Childhood and Children in Early Christianity

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

by Cornelia B. Horn, John W. Martens

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Book Description
"With careful examination of the available evidence, the authors painstakingly sift through what can be known about children in early Christianity, and in doing so they offer new evaluations of old conclusions and significantly advance our understanding of this important topic for the social history of early Christianity." -- Carolyn Osiek, Charles Fischer Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University

"This volume provides a wealth of detail about childhood, family structure, becoming an adult, and marriage in antiquity as well as renunciation of family ties in Christian asceticism. The authors pay careful attention to the impact of gender, class, and slave or free status on children's lives, and incorporate such unusual topics as toys, games, pets, and music. They argue that children from the beginning were welcome participants in all facets of Christian communal life. Clearly written and well-documented, this book is a valuable resource for students at all levels."

About the Author
Cornelia B. Horn, assistant professor of Early Christianity at Saint Louis University, is the author of Asceticism and Christological Controversy in Fifth-Century Palestine. John W. Martens is associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and Director of the M.A. in Theology Program at Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He is the author of One God, One Law: Philo of Alexandria on the Mosaic and Greco-Roman Law.