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Odd Magne Bakke

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When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity Paperback – April 13, 2005

by O. M. Bakke (Author), Brian McNeil (Foreword)

4.1 22 ratings

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Bakke paints a fascinating picture of children's first realemergence as people against a backdrop of the ancientworld.

Using theological and social history research, Bakkecompares Greco-Roman and Christian attitudes towardabortion and child prostitution, pedagogy and moralupbringing, and the involvement of children in liturgy andchurch life. He also assesses Christian attitudes towardchildren in the church's developing doctrinal commitments.

Today, growing numbers of children are impoverished,exploited, abandoned, orphaned, or killed. Bakke's insightfulwork begins to untangle the roots of their complex plight.

Print length

358 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Fortress Press
Publication date

April 13, 2005
Dimensions

6.44 x 0.93 x 9.02 inches
ISBN-10

0800637259
ISBN-13

978-0800637255
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

O. M. Bakke is Associate Professor of Church History at the School of Mission and Theology, Stavanger, Norway. He has authored several scholarly articles on early Christianity.

Brian McNeil has been translator of many books on the history of Christianity and biblical studies. Among his credits are two Fortress Press titles by Hans-Josef Klauck, The Religious Context of Early Christianity (2003) and Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity (2003).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Fortress Press (April 13, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 358 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0800637259
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0800637255
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.44 x 0.93 x 9.02 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #504,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #223 in Children's Studies Social Science (Books)
- #2,239 in History of Christianity (Books)
- #2,943 in Christian Church History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.1 22 ratings

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Jeri

ASTONISHING ANSWERS TO HOW THE ANCIENTS VIEWED CHILDREN

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2006

Verified Purchase

Anyone interested in ancient history will find this book a treasure, densely packed with information.

Bakke's "When Children Became People" points our that the ancients viewed children from a much different perspective than we do. There was "a negative assessment of children and childhood found in antiquity" (p 19) to the point that "Pliny...does not attmpt to conceal his contempt and lack of esteem for this phase in human life" (p 19). Abortion and exposure of infants was common.

Violence against children was tolerated, expecially for the vast numbers of slave children. And slave children were frequently abused sexually as well. Indeed, as "The Economics of Prostitution in Rome" pointed out, many Romans with young slaves hired them out to brothels. Boys were kept at the brothels until their beards sprouted. Girls until their looks faded.

So, when did the current western prespective on children begin? Bakke argues, and argues very persuasively, than it began with Christianity.

Christians thought all people had souls. This had enormous impact upon the way children were treated. The Didache (written between 50-120 AD)says, "Do not murder a child by abortion, nor kill it at birth". Bakke notes how "the author speaks of the fetus as a 'child'" at a time when the other ancients were referring to children as that 'thing'.

It was a revolution, with consequences to our day. Christians viewed children as complete and valuable human beings from the time of their conception. In the wake of Christianity was "a great reduction in the number of children (especially boys) who were involved in sexual acts with adult men (p 284). Because Christians felt that the way their brought up their child could affect nothing less than that child's eternal salvation Christians had a "greater involvement in upbringing than was generally the case in pagan families" (p 285).

Consider this book a must read.

42 people found this helpful

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Robert Garrett

Children Matter!

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2016

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This is a very good study of a topic that has not received enough attention. The high regard that our societies in the West place on the value of children is a direct result of the example of Jesus of Nazareth, who rebuked his closest advisors to tell them that he would always make time for children. That attitude of treasuring the lives of little boys and girls characterized the early church and led to the invention of orphanages and other ways to care for children who were unwanted. This careful historical review convincingly demonstrates beyond debate that because the early Chrsitians believed that children mattered to God, they treated them with love and dignity and impregnably stamped upon Western civilization a love and concern to treat children as real people, with rights and deserving dignity.

13 people found this helpful

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Gwendolyn Lewis

History Textbook

Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2013

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It is philosophical and very wordy. Interesting facts are buried in a lot of unnecesary text. It might appeal more to a History Major or someone doing research as opposed to reading for genereal discipliship growth.

7 people found this helpful

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Anthony B. Bradley

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2016

This is a great example of a well-done scholarly treatment of the subject. Readers will learn much!!!

One person found this helpful

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Ken Johnson

Excellent resources for child theological academians.

Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2006

Be prepared for this text to kick your butt. It won't kick your butt theologically but instead intellectually. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to critically study Christian theologies from the first few centuries. O.M. Bakke painstakingly researched the writings of early theologians and historians to determine how the Greco-Roman world vs. the Christian world understood children for the first 400 years of the church.

I highly recommend this text if someone is intersted in deeply exploring how the church saw children in this time period. The reading is slow and intellectual allowing the reader to absorb all of the valuable material found in this text.

This would make an excellent text book for any professors of Christian history and/or theology of childhood classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Hopefully Bakke has opened the floodgates on research into theology of childhood that will continue to grow in its academic responses.

28 people found this helpful

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