Whither the Studies of Family in Early Christianity?

In the early Gospel literature, family refers to those related by blood, adoption, or marriage and also to those related to one another within the Christian community. There exists tension, however, between these two configurations. In Hellenistic Jewish and Greco-Roman society, one’s home served as a center for education and piety. Distinct from it, however, the Christian movement shifted its loyalty from ‘hearth’ to ‘extra-familial’ relationships. Hence, when read at face value, the “hard sayings” on the family attributed to Jesus (Luke 8:19-21; 14:26; Matt 10:37) suggest that the ties of blood are lesser important than the other ties—thatis, the ties of Communion. Jesus declares those who do the will of God as “my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35; Matt 12:46-50; Luke 2:48-49; 8:19-21). As such, Jesus’ followers give no more than second place to even the closest family ties (Matt 19:29; Luke 14:26).