Let the Little Children Come to Me: Childhood and Children in Early Christianity - Cornelia Horn

Descriere Let the Little Children Come to Me: Childhood and Children in Early Christianity - Cornelia Horn

Providing a wealth of detail about childhood and family structure, this book explores the hidden lives of children at the origins of Christianity. Let the Little Children Come to Me pays careful attention to the impact of gender, class, and slave status on children's lives. \n \nAlthough Jesus called on his first followers to welcome children in his name and to become like children, the lives of the first Christian children have remained in the shadows. This book explores the hidden lives of children at the origins of Christianity. It draws on insights gained from comparisons of children's experiences in ancient Judaism and the Graeco-Roman world. The authors also engage a vast body of early Christian literature, extending from the New Testament to sermons, letters, theological treatises, poetry, pedagogical manuals, and historiography in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and other languages current in the early Christian world.\n \nThe guiding question of the book focuses on how Christianity changed the lives of children in the ancient world. Some of the other questions examined by the authors include: \n \nDid boys and girls both receive a formal education?\n \nWere Christian children slaves?\n \nHow did they participate in manual labor?\n \nWhat kinds of games did children play?\n \nHow did children become a part of the Christian church?\n \nThis book breaks new ground in the study of early Christianity by examining the challenges to Christian childhood in the first centuries of the Church. The authors look at violence perpetrated against children, and they consider the effects and opportunities arising from Christians' experiences of martyrdom, and from the increased Christian interest in various forms of asceticism, including celibacy. The book brings into the open the lives of early Christian children and throws much needed light on what has been a largely neglected area of study in early Christianity.\n

Detalii

Brand

Catholic University Of America Press

Categorie

ENSTK

EAN / GTIN

9780813216744

Magazine

1

Disponibilitate

in stock