The Christians as the Romans Saw Them

by Robert Louis Wilken

Paperback, 1986

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Available

Description

This book, which includes a new preface by the author, offers an engrossing portrayal of the early years of the Christian movement from the perspective of the Romans."A fascinating . . . account of early Christian thought. . . . Readable and exciting."-Robert McAfee Brown, New York Times Book Review"Should fascinate any reader with an interest in the history of human thought."-Phoebe-Lou Adams, Atlantic Monthly"The pioneering study in English of Roman impressions of Christians during the first four centuries A.D."-E. Glenn Hinson, Christian Century"This gracefully written study . . . draws upon well-known sources-both pagan and Christian-to provide the general reader with an illuminating account . . . [of how] Christianity appeared to the Romans before it became the established religion of the empire."-Merle Rubin, Christian Science Monitor… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member thcson

A well-written account of Roman arguments against Christianity from the 2nd century to the 4th. It's not a history of Roman attitudes in general but a literary analysis of the works of Pliny, Galen, Celsus, Porphyry and Julian which touch upon christianity. Sadly (but not surprisingly) the story is

built on fragmentary evidence since none of the original works survived to the present day. Compared to other books that I've read on ancient greek and roman literature this one is quite lively and it also says more about the social context of this literature than most other books manage to do.

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LibraryThing member walterhistory

Mr. Wilken does a fantastic job in his use of source materials in writing the reaction of Greeks & Romans to the rise of Christianity. Obviously the Greeks & Romans were unhappy that Christianity was exploding among slaves & women & they would soon react with violence & murder. Their attempts only

served to enhance & spread Christianity which the author presents quite well here. Much of the source material he uses may be new to the reader since these are known only to the scholars who seek them. This is a good read to familiarize one self with little known opponents who hated & despised Christianity & wrote vitriolic rants against it. Amazingly, those who responded actually recorded & preserved those writings in their works

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LibraryThing member Cajun_Huguenot

It's interesting.Wilken is partial to the arguments of the Roman and Greek pagans, as He readily admits. He says that he wanted to "present them sympathetically within the framework of the ideas that existed before the emergence of Christianity," and he does. It is clear that Wilken to modern

higher and form criticisms associated with more liberal types of theology.

Yet the book is worth the effort.Wilken enlightens you to many of the views, prejudices and cultural concerns of the pagan intellectuals as they confronted the early Christians. I would give it 2½ stars.

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LibraryThing member jpsnow

Wilken shows that criticism by late Roman thinkers strengthened Christianity, honing its tenets and reflecting the legimitacy of it as a philosophy. He chose a few specific writers: Pliny, a Roman provincial governor who dealt with some of the earliest Christian sects; Galen, a philosopher who

considered Christianity one of the many new philosophical schools of the time; Celsus, who treated Christianity as an intellectual study; Porphyry, who criticized with influence (much of his original is reconstructed from the citation of him by others); and Julian, the Roman emperor who converted back the Greek deities and attacked Christianity by leveraging the strengthening of Judaism. There were other writers, including Origen, and references to the "superstition" by Tacitus.

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LibraryThing member erzsebet_83

Fascinating interplay between who the Romans really were (versus how we think of them today, mostly likely thanks to church history) and how they viewed the Christians. I loved reading about Pliny the Younger and having a context in which to put him, along with the other critics. It raised a lot of

questions for me regarding my understanding of Christ and the early church, but is definitely worth the discomfort.

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LibraryThing member HarryMacDonald

Naturally, there are very few books which can leave you feeling that you know less than you did before you started, yet this book left me profoundly frustrated at the thinness of the material delivered, compared to the immensity and significance of the subject. The best portions of of the book

attempted to reconstruct the micro-sociology of early Christian groups in terms of the immense network and clubs and friendly societies which were active in Roman life. Maybe it''s just me, but I was a little startled to infer a subtle but continuous sense that the Author -- a sometime Professor at Notre Dame -- felt that the pagan Romans weren't entirely mistaken in mistrusting, and even persecuting the early followers of Jesus. I can take this from a genius like GIbbon, but Wilken fails to convince, if indeed I am at-all right in my inference.

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LibraryThing member aplaine

This book really made me think about how the early Christian Religion was influenced by Greek and Roman Philosophy.

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