The Ancient Church as Family

by Joseph H. Hellerman (Editor)

The author explores the literature of the first three centuries of the church in terms of group identity and formation as surrogate kinship. Why did this become the organizing model in the earliest churches? How did historical developments intervene to shift the paradigm? How do ancient Mediterranean kinship structures correlate with church formation? Hellerman traces the fascinating story of these developments over three centuries and what brought them about. His focus is the New Testament documents (especially Paul's letters), second-century authors, and concluding with Cyprian in the third century. Kinship terminology in these writings, behaviors of group solidarity, and the symbolic power of kinship language in these groups are examined.

Genres: Theology, Ecclesiology

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2001

Reviews

[Sanjuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extensive, compelling, and well organized analysis of the fictive kinship metaphor in the Bible and the literature of the early Church. Hellerman does a fantastic job of being both thorough and brief, covering a lot of ground in a manageable space. Fictive kinship is far more expansive and important to biblical literature than most interpreters realize, but Hellerman's analysis reveals the cost of this lack of emphasis. It's not only that we understate the prevalence and power of kinship, but that this causes an incomplete analysis of many associated themes, such as honor/shame, economics, inheritance, and many others. This is an academic treatment that should be read by all scholars, but I believe that the modern Western church would also be revolutionized if more leaders took the fictive kinship model more seriously as the major structural force of their churches.

If I had one slight critique, it's that the section on the Qumran community is outdated and now largely not reflective of the way that most scholars understand the Qumran site and the associated literature. This is a small issue, as the Dead Sea section here is short and not necessary to appreciate the rest of the findings. Overall, an excellent book.

[Steve Wegman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a textbook looking at the early church writings that show its members saw themselves as family with a stronger bond than biological families. It has lots of details and excerpts of writings of the early church fathers.

It's probably an excellent text on the topic, but for a lay reader like myself, it was a slog to get through.

[Gerhard Burau · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author states that the ancient Mediterranean family with its patrilineal kinship group model (PKG) provided the dominant social model for many early Christian congregations (25). According to the author, the surrogate patrilineal kinship group (PKG) and precisely the ideal of sibling solidarity was the reason for the early Christian movement's significant growth (1, 35). The author argues that by using the language and metaphor of family, Paul and the early churches affirm the PKG as a biblical church model. Throughout the book, the author parallels the Ancient Mediterranean family system with the "typical American or Western family."

Hellerman seems to idealize the PKG model of family as the biblical model when he uses expressions such as "falling short of the Mediterranean family ideal of social solidarity." (p. 93-94) and "One gets the distinct impression that, for Paul of Tarsus, to live with one’s fellow believers as an exemplary member of a Mediterranean family constituted the epitome of faith in Jesus as experienced in the arena of interpersonal relationships." Here is another one: "These Qualities of ancient kinship orientation help explain much of what constituted the family value system (and corresponding behavioral components) shared by patrilineal kinship groups throughout the Mediterranean region. They also form the basis for the Christian conception of the church as a surrogate family."

The major problem with this argument is that the author conflates the Mediterranean family model with the biblical, God-envisioned family. The Mediterranean family model is a mix of pagan and Jewish models from the east of Eden. Therefore, PKG should be considered merely the ancient context of the church, not the basis for a Christian Family and church family.
I would argue that the Western, post-reformation Christian family system better resembles God's vision for redemptive family and church life in which the highest priority is Christ as the groom and his faithfulness to his bride, the church. This marital relationship surpasses all other relational bounds.
Another minor mistake made by the author is the generalization of family systems. The author provides no data that justifies concepts such as "the typical American family." The same caution should be employed for the "Ancient Mediterranean family system," which the author portrays as a monolithic nationwide family culture.