The New Testament household codes in Ephesians 5-6 and Colossians 3-4 are not primarily about gender roles or even gender. They are about power and about mitigating the abuse that often comes with power.
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We need to put Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 into practice by honouring all equally (which means giving extra honour to those lacking it) and creating a community where all can contribute their gifts. Equality leads to unity.
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When people think of the “masters” mentioned in the New Testament household codes, they tend to think of men. Many masters in NT times, however, were women. How does this realisation affect the notion of female submission?
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Titus 2:5 contains a word which is usually translated as “workers at home”, but the King James Bible has “keepers at home”. Which is the correct phrase? Is anything special meant by “keepers at home”?
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Apartheid, slavery, and patriarchy are three social systems where one group of people is more powerful than the other group. Does God want these systems operating in the community of his people?
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What does oppression and the horrors of slavery in the song “O Holy Night” have to do with an innocent newborn baby in a manger?
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The Christian servants in Asia Minor were suffering unjustly, so Peter encourages and inspires them with the example of Jesus Christ, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.
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In this post I share a quote from Dr John T Bristow about how some in the early church treated slaves with equity and even tried to free them.
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Paul wanted equality for all Christians and he wrote about this in his letters. In some verses equality was implied. In other verses the concept of equality was clearly stated. Equality was Paul’s goal (2 Corinthians 8:14, NIV 2011).
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