Pagan Rome and the Early Christians

Benko, Stephen

ISBN 10: 0253203856 / ISBN 13: 9780253203854

Published by Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1986

About this Item

8vo 180pp. Midlands Book MB 385. see pictures for synopsis. #02524. Book VG+: clean, square, tight, unmarked.

Seller Inventory # 2459

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Pagan Rome and the Early Christians
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253203856
• ISBN 13: 9780253203854
• Binding: softcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • nonfiction
  • Christianity
  • history
  • religion

About this title

Synopsis

As perceived by the average Roman citizen, the early rites and behavior of Christians laid them open to charges of cannibalism, immorality, and the practice of magic and conspiring and fomenting rebellion aganst the state.

The early church fathers rejected these accusations and portrayed pagans as victims of misinformation or perpetrators of ill will. Benko proposes to give the pagans the benefit of the doubt and analyzes their charges against Christianity under the premise that they may have been right within the context of the times. He has provided a persuasively argued and refreshing―if controversial―perspective on the confrontation of the pagan and early Christian worlds.