Rating: 
Summary: Wow
Review: For an excellent study of the early Christian movement, and especially their theological reflection and self-understandng, go no further! I've read a lot of books dealing with Early Christianity, and many of them turn out to be judgemental and very negative ... so frequently, these days, the authors love the heretics and think that orthodox thinkers were just the "winners," and not right. This book does an excellent job of explaining what the Early Christian Fathers actually beleived, and how they expressed those beliefs. I'm glad a bought and read this book. Give it a go!
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous book
Review: I probably cannot add much to the reviews that have already been posted, but I would like to add my 5 stars vote to the chorus. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I know that I will be rereading various chapters, as needed. Wilken's writing style is clear, ordered, thoughtful, and at times lyrical. He evidences a real love for this material. Wilken looks at the patristic period thematically, focusing on one or two of the Fathers under each theme. Not only are we introduced, therefore, to the theology of the Fathers, but we end up getting to know a bit each of the featured Fathers. As a Roman Catholic, Wilken of course provides a Western appraisal of the Fathers. His great love is Augustine. But he also has excellent discussions of Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor. His reading of the Fathers is truly catholic. He is eager learn from all the Fathers, whether Eastern or Western. Even when the Fathers are wrong, they have so much to teach us. More than ever, the Church of Jesus Christ needs to drink at this well and imbibe their spirit. I would love to read a thoughtful Eastern Orthodox review of Wilken's book. In recent years I have discerned a growing anti-Augustine sentiment among Orthodox writers, with some even dismissing Augustine as heretic. Wilken, on the other hand, considers Augustine to be a giant among the Fathers. One thing I do know, after reading Wilken I am finally going to have to break down and read the City of God. :-)
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous book
Review: I probably cannot add much to the reviews that have already been posted, but I would like to add my 5 stars vote to the chorus. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I know that I will be rereading various chapters, as needed. Wilken's writing style is clear, ordered, thoughtful, and at times lyrical. He evidences a real love for this material. Wilken looks at the patristic period thematically, focusing on one or two of the Fathers under each theme. Not only are we introduced, therefore, to the theology of the Fathers, but we end up getting to know a bit each of the featured Fathers. As a Roman Catholic, Wilken of course provides a Western appraisal of the Fathers. His great love is Augustine. But he also has excellent discussions of Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor. His reading of the Fathers is truly catholic. He is eager learn from all the Fathers, whether Eastern or Western. Even when the Fathers are wrong, they have so much to teach us. More than ever, the Church of Jesus Christ needs to drink at this well and imbibe their spirit. I would love to read a thoughtful Eastern Orthodox review of Wilken's book. In recent years I have discerned a growing anti-Augustine sentiment among Orthodox writers, with some even dismissing Augustine as heretic. Wilken, on the other hand, considers Augustine to be a giant among the Fathers. One thing I do know, after reading Wilken I am finally going to have to break down and read the City of God. :-)
Rating:
Summary: Simply the best intro to the Fathers
Review: I've read no better introduction to the Fathers for intelligent, non-academic readers. Wilken has written a clear, lyrical, and winning account of the inner life of the early Christians. And it's about more than doctrine. It's about the development of a Christian culture, with its own strains of poetry, art, philosophy, and politics. Wilken himself is obviously at home in that culture, and in love with it. If you read this book, you probably will be, too. If I could give it more than five stars, I would.
Rating:
Summary: Early Church Fathers Made Easy
Review: If you have a desire to know the thought of the Early Church but have a difficult time working through the volumes of writtings of the Fathers, this book is a blessing beyond belief. Not only does Dr. Wilken allow you to hear them, but you leave the book feeling as if you know then and have walked with them. The book not only explores the historical realities of what happened, but you experience the motivation and love of the Church that has been given down through the centuries as a precious gift. Five stars is a gross under statement for this outstanding work. This book makes me desire to return to the class and to explore again that which I may have missed in previous studies.
Rating:
Summary: Early Church Fathers Made Easy
Review: If you have a desire to know the thought of the Early Church but have a difficult time working through the volumes of writtings of the Fathers, this book is a blessing beyond belief. Not only does Dr. Wilken allow you to hear them, but you leave the book feeling as if you know then and have walked with them. The book not only explores the historical realities of what happened, but you experience the motivation and love of the Church that has been given down through the centuries as a precious gift. Five stars is a gross under statement for this outstanding work. This book makes me desire to return to the class and to explore again that which I may have missed in previous studies.
Rating:
Summary: SIX STARS, ACTUALLY
Review: If you like well written, well researched, and not too academic historical works, this book is for you. Wilken outlines how the Bible shaped the intellectual history of the early Christian Church. What stands out for me is how Wilken's make a strong case that the early Church Fathers were not as influenced by Greek/Platonic philosophy as I had been led to believe. Wilken's also repeatedly emphasizes the fact that the early Church Fathers were not ivory tower academics. In the most case the leaders were preachers and bishops and even laymen. Finally, Wilken's stresses that the early Church Fathers were as much concerned about transforming the heart as they were about educating the mind.
Rating:
Summary: SIX STARS, ACTUALLY
Review: If you like well written, well researched, and not too academic historical works, this book is for you. Wilken outlines how the Bible shaped the intellectual history of the early Christian Church. What stands out for me is how Wilken's make a strong case that the early Church Fathers were not as influenced by Greek/Platonic philosophy as I had been led to believe. Wilken's also repeatedly emphasizes the fact that the early Church Fathers were not ivory tower academics. In the most case the leaders were preachers and bishops and even laymen. Finally, Wilken's stresses that the early Church Fathers were as much concerned about transforming the heart as they were about educating the mind.
Rating:
Summary: Theological History by a Believer
Review: In Catholic discussions of the appropriate role of those who interpret the Bible, the Church makes the point that the exegete must be part of the living community of faith in order for his interpretation to do justice to the Scriptures. Likewise, Wilken's success in exploring the thought of early Christian writers is due to his being a part of the believing community of Christians. Because of his own belief, Wilken is able to zero in on the heart of what these early Christian writers are trying to communicate. A common faith creates a sympathy between scholar and ancient writer that is essential to successful interpretation. Three examples come to mind. The first is Wilken's discussion of the virtues, especially the virtue of patience (pp. 283-285). The second is his grasp of the Christian sense of the radical novelty of the Incarnation: that God became man in very particular and mundane circumstances (a view which in my opinion supports the Catholic insistence that the all-male priesthood is an essential witness to the maleness of Jesus). Finally, Wilken cites his own experience in training lectors for the worshipping community as confirming the insights he gathers from his study of Origen and Augustine (p. 182). Because of the bond of empathy between scholar and material, the reader will gain from Wilken's work.
Rating:
Summary: Remembering who we are
Review: Robert Wilken has given us a beautiful book. In the preface, he mentions that he originally intended the book to be a sequel to his earlier excellent _The Christians as the Romans Saw Them_. The first book presented the prosecution's case against early Christianity, as it were, and the new one would present the defense. But he eventually dropped the idea, because as he delved deeper into the writings of the early Church Fathers, he realized that their thinking was much too independent of Greco-Roman thought to be interpreted merely as a response to it. So the new book emerged. One of the most fascinating and instructive points of Professor Wilken's new book is his claim that Harnack and Co. were wrong to suppose that early Christian thought was thoroughly Hellenized by cultural osmosis. This of course has been the standard way of thinking since the mid-nineteenth century. But in fact, as Wilken's goes to pains to demonstrate, just the converse is true: Christianity dramatically influenced Hellenistic culture. It was Christianity that radically transformed the secular world, not the other way around. Wilken demonstrates that this radical transformation of Greco-Roman culture--which was at the same time, of course, the coming-into-its-own of Christian thought--was never primarily intellectualistic. Christianity is a religion, not a philosophy. It stresses love, compassion, service in the world, and worship, and these elements define the parameters and shape the content of early Christian thought. Wilken works through this claim by examining, chapter by chapter, how the early Christians viewed (for example) worship, the Resurrection, the Trinity, the Passion, and so on. Chapter 7, on "Faith," where Wilken explores the connection between knowing and loving, may be the single most beautiful and enlightening discussion in the book. Also of particular interest are the final two chapters, which deal respectively with the early Church's understanding of the moral and spiritual life. Wilken's book is informative for students of historical theology, but it's also inspiring for those readers who might wish to use it as an opportunity for lectio divina. Gracefully written, sensitively nuanced, the book is a real pearl.
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