This study contains a thick description of the early Christian communities in Corinth and Ephesus, demonstrating the unique context of each. It explores the Greco Roman context, the historic context of the emergence of Christianity in each city, and the immediate context of the writing of each of the Pauline letters under investigation. It then uses those descriptions as a lens through which to examine the discussion of Christian leadership functions in 1 Cor 12:27-31, Eph 4:1-16, and 1 Tim 3:1-13. By employing methods of social description in an analysis of the Christian communities in Corinth and Ephesus, this study has demonstrated that Paul's discussion of specific leadership functions with respect to each city is rooted in the historical context of each Christian community and therefore Paul mentions leadership functions and promotes attitudes concerning leadership which are in keeping with the circumstances of each community and does not necessarily promote uniform practice in all places. Ultimately, 1 Cor 12:27­ 31 discusses the primary importance of the leadership functions of apostle, prophet, and teacher in building up the Christian church, rather than the gifts of tongues that the Corinthians had been elevating to the highest positions. Ephesians 4:1-16 describes the leadership functions of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor and teacher as gifts from God whose purpose is training the saints, doing works of service, and building up the body of Christ. These leaders are to promote unity in a divided Ephesian church. Finally, 1 Tim 3:1-13 describes qualities for those wishing to fulfill the leadership functions of overseer and deacon (men and women). These qualities are designed to combat false teachers in the midst of the Christian community in Ephesus which had a long history of difficulties. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis argues that both the epistle of James and the Didache reflect tensions among the early Christian communities. The community concerns reflected in the texts of each book are investigated. Then their group maintenance strategies are analyzed. It will be shown that both writings have a similar concern on the harmony and cohesiveness of the Christian communities. On the other hand, there are differences as well as similarities in their strategies for reducing conflict. An analysis of the community tensions reflected in James is given. This shows that James is not merely a random collection of traditional teachings beyond critical studies. Interpretative issues, including grammatical and rhetorical questions surrounding passages in James are considered carefully in order to explore the epistle’s rhetorical situation. It will be argued that reflected in the text are real concerns for tensions among the audience, not merely general ethical instructions. Then results from social-scientific studies on social identity and conflict phenomena are bring in to further explore the possible group dynamics for communities in conflict. This enhances one’s understanding of the meaning and purpose of the teaching in James. Theses group dynamics also fill in some gaps between passages in James. Hence, the coherence of the book is highlighted in the study. Lastly, these social-scientific theories also provide a framework for analyzing the strategies of maintaining group cohesiveness in James. Next, a parallel study is given for the Didache. This study shows that besides chapters 11-15, which clearly reflect dangers of dispute among the early believers, other sections of the document also reflect the Didachist’s concern for tensions among the early Christians. Then the group maintenance strategy of the Didache is analyzed using a similar framework as that used for James. Finally, a comparison between the two writings is given from the perspective of group maintenance. Similarities and differences in the books’ community concerns as well as their means for maintaining harmony in the community are highlighted to indicate the significance of these documents for the early Christian communities.

Widows and their fatherless children are commonly perceived to be the most deserving category amongst the poor. The frequent exhortations in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament clearly and constantly reminded the early Christian Church of the divine expectations God had enjoined upon them in this matter. There appears to be no obstacle, theological or moral, to perceiving them as worthy recipients of Christian charity and pastoral care. Yet the results of this study show that in the early centuries of the church the fatherless family was invisible to its leadership. They were not perceived as needy people deserving support but were regarded as a problem, rather than real human beings. Ambiguous material in the Gospels and in the other writings of the New Testament, where references to them are sparse and sometimes unsympathetic, allowed creativity of interpretation to occur permitting evasion of the giving of straightforward support, and instead facilitated greater management and control by the clergy. Their informal self-organisation and methods of mutual self-help were increasingly eroded. The only extensive study of the support of the fatherless family in Roman society and the Church is the four volume habilitation thesis of Jens-Uwe Krause, Witwen und Waisen im Römischen Reich, published between 1994-1995. This large study deals with the long period 200 BCE – 600 CE diachronically. Apart from the 2009 collection of essays edited by Sabine R. Hübner and David M. Ratzan. Growing up Fatherless in Antiquity, which deals mainly with elite, political, and literary figures rather than the poor, little else has been written on the fatherless child in antiquity. The issue of whether 1 Timothy 5:3-16 and similar later material are referring to an ‘Order’ of widows, typified by Bonnie Thurston’s 1989 book, The Widows: A Women's Ministry in the Early Church, has proved a major diversion. Recent work by Steven Friesen and Bruce Longenecker reinforce the conception of the composition of the early church as being primarily that of the poor. My focus is on the neglected area of pastoral care of the poor fatherless family within the earliest church, concentrating on the first 300 years CE. The existence of the poor fatherless family created financial, social and moral difficulties for the church leadership, which forced them to devise novel ways to deal with the duties encumbering them. How could they control these sexually experienced, but vulnerable and dependent, women with their young children? One way was to re-define them as something else. The first method, and the most successful, was to split them up into two distinct groups, old people and full orphans, each requiring a different approach. Another strategy was to make widows represent someone or something other than themselves. Their alter egos will be shown to be human, literary or theological. The third trend observed was an effort towards extinguishing the voice of women. If women and fatherless children were to epitomise something else other than themselves, then their own self-perceived reality had to be kept well hidden. They could not be allowed to speak or socialise. If they did speak their words had to be rendered unheard or to be of no effect. Finally, the young fatherless children of widows have no voice and consequently have been rendered invisible. They do not appear in the Gospels. In the rest of the New Testament and the writings of the early church fathers, they receive little more than a cursory mention as part of a literary trope, or are transformed into barely mentioned full orphans.