When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity (review)
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This volume provides an introduction to patristic perceptions of childhood and the realities of children's lives from the second through the fifth centuries ce. Given the current interest in the family and household in Greco-Roman studies and early Christianity, a book geared to a general audience and focused on the presence of children in the writings of the church fathers is, in principle, a welcome addition to that literature.
In eight chapters Bakke revisits the results of selected previous scholarship (primarily M. Bunge, ed., 2001; D. Wood, ed., 1994; M. Gärtner, 1985; B. Leyerle, JECS 1997; D. F. Wright, 1987) and offers his evaluation of the patristic material indicated in these sources. A brief introductory chapter formulates the book's goal as "draw[ing] as clearly as possible a picture both of the theology of children and of the social history of children during th[e] formative period in Christian history" (1). Chapter 2 deals with classical Greco-Roman history as the primary context over and against which Bakke situates Christian perceptions of children. Although questions of a Jewish context are interspersed occasionally in other chapters, a systematic consideration of the influence of this formative context on Christian history is lacking from the study. One would at least have expected a familiarity with the studies collected and edited by Shaye Cohen (BJS 289; Atlanta, 1993).
Chapter 3 probably constitutes the most original part of the book. Here the author treats selected patristic perceptions of the nature and characteristics of children in the works of Clement, Origen, the Apostolic Fathers, the Gospel of Thomas, the Apologists, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Chrysostom, Jerome, and Augustine. Chapter 4 examines how Christian writers challenged, in part, practices of abortion, infanticide, the exposition of children, and sexual relations between adults and children. Chapter 5 revisits questions of the upbringing and education of children as dealt with in the New Testament, the Apostolic Fathers, the Didascalia, the Apostolic Constitutions, Jerome, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine. It also considers the topic of Christian schools and children's formation more generally. Chapter 6 examines available evidence for children's participation in Christian worship, i.e., baptism, Eucharist, and children's roles in the liturgy (e.g., as readers and choir members). A short Chapter 7 approaches the complex question of conflicts between early Christians striving for perfection in a life dedicated to God, either as martyr or as ascetic, and the need to care for one's children.
Concluding reflections on the early Christians' view of the humanity of children constitute the final chapter. In Bakke's view Christianity brought changes to children's lives by recognizing their full humanity from the very beginning of life. Christian children were better protected against sexual advances of adult [End Page 539] men, a point in which Bakke neglects to differentiate between the fate of upper-class children and slave children. Bakke also argues that Christian parents appear to have taken the task of raising children more seriously than non-Christian parents, and for that purpose they tended to employ physical punishment more readily and were more concerned about the moral formation of their offspring. While the second point is borne out by my own research, the first is strikingly at odds with it.
As a survey of established themes, this book has some merit. Yet it does rely rather heavily on secondary discussions. Although the author engages German scholarship (see, e.g., his frequent reliance on Gärtner's work on Chrysostom or on M.-R. Bottermann, 1982, and F. J. Dölger, 1972, for perspectives on children and worship), he shows no acquaintance with the critical reception and review of such studies (e.g, Dassmann's review of Gärtner in JbAC 31 [1988]: 211–14) and does not consider Kliss and Wacker's critical reception of Bunge's The Child in Christian Thought in JBTh 17 (2002): 391–410, who have highlighted the temporary, limited perspective of that collection...
