and women. Neither the Old nor the New Testament prohibits slavery; both the Old and New Testaments reflect and don’t fundamentally critique a patriarchal culture. In addition, the Old Testament regulates, but does not forbid, polygamy (Exod. 21:7–11), and there is good reason to think that some early Christians were in polygamous relationships as well and not required to be monogamous. The point is that a slave-owning, patriarchal man with multiple wives could be a member in good standing of a Pauline