tapping into these stereotypical family attitudes and norms in order to describe his understanding of the church as a family. Adoption is an ancient family expression; it is not just a legal but a sociolegal term; hence an understanding of the social dynamics of ancient Roman family life is germane to any proper understanding and interpretation of Paul’s huiothesia term. Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner (2003: 111) is therefore right to point out that adoption was an accepted and high-profile method of
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