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

Wilken is one of the best writers on the early Church around. While each chapter deals with specific issues, he touches on a great deal of relevant points, which makes the read both enlightening and fun. His style is easy to follow, which is something that I cannot always say of the preeminent historian of dogma, Jaroslav Pelikan, who heartily indorses this book. You really won't go wrong with this one. Every page has a distilled quality that comes from teaching and living in the minds of the Fathers for several decades.The contents are as follows:1. Founded on the Cross of Christ 2. An Awesome and Unbloody Sacrifice 3. The Face of God for Now 4. Seek His Face Always 5. Not My Will But Thine 6. The End Given in the Beginning 7. The Reasonableness of the Faith 8. Happy the People Whose God is the Lord 9. The Glorious Deeds of Christ 10. Making This Thing Other 11. Likeness to God 12. The Knowledge of Sensible ThingsHe writes: "The intellectual tradition that began in the early Church was enriched by the philosophical breadth and exactitude of medieval thought. Each period in Christian history makes its own unique contribution to Christian life. The Church Fathers, however, set in place a foundation that has proven to be irreplaceable. Their writings are more than a stage in the development of Christian thought or an interesting chapter in the history of the interpretation of the Bible. Like an inexhaustible spring, faithful and true, they irrigate the Christian imagination with life-giving water flowing from the biblical and spiritual sources of the faith. They are still our teachers today."In terms of errors or just overstatements, there are few worth noting, none of which deserve to take away from the book's great worth. Even so, he refers to Christ as having a divine and human nature, whereas it should read "natures" in the plural. We are Chalcedonian Christians, after all. And speaking of the Council of Chalcedon, Wilken seems to think that the Fathers we too vague in that instance. Here I would think that in a way he misses the point of the Council's affirmation, or rather, `affirmation of negation'. The Fathers were respecting the inherent mystery of the person of Christ and did so in words by remaining apophatic in their teaching by stating, "these things are untrue, of the rest, remain silent". It is a true understanding of that mystery that motivated this approach. It could go too far and lead to heresy to do otherwise. For Wilken this is a lack of clarity, for me, an example of wisdom in the face of the living God's presence. Moreover, a passing remark that Augustine is the premier Father leaves me as an Orthodox a little quizzical.You would also enjoy Wilken's " Remembering the Christian Past " and the works of Georges Florovsky. On the question of the Hellenization of the gospel, a la Harnak, which Wilken (and nearly all modern scholars) rejects thoroughly, see also Florovsky and Martin Hengel's works. Hurtado's  Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity  is worth buying and having near the desk.Another up and coming patristic scholar from whom we will be reading and hearing much more in the coming years, God willing, is John Behr, professor of Patristics at St. Vladimir's. His new book, "The Way to Nicea" is a very helpful guide on the pre-Nicene Christiological tradition and would make a great companion to Wilken's book.Enjoy!

You can't lose with a Robert Wilken book on early Christianity. This is one of my favorite books that I sometimes use for background in my classes. I bought this particular book used, and it was in good shape when I got it.

Point: The era of the early Church fathers was not an age of darkness, nor even a stepping stone on the path of faith. These men were deep thinkers who sought to know God.Path: The author traces a variety of topics through the Fathers in order to expose their beliefs.Sources: He cites many of the fathers but focuses on Origen (3rd century), Gregory of Nyssa (4th century), Augustine (5th century), and Maximus the Confessor (7th century).Agreement: This is a helpful survey on the early Church and her thoughts.Disagreement: The author comes from a Catholic background so there is obvious factors which he stresses. The composition was not as easy to read as Ferguson's "Early Christians Speak."Personal App: I need to read Augustine's "City of God." The early Church fathers did not possess a refined understanding of everything we have today, but we do not possess near the devotion they had.It would be worth another read. I would recommend Ferguson first.

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.

As I mention on title, this book is diligent and thoughtful book on the issue of early Christian thought. The author explains that church fathers faced several issues and they tried to explain why Jesus Christ of Galilee can be the Lord of all ancient Roman territory. If you read this book, you will be fascinated how early Christians were thoughtful and also great.

I chose 5 stars because it was a good read and I followed the story he tells with ease. I am Orthodox but found this book covered the pre-scishim era well and applied to my thoughts of Christian thinking

One of the most beautifully written books I've read in recent times. Patristics can be a difficult subject, the Fathers wrote vast amounts and in ways that can make it difficult to penetrate. The books that are generally available for them usually cater more to the specialist than the lay reader and even then, they are usually divided based on the controversies of the time and what they were battling against, or the progression of doctrine. While all that can be good, Wilken's aim of trying to capture 'The Spirit' of early Christian thought is an admirable and much needed effort - and one which he beautifully achieves. He draws you into the world in which they lived and even more into how they saw the world and very soon you're left wanting a lot more.It wonderfully forms your thinking and makes you look at all the familiar things of the Christian life - scripture, mass, the church, fellowship and everything else, with new eyes. Read this, again and again and again.

Exceptional book that treats a vitally important topic in Christian thought

I have read a decent amount of theology books and I found this book to be easy to read, follow and understanding the author's main points. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a better understanding of Christian thought and theology.