Skip to content
Account Login Winnipeg Toll-Free: 1-800-561-1833 SK Toll-Free: 1-877-506-7456 Contact & Locations
parsed(2023-12-05) - pubdate: 2023-12-05
turn:
pub date: 1701756000
today: 1739685600, pubdate > today = false

nyp: 0;

Honouring Age

The Social Dynamics of Age Structure in 1 Timothy

December 5, 2023 | Trade paperback
ISBN: 9780228019350
$44.95
Reader Reward Price: $40.46 info
Out of stock. Available to order from publisher. We will confirm shipping time when order has been placed.
Checking Availibility...

Description

We all age. But how we understand age and aging depends on cultural context. The early followers of Jesus experienced growing up and growing old in a world where more than a third of children never reached adulthood, married women could expect to become widows, and, above all, elders were to be honoured. In the ancient Mediterranean, expectations associated with one's age could be a source of social power, as well as a source of tension within families and communities, and between generations. Honouring Age positions age as an essential aspect of communal identity and familial roles in the early Christian experience by examining one of the most contentious and perplexing texts in the New Testament: the first letter to Timothy. First Timothy reflects a one-sided conversation between an older Paul and a younger Timothy, in which the author hopes to influence both the old and young in fulfilling their traditional roles in the "household of God." It was a time of tumult, and relations were fraught, with potential consequences for the reputation of the nascent Christian community: some children were neglecting their aging parents, which was culturally unacceptable behaviour; older women who should have been encouraging young widows to remarry were discouraging them, exposing them to ridicule; young men who should have been respectful to their elders were shamefully turning on them. In recognizing the responsibilities of young and old to each other, and the reputational damage they otherwise risked, this study demonstrates that age is integral to understanding the complexities of 1 Timothy. Drawing on modern ethnographies corroborated by ancient evidence to interpret social aspects of 1 Timothy, Honouring Age shows convincingly that, in emerging Christian communities in the ancient Mediterranean world, age mattered.

About this Author

Mona Tokarek LaFosse is assistant professor of New Testament and early Christian studies at Emmanuel College at Victoria University in the University of Toronto and president of the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies-Association Canadienne des Études Patristiques.

ISBN: 9780228019350
Format: Trade paperback
Series: Studies in Christianity and Judaism
Pages: 402
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 2023-12-05

Reviews

"By focusing on Roman ideals, Honouring Age substantially advances research on early Christian social ideology and community issues around age. Especially with regard to 1 Timothy, Mona LaFosse dramatically expands our interpretations of the world within and behind this letter." Annette Bourland Huizenga, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary and author of Wisdom Commentary: 1-2 Timothy, Titus

If the product is in stock at the store nearest you, we suggest you call ahead to have it set aside for you, or you may place an order online and choose in-store pickup.