Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Almost, but not quite. By the time the Romans came to control the Mediterranean monogamy was already preferred thanks to hundreds of years of Hellenistic rule and cultural influence. But I am interested in what it is you are getting at with regards to "many examples of non-traditional families."
One of the positive things that the early Christians did was to elevate the status of women. Of course, this was short-lived, as by the second century there was already a strong movement toward reinforcing the authority of men (i.e., the ancient forgeries 1–2 Timothy and Ephesians are good examples of this polemic at work).
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I think my post got a bit muddled in my editing. What I meant was that overall in the bible, there are very few examples of rules concerning what a family should look like, and many examples of non-traditional families (multiples wives, slaves, servants, etc..) But yes, those all seem to exist in the old testament.
My overall point is that there is no Judeo-Christian standard for a traditional family. The old testament actively tolerates and even supports non-traditional families. The new testament seems to just comment on existing family structures, which, as you point out, are largely Hellenistic, not religious, in origin. The new testament speaks about right and respect between husband and wife, which was the norm in that region at that time, but at no point does it forbade or alter the rules on polygamy from the old testament.
Another interesting question is the one of celibacy for the clergy. The new testament seems to explicitly state that you should use marriage as a way to avoid temptation. Jewish priests all traditionally married.