The Bible and Beyond Podcast Episode
Marriage and Singleness in Early Christianity: Attitudes and Practices
An Interview with Dr. Susan (Elli) Elliott
Dr. Susan M. (Elli) Elliott
In answer to a listener’s question about how attitudes toward singleness evolved in Christianity, Dr. Elliott draws on her knowledge of family legislation that Caesar Augustus inflicted on the Romans well before Jesus’s ministry. Followers of Jesus often followed the common but conflicting Roman attitudes toward elite and lower-class women. But early on, they also assumed a counter-cultural position against the notion that spouses were disposable.
Author of Family Empires, Roman and Christian: Volume I Roman Family Empires, Elli (formally Dr. Susan M. Elliott) is a researcher who walks the talk as an environmental and social justice advocate. She is an Online Adjunct Instructor, Religious Studies, College of Professional and Continuing Studies, University of Oklahoma Norman. Visit her Academia.edu page. She is the website manager for Westar’s Bible Search and Rescue.
She is a previous contributor to the Bible and Beyond (here, here, and here).
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