The Christians as the Romans Saw Them; Second Edition

by Robert Louis Wilken

• ISBN13: 9780300098396
• ISBN10: 0300098391
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-04-10
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Robert Louis Wilken is William R. Kenan Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Virginia. He is a past president of the American Academy of Religion and the North American Patristic Society, and the author of many books

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	xv
Abbreviations	xxiii
Pliny: A Roman Gentleman	1	(30)
The Making of a Roman Official	2	(6)
Travels of a Provincial Governor	8	(7)
A Christian Association	15	(10)
Offerings of Wine and Incense	25	(6)
Christianity as a Burial Society	31	(17)
Church or Political Club?	32	(3)
A Sense of Belonging	35	(6)
A Bacchic Society	41	(3)
An Obscure and Secret Association	44	(4)
The Piety of the Persecutors	48	(20)
Roman Religion and Christian Prejudice	50	(4)
The Practice of Religion	54	(8)
``We Too Are A Religious People''	62	(6)
Galen: The Curiosity of a Philosopher	68	(26)
Philosophy and Medicine	69	(3)
Christianity as a Philosophical School	72	(5)
The Practice of Philosophy	77	(6)
The Arbitrary God of Christians	83	(11)
Celsus: A Conservative Intellectual	94	(32)
Begging Priests of Cybele and Soothsayers	95	(6)
The Deficiencies of Christian Doctrine	101	(7)
Demythologizing the Story of Jesus	108	(4)
An Apostasy from Judaism	112	(5)
Religion and the Social Order	117	(9)
Porphyry: The Most Learned Critic of All	126	(38)
In Defense of Plato	128	(9)
The Jewish Scriptures	137	(7)
The Christian New Testament	144	(4)
Philosophy from Oracles	148	(8)
The Religion of the Emperor	156	(3)
Jesus Not A Magician	159	(1)
An Unreasoning Faith	160	(4)
Julian the Apostate: Jewish Law and Christian Truth	164	(33)
The Emperor's Piety	166	(5)
Greek Education and Christian Values	171	(5)
Against the Galilaeans	176	(3)
The Tribal God of Jews and Christians	179	(5)
An Apostasy from Judaism	184	(13)
Epilogue	197	(10)
Suggestions for Further Reading	207	(4)
Index	211