Who Should Be Called Father? Paul of Tarsus between the Jesus Tradition and Patria Potestas

Abstract

According to the family values that characterized the cultures in which Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus were socialized, the authority of fathers over their children was unquestioned and almost without limits. All children were taught that filial piety was essential to life; obedience was expected of even grown sons and daughters as long as their fathers were alive, including acquiescing to the marriages that fathers were expected to arrange to increase their family's honor. The historical Jesus undermined the authority of fathers in general and rejected the obligations of blood-family ties. Paul of Tarsus then sought to put into effect Jesus' strategy, including ignoring completely the authority of fathers when advising his readers regarding marriage, divorce, and celibacy. For both Jesus and Paul, rejecting patriarchal authority was the first step toward their creating a new kind of family: faith-related brothers and sisters—without a traditional father.