Age Matters: Age, Aging and Intergenerational Relationships in Early Christian Communities, with a Focus on 1 Timothy 5

Abstract

Exploring age structure in Mediterranean cultures illuminates the social dynamics of intergenerational relationships that became more visible in late first and early second century early Christian texts, and especially in 1 Timothy 5. This was a time of crisis when those with a living memory of the foundations of the movement were almost gone, and the community was scrutinized by outsiders. Since we have relatively few clues related to aging and age structure in the extant texts, a model of generational stability and social change based on ethnographic data helps us to imagine culturally sensitive possibilities that we can then test out as we reread the texts in their Roman cultural context. In his fictive story of Paul and Timothy, the author of the heterographical (pseudepigraphical) letter of 1 Timothy establishes an ideal intergenerational relationship between “Paul” as an older man and “Timothy” as his adult “child.” When the fictive Paul directs Timothy to speak kindly to older people (5:1-2), he introduces a section on age-related issues. Behaviour that was causing concern for public reputation included adult children shirking filial duty (5:4, 8), young widows gadding about in public (5:11-15), and younger men accusing their elders (5:19). These behaviours threatened the reputation and honour of the community and may have been encouraged by the opposing faction. The author’s solution was to reject the opposing teachings and enforce behaviour that reflected proper age structure: adult children should fulfill their filial responsibilities and care for widowed mothers and grandmothers (5:4); young widows should be guided and supported by middle-aged women who were responsible for them in the age hierarchy among women (5:16); middle-aged women should imitate the exemplary behaviour of the enlisted widows who were over 60 years old; and young men were to be rebuked in front of everyone for their disrespect toward elders (5:20). In the face of social change, the author advocates for behaviour reflective of the traditional age structure of Roman society.