The Christians as the Romans Saw Them [Paperback]

Robert Louis Wilken (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Indispensable for anyone who wants a richer sense of the world in which the Church first made its way." -- Robert Royal, Crisis Magazine

About the Author

Robert Louis Wilken is William R. Kenan Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia. He is the author of numerous books, including The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God (forthcoming ISBN 0 300 09708 5, [pound]22.50), published by Yale University Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 2 edition (April 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300098391
• ISBN-13: 978-0300098396
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #80 in Books > History > Ancient > Rome

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Roman Christianity, April 26, 2002

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (Paperback)

Robert Wilken takes a somewhat slightly different tack with this book of Roman history. He examines Christianity in the Roman Empire by looking at it through the eyes of pagan critics. Wilken states in his introduction that his goal in this book is to bring Roman history into closer conjunction with early Christianity. He argues that by studying the context of pagan critics, one can understand how the early Church shaped its theology and doctrines.

Wilken examines five pagan critics, starting with Pliny the Younger's letters to the emperor Trajan circa 112 C.E. Galen, Celsus, Porphyry and the Roman emperor Julian round out the cast of characters. As the accounts unfold, the development of Christianity can be seen clearly: from a small, almost unknown sect in Pliny's day to the powerful apparatus it became by the time Julian launched his reactionary attacks in the late 4th century. The attacks on Christians become more theological as time progresses, showing an increasing sophistication as knowledge about Christianity became better known. Pliny mentioned the Christians in passing, one event among many in his role as a provincial governor. By the time of Celsus, Porphyry and Julian, whole books are being written to refute Christian ideas.

Wilken points out that Pliny's concerns with the Christians mirror his function as a politician. With Galen, a concern for philosophical schools is reflected in his attack on Christianity, namely the creation doctrine and how it compares with the Greek conception of creation as Plato defined it in his work, Timaeus. Celsus attacks Christianity on several fronts, most importantly that Christianity is an apostasy from Judaism and that Jesus was a magician. Porphyry, a philosopher and literary scholar, demolishes the Christian view of the Book of Daniel and criticizes the Christian worship of Jesus on an equal footing with God. Julian takes criticism of Christianity much further, first by banning Christians from traditional Greek and Latin schools and an attempt to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The idea of rebuilding the temple was an attempt to isolate Christians who believed that they were the legitimate successors to the Jewish traditions. By reconstructing the Temple, the Jews would be restored to their traditional role as defined in the Old Testament, relegating Christians to their rightful place: apostates of Judaism. The Temple project failed when Julian died on campaign in Persia and Christian emperors once again assumed power.

This is an excellent book that inspires the reader to pursue further reading on this fascinating topic. What is most relevant is that the same questions we ask about Christianity today have been around for almost two thousand years. This is recommended reading for Roman buffs and Christian scholars alike.

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Outlawed Political Club to State Religion, July 25, 2004

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (Paperback)

Imperial Rome didn't like clubs. They almost invariably got themselves involved in politics and stirred up trouble. You had to have the Emperor's permission to form a club. When the Roman governor Pliny the Younger got complaints about an outlaw political club calling themselves Christians, he wrote to the Emperor Trajan seeking guidance as to how to deal with them.

When Pliny found that they were engaged in nothing more sinister than worship and instruction in right living, he wanted to be as kind as possible. He told Trajan he had decided not to condemn anyone on the basis of rumor and not to put anyone to death who renounced Christianity. Trajan approved.

Pliny's perspective is the first of five 'outside looking in' perspectives of ancient Christianity presented in this book. The physician Galen, the philosophers Celsus and Porphyry, and the Emperor Julian the Apostate also wrote about this upstart religion, and it is instructive to see how Roman attitudes changed over the years.

Galen thought of Christianity as a second-rate philosophy which had many admirable characteristics, but was ultimately based on fallacious reasoning. Celsus, the first pagan thinker to study Christianity in depth, took Christians to task for what he saw as all sorts of lunatic ideas. Porphyry penned what is probably the most incisive critique of Christianity ever written. Julian attacked Christianity with the fervor characteristic of many former Christians. He not only sought to discredit it with literature, he sought to destroy it with legislation. Interestingly, one of the laws with which Julian sought to undermine Christianity dealt with public education. Apparently Julian didn't like prayer in schools any more than the modern Supreme Court.

Wilken gives an engaging study of the hostile world into which Christianity was born, and in which it matured. This book does little to explain the miracle of how Christianity survived and thrived in the face of such opposition, but that is not its purpose. It admirably achieves its purpose of describing that hostile world.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down, April 13, 2002

By 

Amazonbombshell (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (Paperback)

I see I'm hardly in the minority rating this book five stars; as much as I like to be different, there IS no other rating this one can deserve. Wilken makes his subject, which is rather esoteric, accessible and interesting -- I would call it absolutely fascinating -- to the lay reader. I read this book with virtually no prior knowledge of the very early history of the Christian Church, and it quickly became the catalyst for a million new paths of thought and things to research.

Wilken divides the book into sections, each headed with the name of a well-known and influential pagan critic of Christianity. There are four sections -- Pliny, Celsus, Porphyry, Julian (the Apostate)-- plus 2 chapters not focused on a particular critic. They are chronological, and each builds upon the revelations of those before it. This format makes the book wonderfully easy to follow.

My only criticism of Wilken is that he tends to repeat himself (it gets worse toward the end, when he is tying together the various critics interpretations), but I think he does it on purpose, to make sure the reader will understand the point. All in all, the reiteration does not detract from the pleasure of reading the book, and it DOES impress important points in your mind as you read.

THE CHRISTIANS AS THE ROMANS SAW THEM presents a fresh view of Christianity (one that began as very different from the Church of today) in a relatively short, clearly and even humorously written, well-researched volume that is surprisingly difficult to put down. Based solely on this book, I intend to read Wilken's other work soon.