The Christians as the Romans Saw Them (Paperback)

~ Professor Robert Louis Wilken (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fascinating . . . account of early Christian thought. . . . Readable and exciting."

Product 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. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300036272
• ISBN-13: 978-0300036275
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #222,366 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 65 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 (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

53 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the Christians won't tell you in Sunday School., February 8, 2000

By	Jacinto Trelles (Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent book explaining how the early Christians were viewed by the Romans of that period. Many Roman scholars and philosophers did sit up and take notice when this strange new "superstitious cult" first appeared on the scene. Needless to say, opinions were not all favorable. The Roman philosopher Galen, for example, admired the Christians' philantropy and day-to-day living attitudes(love thy neigbor, do unto others...etc.) but he did not have much use for the Christian teachings in so far as they tried to explain the nature of the universe, Genesis, the nature of God, and thought that the Greco-Roman model of cosmology made much more sense. Because as author Robert Wilken points out, most learned people of the time thought Christianity was "without an intellectual basis." While the philosopher Celsus, who studied Christian writings and the Gospels very intensely, rejected Christianity entirely. He could never come to terms with the Christian doctrine of relying everything on faith, and instead lambasted the Christians for thier almost complete and fanatical rejection of reason and scientific argument. This book presents the overall and concise arguments that were taking place around Christianity at the time and one can, for the first time, take a look through the eyes of the 'other side' at Christianity.

31 of 35 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.