From the time of Jesus, Palestine has been an integral part of the Christian experience. Not only have Christians always lived in Palestine, but more important, since the fourth century Christians gradually came to see Palestine as a Holy Land and Jerusalem as the Christian city. In this authoritative and accessible book, Robert L. Wilken discusses how Palestine became a Holy Land to Christians and how Christian ideas and feelings toward the land of the Bible evolved as they lived there and made it their own. Drawing on both primary texts and archaeological evidence, Wilken traces the Christian conception of a Holy Land from its origins in the Hebrew Bible to the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century. He also discusses Jewish ideas of the land and the Jewish response to the Christianization of the Land of Israel. The heart of the book considers how Jerusalem and the biblical land came to be viewed not simply as a place of pilgrimage, but as a place to live, a country with a unique history and privileged status in the Christian world. Wilken concludes with an account of Christian hopes for restoration of Jerusalem after the Muslim conquest, the continuation of Christian life under Muslim rule, and the adoption of Arabic as the language of Christian worship and thought.

The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought

History

Wilken, Robert Louis

Middle East

Yale University Press

In this eloquent introduction to early Christian thought, eminent religious historian Robert Louis Wilken examines the tradition that such figures as St. Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and others set in place. These early thinkers constructed a new intellectual and spiritual world, Wilken shows, and they can still be heard as living voices in the modern world. In chapters on topics including early Christian worship, Christian poetry and the spiritual life, the Trinity, Christ, the Bible, and icons, Wilken shows that the energy and vitality of early Christianity arose from within the life of the Church. While early Christian thinkers drew on the philosophical and rhetorical traditions of the ancient world, it was the versatile vocabulary of the Bible that loosened their tongues and minds and allowed them to construct the world anew, intellectually and spiritually. These thinkers were not seeking to invent a world of ideas, Wilken shows, but rather to win the hearts of men and women and to change their lives. Early Christian thinkers set in place a foundation that has endured. Their writings are an irreplaceable inheritance, and Wilken shows that they can still be heard as living voices within contemporary culture.

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

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.

The Christians as the Romans Saw Them

Ancient Civilizations

In this eloquent introduction to early Christian thought, eminent religious historian Robert Louis Wilken examines the tradition that such figures as St. Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and others set in place. These early thinkers constructed a new intellectual and spiritual world, Wilken shows, and they can still be heard as living voices in the modern world.In chapters on topics including early Christian worship, Christian poetry and the spiritual life, the Trinity, Christ, the Bible, and icons, Wilken shows that the energy and vitality of early Christianity arose from within the life of the Church. While early Christian thinkers drew on the philosophical and rhetorical traditions of the ancient world, it was the versatile vocabulary of the Bible that loosened their tongues and minds and allowed them to construct the world anew, intellectually and spiritually. These thinkers were not seeking to invent a world of ideas, Wilken shows, but rather to win the hearts of men and women and to change their lives. Early Christian thinkers set in place a foundation that has endured. Their writings are an irreplaceable inheritance, and Wilken shows that they can still be heard as living voices within contemporary culture.

How did a community that was largely invisible in the first two centuries of its existence go on to remake the civilizations it inhabited, culturally, politically, and intellectually? Beginning with the life of Jesus, Robert Louis Wilken narrates the dramatic spread and development of Christianity over the first thousand years of its history. Moving through the formation of early institutions, practices, and beliefs to the transformations of the Roman world after the conversion of Constantine, he sheds new light on the subsequent stories of Christianity in the Latin West, the Byzantine and Slavic East, the Middle East, and Central Asia.Through a selected narration of particularly noteworthy persons and events, Wilken demonstrates how the coming of Christianity set in motion one of the most profound revolutions the world has known. This is not a story limited to the West; rather, Christian communities in Ethiopia, Nubia, Armenia, Georgia, Persia, Central Asia, India,

The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity

An authoritative and poignant account of the first millennium of Christian history How did a community that was largely invisible in the first two centuries of its existence go on to remake the civilizations it inhabited, culturally, politically, and intellectually? Beginning with the life of Jesus, Robert Louis Wilken narrates the dramatic spread and development of Christianity over the first thousand years of its history. Moving through the formation of early institutions, practices, and beliefs to the transformations of the Roman world after the conversion of Constantine, he sheds new light on the subsequent stories of Christianity in the Latin West, the Byzantine and Slavic East, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
Through a selected narration of particularly noteworthy persons and events, Wilken demonstrates how the coming of Christianity set in motion one of the most profound revolutions the world has known. This is not a story limited to the West; rather, Christian communities in Ethiopia, Nubia, Armenia, Georgia, Persia, Central Asia, India, and China shaped the course of Christian history. The rise and spread of Islam had a lasting impact on the future of Christianity, and several chapters are devoted to the early experiences of Christians under Muslim rule. Wilken reminds us that the career of Christianity is characterized by decline and attrition as well as by growth and expansion. 
Ten years in the making and the result of a lifetime of study, this is Robert Louis Wilken’s summa, a moving, reflective, and commanding account from a scholar at the height of his powers.

Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom

From one of the leading historians of Christianity comes this sweeping reassessment of religious freedom, from the church fathers to John Locke In the ancient world Christian apologists wrote in defense of their right to practice their faith in the cities of the Roman Empire. They argued that religious faith is an inward disposition of the mind and heart and cannot be coerced by external force, laying a foundation on which later generations would build. Chronicling the history of the struggle for religious freedom from the early Christian movement through the seventeenth century, Robert Louis Wilken shows that the origins of religious freedom and liberty of conscience are religious, not political, in origin. They took form before the Enlightenment through the labors of men and women of faith who believed there could be no justice in society without liberty in the things of God. This provocative book, drawing on writings from the early Church as well as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, reminds us of how “the meditations of the past were fitted to affairs of a later day.”

World

From one of the leading historians of Christianity comes this sweeping reassessment of religious freedom, from the church fathers to John Locke\n“Robert Louis Wilken’s new masterpiece.”—George Weigel, First Things\nIn the ancient world Christian apologists wrote in defense of their right to practice their faith in the cities of the Roman Empire. They argued that religious faith is an inward disposition of the mind and heart and cannot be coerced by external force, laying a foundation on which later generations would build.\nChronicling the history of the struggle for religious freedom from the early Christian movement through the seventeenth century, Robert Louis Wilken shows that the origins of religious freedom and liberty of conscience are religious, not political, in origin. They took form before the Enlightenment through the labors of men and women of faith who believed there could be no justice in society without liberty in the things of God. This provocative book, drawing on writings from the early Church as well as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, reminds us of how “the meditations of the past were fitted to affairs of a later day.”

There is no original Christian faith, no native language, no definitive statement of the meaning of Christ for all times. That is the fundamental argument of this challenging book. vividly written and covering a great deal of evidence in a short space. Dr Wilken argues that if there has been any constant in the history of Christianity, it has been the reluctance of the tradition to give a place to change within the Christian experience. Most Christians have been willing to say that Christianity changes in some areas but in others remains the same. But why should we assume that some aspects of Christianity change while others do not? The apostolic age is a creation of the Christian imagination. There never was a Golden Age when the church was whole, perfect, pure-virginal. The faith was not purer, the Christians were not braver, the church was not one and undivided: In the light of this, Dr Wilken concludes that Christianity should forgo its preoccupation with the past and become a much more forward- looking movement.

The Myth of Christian Beginnings

SCM Press

Description: John Chrysostom, the golden mouth, the greatest preacher in the early church and a key figure during the transition from the ancient to the Byzantine and medieval worlds, is known as a vehement critic of the Jews. In this study, Robert Wilken presents a new interpretation of John's homilies against the Jews, setting them in the context of the pluralistic society of fourth-century Antioch and against the tradition of ancient rhetoric. In reading John's homilies, Wilken argues, we must not impose on them the anti-Jewish attitudes of medieval times, when Christianity was the dominant force in the West and Judaism was a minority religion. In John's time, Christianity was only one, and by no means the most self-assured, of the cultural forces in Antioch. It had to compete with an established Jewish community and with the classical pagan tradition that underlay education and public life. In 363, the Roman emperor Julian, who had apostatized Christianity to embrace the traditional pagan religion, attempted to rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. He terrified the Christians, who saw in the Temple's ruins proof of the truth of their religion. Wilken examines John's sermons against this atmosphere of intense religious rivalry and lively polemic between Christians, Jews, and pagans. His book calls not only for a fresh look at John Chrysostom but also for a reconsideration of the continued importance of Judaism in late antique society and in the history of Christianity. Its conclusions will be of interest to historians and theologians, and to participants in the present-day Jewish-Christian dialogue.

John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Century (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 4)

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

Univ. Of California Pr.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilken, Robert Louis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Wilken, Robert Louis

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Wilken, Robert Louis. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God

The Christians as the Romans Saw Them

The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God

The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity

The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity

Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom

Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom

The Myth of Christian Beginnings

John Chrysostom and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Century (The Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 4)