There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. St. Paul’s vision of the radical equality we possess as children of God inspires. However, its realization is far off as something toward which one aspires. Even Paul in other epistles tells slaves to be obedient to their masters and wives to be submissive to their husbands. Which is it, Paul? Radical equality or multi-tiered hierarchy? (Footnote: this is why some scholars speculate that not all of the epistles which bear Paul’s name were, in fact, written by him.) You catch hints that Paul went along with the status quo because he was concerned about not unnecessarily upsetting the social order in the Roman Empire. That would make the gospel more palatable. At the remove of two thousand years you have to wonder whether defying unjust structures isn’t exactly what the gospel demands.
