When children became people : the birth of childhood in early Christianity / O.M. Bakke ; translated by Brian McNeil.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bakke, Odd Magne, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600.

Children.

Children--Religious aspects--Christianity--History of doctrines.

Children--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Christian children--Religious life--History--To 1500.

Christian children.

Children--Rome--Social conditions.

Christian children--Religious life.

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 348 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : Fortress Press, [2005]

Summary:

Bakke paints a fascinating picture of children's first real emergence as people against a backdrop of the ancient world. Using theological and social history research, Bakke compares Greco-Roman and Christian attitudes toward abortion and child prostitution, pedagogy and moral upbringing, and the involvement of children in liturgy and church life. He also assesses Christian attitudes toward children in the church's developing doctrinal commitments. Today, growing numbers of children are impoverished, exploited, abandoned, orphaned, or killed. Bakke's insightful work begins to untangle the roots of their complex plight.

Contents:

Growing Attention to Children in Society and Research 1

Children and Childhood in the Early Church 4

Why This Volume? 9

Texts and Reality 11

Finding Children in the Fathers 13

2 Children in the Greco-Roman World 15

Children's Nature and Qualities according to the Philosophical Tradition 15

A Social-Historical Perspective on Children and Childhood 22

Children in Pagan Antiquity 51

3 Patristic Teaching about the Nature of Children and Their Characteristics 56

Children as Paradigms for Adults 57

Other Evidence from the First to the Third Century 65

Later Writers, Especially John Chrysostom and Augustine 72

Innocence, Passion, and Sin in Children 104

4 Abortion, Infanticide and Expositio, and Sexual Relations between Children and Adults 110

Abortion, Infanticide, and Expositio 110

The Church's Attitude toward Sexual Relations between Adults and Children 140

Emerging Christian Standards and Practice 149

5 Making "Athletes of Christ": Upbringing and Education of Children 152

The Obligation to Mold Children according to the Christian Ideals 153

The Contents and the Process of Upbringing 174

A Brief Discussion of the Attitude of Christians toward Pagan Schools 201

The Formation of Children 215

6 Children's Participation in Worship 223

Baptism 223

Holy Communion 246

Other Forms of Participation in Worship 251

The Presence of Children 257

7 Children and a Life of Religious Perfection 260

Care for Children Cannot Be Combined with a Life of Religious Perfection 261

Parents Leave Their Children 263

Loving Children and God 276

8 Early Christians and the Humanity of Children 280.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-344) and indexes.

ISBN:

0800637259

OCLC:

57391946