Paul as a child: Children and childhood in the letters of the Apostle

 SUMMARY                                                                                                       

        Reidar Aasgaard, “Paul as a child: Children and childhood in the letters of the Apostle”. Journal of Biblical Literature126, No.1 (2007):129-159.

         In this article Reidar Aasgaard, from University of Oslo, aims to bring out a systematic presentation of Paul’s language concerning children and childhood and to show the nuance and distinctive features of such usage. Paul’s childhood terminology can be classified by distinguishing between concrete and metaphorical, relational and life stage, and according to semantic field. The last one is more important with respect to this article, which can be further classified, according to Peter Muller, into four field namely kinship, social position, formation and belonging.

        1. Kinship: This group reflects a concern in antiquity i.e., producing children for succession and transferring property. The elements of this group are as follows: Firstly, the succession category can be divided into four groups as follows: (a) Jesus as Son of God; (b) Believers as children of God ;(c) Believers as descendant of Israel generally, of Abram and Sara and Hagar; and (d) Christians as children of Paul. Secondly, Paul uses the group of texts on transferring property in a metaphorical sense i.e., with reference to his Jewish-Christian heritage. Moreover, he uses this group to share the notion about heritage and transfer and exploit them in Christian domain. Galatians 4:1-7 is characteristic, where Paul speaks about child in a household and concept of adoption. The picture here indicates childhood is a period of dependency and inferiority. However, he considers Christian as adult children and heir of God who received adoption. Further, he hints about illegitimate inheritance in Galatians 4:30. Moreover, in II Corinthians 12:14-15, he talks about his obligation as a spiritual father. Finally, he talks about children and divorce in I Corinthians 7:12-16.

        2. Social Position: This group of texts refers children proper has a feature of the position of children in society and family life. These texts reflects the following elements: (a)Premature child: Paul uses premature child in Galatians 1:15 and I Corinthians 15:8 where he indicates Jewish notion about a foetus and the difference between his humbleness and greatness of his message. (b)Orphan children: Paul describes his separation from the Thessalonians as being “orphaned” in I Thessalonians 2:17. The metaphor conveys the idea of helplessness and marginalization of an orphan child. (c)Children as immature: Children were understood as immature and unfinished in antiquity. In I Corinthians 2:6-3:4, I Corinthians 14:20 and Romans 2:20, Paul uses infancy as an illustration of religious immaturity. Moreover, Paul uses the idea of child as unfinished in I Corinthians 13, where he employs childhood and adulthood metaphors to express transition from spiritual immaturity to maturity. (d)Children as beloved: In Paul, we can see the idea in the antiquity about children as an object of care and affection. The relationship between parent and beloved children is reflected in I Corinthians 4:14-16 and Romans 16:13. Additionally, in I Thessalonians 2:7, having considered the textual problem, parent-children metaphor may be interpreted as Paul himself depicts as mother or Paul presents himself as a helpless baby. The author opts for the later interpretation and shows that the metaphor can be interpreted that Paul does not imply personal authority but he renounces his hierarchical position above them. (e)Children as obedient: Obedience was central virtue at all the stages of life in antiquity. Particularly, the children’s relation with parents (I Corinthians 4:17, Romans 1:30, Galatians 4:2). (f)Children as innocent: In antiquity, children were considered as pure and innocent and rays of this idea may be found in Philippians 2:14-15.

         3. Formation: Paul often uses idea of process of formation of a child which he expresses through verb and noun containing the root paid-. Antiquity gives importance on cultivation of one’s personality, on training and on need for progress. Pedagogical manual was produced for this purpose. Such ideas reflect in I Corinthians 3:1-2, Philippians 1:25, Galatians 1:14, Romans 16:17 etc. Further, the professional formation of a child was a task of teachers in antiquity. This reflects in I Corinthians 4:15, Galatians4:24-25, Romans 2:10. Moreover, strict measures of discipline often used for the formation of child. This kind of element may be found in Galatians 3:23-26 and I Corinthians 4:21. Furthermore, in antiquity the person under formation usually had strived to conform to current ideals for attaining maturity. Likewise, Paul presents himself and Christ as model for achieving maturity.

       4. Belonging: This group of texts reflects elements such as religious affiliation, loyalty and identification. Children of God, descendents of Abraham are examples of this kind of childhood metaphor in Pauline writing. Moreover, in this category Muller includes belonging to community i.e. children in the local church

        Childhood terminology is omnipresent in Pauline writing which indicates noticeable role of such metaphors in his thinking. However, there might be incongruity in Paul’s use of this terminology because he speaks so little of real children. Moreover, Paul's use of these terminolgy reveals that he conforms in many respects to the contemporary idea about childhood and he able to use such notions for his theological articulation. Further, he uses childhood metaphors as theological and rhetorical means to regulate the relation between himself and his co-Christians. The noticeable tension here is that, on one hand, Paul confirms to patriarchic patterns and on the other hand, he portrays himself as an understanding and a suportive father. In addition to this, Paul uses mother/child metaphors and metaphors relation to the childhood as a phase of life. The later one has a tension i.e. Paul considers children proper as innocent and on the other hand, he assesses children’s intellectual capacity positively. Other noticeable group of texts contains depiction of Paul himself as a child and such  metaphors can be viewed in light of the rhetorical situation of the each letter and also can be viewed them as part of general strategy in Paul. Scholars agree with the later view, particularly those who deals Paul from the perspective of power and gender, understood these metaphors as means to enhance Paul’s authority. Though the author accepts perceiving parent/child metaphors as part of the general strategy, he emphasizes the need to be considered the socio-cultural context of Paul and he suggests Paul uses these metaphors to make him vulnerable and subject to the mercy of his addressees. Thus, Paul’s usage of these metaphors is distinctive. Further, it shows that Paul is very much on a level with contemporary attitudes on parenting, children, and childhood and he perceived these in an alternative perspective.

       The author presents his thesis systematically. He brings out his conclusions from the detailed frame work of dealing child/parent motif in antiquity and the reflection of such elements in Pauline writing. This means the author takes the socio-cultural setting seriously to understand childhood metaphors of Paul. The main appreciable contributions of this article are that he could bring out a new interpretation of the meaning of these metaphors as stated above and he could conform some of the elements of antiquity in Pauline writings. It seems that author tends into a generalization of the meaning of childhood metaphors i.e., Paul uses these metaphors to make him vulnerable and subject to the mercy of his addressees. He might be drawn such generalization basically from Paul as a child metaphor. I think such generalization by ignoring other aspects of the usages of childhood metaphor is needed to be judged.