Power of Children

The Power of Children examines Christian teaching about children in the context of family life in the Roman world. Specifically, author Margaret Y. MacDonald measures the impact of the New Testament's household codes (Colossians 3:18-4:1; Ephesians 5:21-6:9; the Pastoral letters) for understanding the status and role of children in Christian homes and assemblies. By allowing children to frame her analysis, MacDonald demonstrates that the rigid social divisions of the period (wives-husbands, children-parents, slaves-masters) were far more complex and overlapping within the Christian context--highlighting the way in which Christian families challenged the prevailing imperial ideology. From curbing sexual abuse to the practice of pseudo-parenting and the teaching roles of both men and women in the family, MacDonald documents the development of an early Christian perspective that valued children as members in the household of God.

"In The Power of Children, Margaret MacDonald continues her previous work on early Christian families and house churches, probing deeper into what we know and can surmise about the most silent members of early Christian communities. The Power of Children is the best book available on children, households, and the household codes in early Christianity." -- Carolyn Osiek, Brite Divinity School, Emerita, "In this stimulating and groundbreaking book, Margaret MacDonald brings children to the forefront of early Christian history, seeking them out in the margins and shadows of the text and bringing them into the center. The Power of Children is not only a compelling account of house churches as complex multigenerational communities but also a demonstration of how placing children at the center opens up the liberating potential of New Testament texts." -- Terence L Donaldson, Lord & Lady Coggan Professor of New Testament Studies, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, "This careful study shines new light on the multiple and overlapping identities of first-century church members. MacDonald's perceptive analysis gives us deeper understanding of the texture of life in the early church that calls us to recognize the complexities of the domestic and ecclesial lives of those early believers. Every study of these texts and all constructions of life in the early church will need to be in conversation with this superb book." -- Jerry L Sumney, Professor of Biblical Studies, Lexington Theological Seminary, MacDonald offers biblical scholarship at its best: nuanced, multidisciplinary, detailed, informed, critically engaged, and insightfully reasoned. -- Choice, MacDonald's analysis is careful and cogent, her conclusions measured (respecting the limits of the evidence), and her approach fully informed by relevant ancient evidence and scholarly work. -- Larry Hurtado, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature & Theology, The University of Ediburgh -- https://larryhurtado.wordpress.com

Margaret Y. MacDonald is Professor of Religious Studies at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada.