Roman Wives, Roman Widows by Bruce W Winter

Author:Bruce W Winter [Winter, Bruce W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-02-27T13:51:00+00:00

a woman of high family, married to Aulus Plautius - whose ovation after the British campaign I recorded earlier - and now arraigned for alien superstition, was left to the jurisdiction of her husband. Following the ancient custom, he held the inquiry, which was to determine the fate and fame of his wife, before a family council, and announced her innocent.85

`Her creed, as was often the case, gave rise to immorality, on which she was tried and acquitted by the family council.'86

The extent of the financial problem for the support of widows per se is reflected in the fact that the church simply could not afford it. So that the church might be able to provide adequate care for those who were `real' widows, not only immediate families were required to assist financially but also a believing woman with widowed relatives who needed support (5:4, 16).

It was suggested that i Timothy 5:11-14 contained descriptive, evaluative and prescriptive elements. The first two resonate with concerns expressed in the wider society. The prescriptive element required the church to refuse to enrol young widows for financial reasons so that the old widows who were by themselves could be `honoured' with financial support.87 The young widows were to marry, have children, and manage their households.88

In conclusion, some young widows in the church had been influenced by the values of the `new' woman, whether the latter was married or widowed. The appearance of the young widows in terms of their lifestyle was such that it provided opponents of the Christian movement with the opportunity to discredit it.

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