Description: Much has been written about the Roman family unit, but relatively little about the early Christian period, comparing Roman, Jewish and Christian concepts of the family.
Brief description: David L. Balch is professor of New Testament at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, California.
Review Quotes: Adele Reinhartz
"The ancient family in Judaism, in Christianity, and in the classical world is one of the most exciting areas of current research. This book marks an important contribution to the subject in that it demonstrates the value of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of family life in these diverse yet integrally related areas. Those of us who are used to working primarily with texts will find the work of the archaeologists to be illuminating; classicists and historians of early Judaism and Christianity will benefit from the contributions from within and outside their specific fields of expertise. Yet this volume is not only relevant to those interested in the ancient family; it also has contemporary resonances. It shows that diversity in family structures is not just a recent phenomenon that some bemoan and others celebrate but, rather, that the family and the household have long been fluid social structures that adjust, expand, and contract under a variety of circumstances. The book also challenges long-held assumptions about the household segregation of women and their activity in the development of the early church, among other issues. The literary, historical, and archaeological insights are rounded out by several studies that address contemporary concerns directly and productively. A fine collection."
"Hardly any issue is more central to the social history of early Christianity than understanding the structure and character of the ancient household. This fine collection of diverse but richly complementary studies moves the discussion of that topic significantly forward. " Peter Richardson
"While tightly focused on 'family, ' these broad-ranging studies gather their evidence in suggestively creative ways. The essays move easily and harmoniously between the Roman, Jewish, and Christian worlds in the same way that they bring together literary, archaeological, epigraphic, and theoretical concerns. In considering familial roles of women, men, children, and slaves, this carefully integrated book sheds fresh light on the contexts of early Christian families."