Who should be called father? Paul of Tarsus between the Jesus tradition and patria potestas

Biblical Theology Bulletin, Winter, 2003 by S. Scott Bartchy

Judean Patriarchy

In all the cultures around the ancient Mediterranean Sea, including the one in which Jesus grew up, a father's honor depended on the unquestioning and faithful filial piety of all his sons and daughters. Thus in the Book of Proverbs, a father exhorts his son: "Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live" (4:4 NRSV). And Israelite tradition included some draconian warnings for sons whose behavior shamed their fathers:

    If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not
    obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when
    they discipline him, then his father and his mother shall take
    hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at
    the gate of that place. They shall say to the elders of his
    town, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will
    not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard." Then all the
    men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge
    the evil from your midst; and all Israel will hear, and be
    afraid [Deut 21:18-21 NRSV].

In the rhetoric of this passage, this son is not called "stubborn and rebellious" because he was necessarily a literal glutton and a drunkard but because his demonstrated lack of filial piety shamed his parents similarly to a son known to be one. In Israel's wisdom tradition, children were taught that "a wise child loves the discipline of his father" (Prov 13:1 NRSV), and "those who respect their father will have long life ... they will serve their parents as their masters (Sir 3:6 NRSV). Reciprocally, parents were taught that "when the father dies he will not seem to be dead, for he has left behind him one like himself," namely, his obedient son (Sir 30:4).

Many reports about the activities and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, himself accused of being a "glutton and drunkard" (Matt 11:19; Luke 7:34), point to his setting aside of primary filial duties within the blood-descent kin group and to his challenging others to join him in that rejection. By his actions and instruction, Jesus of Nazareth brought shame upon his own blood kin group. For example, according to Mark 3:21 (NRSV), Jesus' blood family "went out to restrain him" when they heard the buzz created by Jesus' public activity: "People were saying, 'He has gone out of his mind'." Measured by the social code of Deuteronomy, Jesus appeared to be a "stubborn and rebellious son," who was sharply diminishing--rather than dutifully increasing--the honor of his own blood kin. Furthermore, he compounded his outrageous, anti-familial decisions by urging others to imitate his behavior.

In striking contrast to the positive emphasis on family loyalty and obedience that has persisted in most if not all cultures throughout millennia, Jesus of Nazareth, in the name of Israel's God, called for an absolute break with such filial piety and initiated potential conflict between a son and his father. Jesus' sharp challenge to the authority of earthly fathers was an essential first step toward implementing his redefinition of three related concepts: power, honor, and family.