The friendship of Matthew and Paul: A response to a recent trend in the interpretation of Matthew’s gospel

David Sim has argued that Matthew’s so-called Great Commission (Mt 28:16–20) represents a direct anti-Pauline polemic. While this thesis may be theoretically possible and perhaps fits within the perspective of an earlier era in New Testament research, namely that of the TübingenSchool, the evidence in both Matthew and the Pauline corpus does not support such a reading of early Christianity. In this paper, I argue that an antithetical relationship between Matthew’s Great Commission and Paul’s Gentile mission as refl ected in his epistles is possible only (1) with a certain reading of Matthew and (2) with a caricature of Paul. In light of the most recent research on both Matthew’s Great Commission and the historical Paul, these two traditions can be seen as harmonious and not antithetical in spite of the recent arguments to the contrary. My argument provides a further corrective to the view of early Christianity, which posits a deep schism between so-called Jewish Christianity and Paul’s ostensibly Law-free mission to the Gentiles

Anxiety and depressive symptoms related to parenthood in a large Norwegian community sample: the HUNT2 study

The study compared anxiety and depression prevalence between parents and non-parents in a society with family- and parenthood-friendly social politics, controlling for family status and family history, age, gender, education and social class. All participants aged 30–49 (N = 24,040) in the large, non-sampled Norwegian HUNT2 community health study completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales. The slightly elevated anxiety and depression among non-parents compared to parents in the complete sample was not confirmed as statistically significant within any subgroups. Married parents and (previously unmarried) cohabiting parents did not differ in portraying low anxiety and depression prevalence. Anxiety was associated with single parenthood, living alone or being divorced, while elevated depression was found only among those living alone. Burdening selection and cultural/political context are suggested as interpretative perspectives on the contextual and personal influences on the complex relationship between parenthood and mental health

Families and children in Britain: findings from the 2002 Families and Children Study (FACS)

The 2002 Families and Children Study (FACS) is the fourth in a series of annual surveys to investigate the circumstances of British families with dependent children. This report presents descriptive findings on the circumstances of all families with dependent children in 2002. The report is divided into a number of chapters, each of which looks at a distinct feature of family life. Some of the chapters focus on the circumstances of the family unit - such as housing, income, and material deprivation; some on the circumstances of the adults in the family - such as work and health; and some on the circumstances of children - such as schooling and behaviour