Abstract
The term “love patriarchalism” (Liebespatriarchalismus) was coined in the 1970s by Gerd Theissen in his seminal sociological studies on Paul and the Corinthian community. The idea of “love patriarchalism” itself goes back to Ernst Troeltsch, who in his publication, Die Soziallehren der christlichen Kirchen und Gruppen (1912), described the social relations of early Christian, in particular in Pauline communities, as representing a “Typus des christlichen Patriarchalismus”. Troeltsch stressed the conservative basic outlook of this strand of Christianity, and noted that this "religiöse Patriarchalismus" was marked by the ideal of love, a hierarchic church structure, and a certain view of family relations. The Troeltsch-Theissen concept has been criticised by feminist and liberation-theological scholars for its political conservatism. While this criticism is understandable, but in itself no less politically conditioned, the exegetical problems rather lie in the generalising nature of the concept. However, it depicts one extremely influential post-Pauline stream of tradition, and raises vital questions concerning Paul’s contribution to this development.
Highlights
The Troeltsch-Theissen concept and its criticsThe term “love patriarchalism” (Liebespatriarchalismus) was coined in the 1970s by Gerd Theissen in his seminal sociological studies on Paul and the Corinthian community
Within the New Testament, we encounter the ethos of love patriarchalism “ in the deutero-Pauline and Pastoral Letters, but it is already evident in Paul”
Troeltsch depicted a line of development from the early church via Paul to “early Catholicism”, tracing this “type of Christian Patriarchalism” rather unhesitatingly back to Paul, asserting that social conservatism is the essence of Christianity at large: “Das Christentum wird immer instinktiv sich ablehnend verhalten gegen alle Gleichheitsideen trotz seiner nahen Verwandschaft mit ihnen” (Troeltsch, 1912:65)
Summary
The term “love patriarchalism” (Liebespatriarchalismus) was coined in the 1970s by Gerd Theissen in his seminal sociological studies on Paul and the Corinthian community. Troeltsch depicted a line of development from the early church via Paul to “early Catholicism”, tracing this “type of Christian Patriarchalism” rather unhesitatingly back to Paul, asserting that social conservatism is the essence of Christianity at large: “Das Christentum wird immer instinktiv sich ablehnend verhalten gegen alle Gleichheitsideen trotz seiner nahen Verwandschaft mit ihnen” (Troeltsch, 1912:65). This statement was based on the notion that the dualistic belief in predestination marks off the Christian idea of equality from its secular counterparts. The term does describe a real phenomenon though it can be determined and evaluated differently according to one’s ideological priorities
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