My dissertation asks how enslaved persons in early Christian house churches heard and negotiated subordinationist commands such as “slaves, obey your masters”. Rather than treating New Testament household codes as static prescriptions for Christian social order, I argue that these texts functioned as scripts for oral performance delivered in mixed-status gatherings where meaning was shaped not only by words on a page but by voice, gesture, pacing, and audience response.

This study combines performance criticism, socio-historical work on Roman slave theater, and James C. Scott’s concept of “hidden transcripts.” Evidence from studies of Roman comic theater demonstrates how enslaved characters often voice slave-owning ideology in ways that performance can subtly subvert. Reading the household codes within this broader performance ecology makes it possible to identify irony and ambiguity as interpretive pressure points. The dissertation focuses in particular on the address to enslaved hearers in Colossians 3:18–4:1, highlighting how irony and repeated wordplay on kyrios (“master/Lord”) could have cued performance of subversion among the enslaved hearers.

My research provides the interpretive tools necessary to re-hear commands of submission through the subversive strategies of the early church's most vulnerable members. By bringing the voices on the other side of the biblical dialogue into focus, this study demonstrates that the struggle for agency is not a modern rebellion but a faithful practice inherent in the Jesus-movement from its inception. For the church navigating complex hierarchies of race, gender, and status, this research moves past the paralyzing binary of defending "biblical order" versus dismissing "oppressive relics". Instead, it invites the church to embrace a legacy of courageous resistance and communal survival, proving that uncovering muted voices is a necessity for understanding the true vitality and diversity of the lived Christian experience.