius Felix, Octavius. 9.5-7

86
Such accusations seem to have been well known by both Christians and pagans. Note

that not only do we have here accusations of infanticide and cannibalism but also

incestuous sexual rituals "when the witnessing light has been overtumed and

extinguished." At the same time, though, the response of Minucius Felix is comparable

to other apologists250 ^^^Q ^ot only reject h, but argue that the pagans, in fact, are guilty

of such atrocities. Octavius responds as follows:

I should like to challenge the man who says or believes that the
rites of our initiation are concemed wath the slaughter and blood of an
infant. Do you think it possible that so tender and so tiny a body could be
the object of fatal wounds? That anyone would murder a babe, hardly
brought into the world, and shed and sip that infant blood? No one can
believe this except one who has the heart to do it. In fact, it is among you
that I see newly begotten sons at times exposed to wild beasts and birds, or
dispatched by the violent death of strangulation; and there are women
who, by the use of medicinal potions destroy the nascent life in their
wombs, and murder the child before they bring it forth.25i

The charges of cannibalism are flatly denied. Then, a countercharge is posited by

the Christians. Murder of children, even male children, by pagans is mentioned as being

commonplace. Abortion, whose reality is unchallenged, is criticized and equated with

murder by Christians, and the exposure of babies is equated with infanticide. These

counter arguments are standard responses to the accusations of cannibalism and

infanticide.

While accusations of cannibalism seem ridiculous to modem Christians, the

charges are not so hard to understand when one considers the early Christian society from

the viewpoint of an outsider. Many Christian practices would have had an evil, certainly

250 See for example, Tertullian, Apology. 9.6.

251 Minucius Felix, Octavius. 30.1-2.

87
 an illegal, connotation in the pagan mind. Christian rites were often noctumal. The
founder of the movement was, himself, cmcified and, in the minds of his worshippers, a
human sacrifice. The eucharist, with its implications of ritualistic cannibalism and
drinking of blood, could easily have been understood as fitting into the context, described
in the laws of Sulla's reign, as sorcery.252 indeed. Porphyry, a pagan critic of
Christianity, probably held a common opinion when quoting John 6.54 ("he who eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has etemal life, and I will raise him up at the last day"). He
wrote:

This saying is not only beastly and absurd; it is more absurd than absurdity
itself and more beastly than any beast: that a man should savor human
flesh or drink the blood of a member of his own family or people-and that
by doing this he should obtain etemal life!253

The negative view of Christianity held by pagans was articulated in the context of
"family values." The immorality which pagans attributed to Christians was due, at least
in some measure to the alleged immoral behavior which threatened the traditional family.
The criticisms of Celsus and Fronto are intended to challenge the legitimacy of
Christianity as a religio licita. In demonstrating Christiamty to be merely a superstitio
they portray the nascent faith as harmful to society and its established institutions not the
least of which is the family.

252 Stephen Benko gives an excellent analysis of pagan Rome's views on the
danger of magic in society and how such views impacted the reaction to Christianity. He
quotes a law enacted under Sulla in 81 BCE (Sentences of Paulus 5.23.15-18) which,
while wntten before the birth of Christ, reflects well the serious concems the state would
have regarding Christian practices seen as magical.

253Macarius Magnes, Porphyry's Against the Christians: The Literary Remains,

ed. and trans. R. Joseph Hoffinan (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1994), 49.

88
 CHAPTER Vni

CONCLUSION

This thesis recognizes that religious institutions and religious practices can have a
cohesive effect upon family and does not argue that religion, the Christian religion in
particular, has damaged the institution of family. Rather, it has demonstrated tiiat many
of the families from which converts to the new religion were drawn experienced division
as a result of a family member's decision to be a member of the new church. By joining
what Mount refers to as a revolutionary movement, the early Christian was often called
upon to reject the established institutions of his or her own society. These institutions, be
they familial, religious, or any other social institutions, naturally felt threatened by the
defections of their members. In some instances, as with Thecla, the family itself initiated
the rejection of the Christian member. Thus, Thecla's own mother offered her up to the
authorities to punish her. In numerous other instances, though, the family member who
converted to the new religion rejected his or her family in the process. This was seen
dramatically in the case of Perpetua. Regardless of how the division occuned, it is clear
that such breaks in familial solidarity were common in nascent Christiamty. These
divisions, however, were contextualized by Christians in at least two ways. As explained
in chapter two, Jesus rejected the traditional constmct of family with an apparently
vehement dialectic, but then posited a transcendent conception of family to include his

entire following. While rejecting traditional family constmcts, he nonetheless

incorporated the traditional family into his idea of family by viewing all members of

God's kingdom as one family. The scene at the cross where John and Mary are placed

together by the cmcified Jesus is the ultimate example of Jesus' teaching and practice of

this radical re-evaluation of family.

89
 The Christian communities which Paul helped to establish throughout the Empire
looked to the model established by Jesus, but they were also concemed with order. That
IS, the Pauline Churches seemed to have been concemed with balancing their affinity for
the teachings of the Jesus movement with their concem for accommodating the rest of
society and maintaining their established ideas of family. This effort is seen in Paul's
teachings about social and familial relationships. The apostle to the gentiles spent
considerable time writing letters which emphasized proper relations between husbands
and wives, slaves and masters, parents and children, and even citizens and their
govemors.

If Paul (and those who wrote in his name) were concemed with downplaying the
negative impact of Christianity upon social order, the opposite might be claimed about
the writers of the apocrypha. While it may be argued that this group of writings did not
reflect the thinking of the entire Church, it must also be kept in mmd that no specific
writer, even Paul, could make such a claim in the first three centuries of Christianity.
The early Church was far from being a monolithic institution. The early Christian
writings discussed above shared the value of celibacy expressed in Paul's letters.
However, they make celibacy the focal point of confrontation between recent converts
and their families, friends, and communities. In this genre of early Christian literature,
the death of an apostle (Peter, for example) is often attached to the dismption of a
powerful family. The conflicts are also associated with a perceived deviance on the part
of the Christian proselytizer, especially the advocacy of celibacy.
Another way in which the Christian understanding of family was contextualized
can best be grasped through the Epistie to Diognetus which refers to Christianity as a
"third race" after Greek (pagan) and Jew By seeing themselves as a third race, the
Christians were manifesting a conception of themselves as wholly "other." While the
writer noted many similarities which Christians shared with the rest of mankind, the
emphasis of the document is upon differences. With this in mind, it is easy to understand

90
 how incompatible the young sect was with tiie rest of society. The conflict between
Christianity and Roman society was mmored in the microcosm of the family.

Martyrs represented a faith which was unacceptable to society and yet attractive
to some social elements. How strange a worid it must have seemed to Roman
traditionalists when fathers failed to control and conect daughters and slaves rebelling
against their autiiority in the name of a new religion. The blood of the martyrs, as
Tertullian had said, was the seed of the Church. The communities of Christians which
grew around these martyrs can be seen as pseudo-families capable of replacing (or
absorbing) the families from which early converts were drawn. Christian numbers grew
throughout this period despite, even because of, persecutions, and eventually the
arguments of the apologists and the examples of the martyrs won out over the criticisms
of pagan writers such as Celsus and Porphyry.

As the Christian religion grew in the second and early third centuries, conflict
with the wider society continued despite the efforts of the apologists. These writers
attempted to demonstrate the benefit of the young religion for society in general and to
allay the suspicions of critics of the faith. While the apologists presented their religion as
wholly compatible with a well ordered society, they also remained critical of that society
and spoke out against practices such as abortion and the exposure of infants. The
apologists, like Christians in general, sought an accommodation with society.
Eventually, an accommodation was reached. Early signs of this can be seen in areas such
as the mixed maniages which Judith Evans Gmbbs discusses in her work.
Christianity, toward the close of third century, had won a place in society. And
while h had not yet become the dominant religion, it had certainly established itself as a
permanent and traditional presence. Those people whom Bulliet would call "early
adapters," the first generations of Christians, were all dead and gone. Their belief in a
kingdom of God, which opposed conventional social institutions, eventually gave way to
a Christian view which supported a well ordered society. Christians no longer needed to

91
 divide families in order to add to their numbers. By the mid third century, it was more
likely that a Christian had been bom into a Christian family rather than converted from a
pagan one.

Thus, the Church had little occasion to refer to the passage from Matthew which
began tiiis essay. Christ was no longer seen as coming with a sword to set father against
son and daughter agamst mother. Rather, the Church was becoming a guardian of
tradition and a supporter of convention. As had been the case in paganism, now too,
under Christianity, the family was a vital element in the perpetuation of religion as was
religion a vital element in the perpetuation of family values.

In considering Ferdinand Mount's position about the subversive element of

Christianity upon the family, one may conclude that his model has some utility. Eariy
Christianity did indeed reject the traditional form of family. The paterfamilias was often
defied, even by slaves. Pseudo-families were created. In the area of maniage, as
contrasted with celibacy, the Church certainly reached the sort of accommodation that
Mount's model would suggest. So, too, the efforts of the apologists constitute the type of
accommodation to the wider society which Mount's model would posit. However,
pseudo-families never did disappear (i.e. monasteries) and the Church's views on divorce
and abortion continued to have an enduring impact.
The degree of accommodation, that is, the amount of influence the Church had on
ancient society and vice versa, is hard to establish. More research into the later patristic
period would be required to determine how much Christianity was absorbed by the
family stmcture of the ancient world and how much the Church finally changed the
mstitution of family. The research presented here, however, demonstrates a developing
process of interaction between Christianity and the family, one that may not even now
have reached a final resolution.

92
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