To ask other readers questions about The First Thousand Years , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The First Thousand Years. Lists with This Book. Feb 11, Charles rated it liked it. I think Robert Louis Wilken is fantastic, but this is the weakest book of his that I have read. It is not that it is bad, or wrong, or stupid, in any way. The result is that a reader can learn something, or can even learn quite a bit, but the experience is too much like reading an encyclopedia.
On the other hand, the book does consis I think Robert Louis Wilken is fantastic, but this is the weakest book of his that I have read. On the other hand, the book does consistently excel in one thing—communicating the loss suffered when Islam dominated or exterminated Christianity in its lands of first flourishing, from northern Africa to Mesopotamia. Throughout the book Wilken emphasizes several themes, so there is at least some integration among chapters. One is the centrality of community to Christians since the earliest years of Christianity, with consequent collective memory, often tied to tangible things.
This was always an extremely demanding community, for centuries requiring public confession and rigorous penance. Although, among those demands is not having contempt for others, unfortunately for me. Moreover, Trinitarian theology also emphasized the communality of God, of which Christian communality was a reflection, creating a type of virtuous circle of community, reaching from Heaven to earth. This ties to a second theme—the development of theology over time. Not new theology, but the deepening of thought and understanding on many topics.
In his earlier "The Spirit of Early Christian Thought," Wilken discusses the theology of the Trinity through this lens; here, the focus is on the development of the theology surrounding the simultaneous divine and human natures of Christ. I find this fascinating, just as I find Christian heresies extremely interesting. Related to this second theme is a third, that intra-Christian disputes were the norm, rather than the exception, throughout the first thousand years of Christianity.
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This was true among theologians, and it was also true among the various centers of ecclesiastical power in the East with the West, centered on Rome, also being involved during much of the period, with a gap after the decline of the Western Roman Empire. We are used to the idea that ongoing Christian disputes are rare, of minor importance, and either, for Protestants, decided by the individual, or for Catholics, ultimately decided by the Pope at least until the past few years, when we have been disserved by Pope Francis.
But this was most definitely not true of early Christianity, where significant disputes were common and usually settled by church councils. Some of those disputes were with currents of thought wholly outside mainstream Christianity, most notably Gnosticism.
Others were within Christianity, but still were very substantial and led to lasting cracks. The latter led to whole groups regarding themselves as partially separate, including the Nestorian Christians, whose persecution by the Byzantines resulted, in part, in their cooperation with Muslim conquerors, whom they saw as heretics, not a new religion, a blind spot they recognized too late.
Beginning at the beginning, in Jerusalem, Wilken moves outward in time and space, first to the journeys of Paul, and thence to other areas of the Middle East to which Christianity spread, gradually increasing its hold on the population. Almost all of these areas are areas we think of as Muslim today. He also talks about numerous important individuals, some still famous today Origen; Gregory of Nyssa; Athanasius; Maximus the Confessor and many less famous, at least in the West Shenoute, abbot of the giant White Monastery in Egypt; Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet, created as part of the work of conversion.
He talks of church dependence on the state, and of its independence. He also discusses the tangled Christian relationship with the Jews—not the later, medieval one of pogroms, but one where Jews, who had large numbers in the Roman Empire, often persecuted Christians, and got the same and more in return. Naturally, Church councils, including Nicaea and Chalcedon, receive a lot of attention, both for the events themselves and for their subsequent ripples through history.
- The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity by Robert L. Wilken.
- The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity (Robert Louis Wilken) • The Worthy House.
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Art and architecture, music and literature, are also extensively covered. But perhaps keeping such hordes at bay is what tungsten rods dropped from orbit are for. Finally, as Islam crests over the historic Christian heartlands, Wilken turns more to the West being reborn, through the Carolingians, the spread of Christianity to the British Isles, and the groundwork for the Crusades being laid as Islam continued to choke the life out of Christians and their culture in the places conquered by the troops of Muhammad and his successors.
But all of these topics get covered in chapters of ten pages or less, and multiple topics are covered in each chapter. Again, this is inherent in the structure of capsule history, and in trying to cover a thousand years in a day. My original plan was to use this as an audiobook to educate my older children in the car as I drove them to school. As an education device for teenagers, this book may be boring to them, and a little boring to me, but it communicates all the relevant information, so maybe I will make them read it after all!
Communicate information is all it does, though, which should be enough, but somehow I was expecting more. An excellent, non-Euro-centric history of the first millennium of Christianity! Gives great context for the Eastern churches, and doesn't shy away from the rise of Islam in formerly Catholic areas. Clearly meticulously researched, yet easily readable even for the non-academic; just often enough, he recaps what he's just explained at length, highlighting the overall importance of what might otherwise seem like minutiae.
No footnotes, although a lengthy bibliography at the An excellent, non-Euro-centric history of the first millennium of Christianity! No footnotes, although a lengthy bibliography at the back. AND each chapter is an even ten pages, which made it perfect for bedside reading! It exceeded my expectations, and shifted my worldview just a bit! Feb 02, Sarah rated it it was amazing Shelves: Wilken's book is a shining exemplar of solid, elegantly written historical narrative, accessible to non-scholars. In my mind, it displaces Chadwick as my top recommendation for nonspecialists. He approaches the history of the church as a hist Wilken's book is a shining exemplar of solid, elegantly written historical narrative, accessible to non-scholars.
He approaches the history of the church as a history of cultures and societies as much as it is a history of ideas and beliefs. Here are some of the topics Wilken highlights that don't get as much attention in traditionally assigned histories: Jun 16, Fred rated it it was amazing. Wilkens has given us a readable, accessible, comprehensive history of the spread of Christianity over its first years. He shows how the church starts as a group of outsiders committed to proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus and creating communities wherever they went.
But as it grew, even through persecution, it gained acceptability through the conversion of Wilkens has given us a readable, accessible, comprehensive history of the spread of Christianity over its first years. But as it grew, even through persecution, it gained acceptability through the conversion of prominent people. This led to societal transformation, including schools, written languages, laws, monestaries, hospitals and, of course, churches.
He discusses, architecture and art as well as philosophy and the key theological debates across the first thousand years. Above all this is the story of the progression and digression of people of faith and the communities they developed. Mar 28, Stephen rated it really liked it. Although I have taught much of this era to college history classes, I learned a lot from several chapters in this book. It provided great insights into the formation of the structures of worship in the church which we often take for granted as always having been there.
Wilken writes well about the influence of the church on the development of art and music.
The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity
It came highly recommended and deserved the high rating. The author's writing is interesting and accessible A couple of Although I have taught much of this era to college history classes, I learned a lot from several chapters in this book. A couple of the later chapters seemed to be written just to fill out his consideration of the "global" aspects of early Christianity. Mar 04, Lance Kinzer rated it really liked it. For a relatively brief book "The First Thousand Years" covers a great deal of ground in an engaging fashion. As a matter of necessity many important issues and figures are treated in only summary fashion, but as an introduction it is a valuable work.
I wish that the author had given greater attention to the substance of Western arguments against the veneration of icons and the Filioque question, but of course there are more specialized works where these can be found. May 27, Ryan rated it really liked it. A fairly good history of the first thousand years ending with the Baptism of Vladimir and the Slavs. Fills in a lot of gaps that most introductions to Church history fail to cover like art and architecture. I also appreciate him getting into the ancient Nubian church which lives only in the memory of a small company of scholars today.
May 01, Kent rated it liked it Shelves: Some things that stood out to me: To give a flavor, this book, among other things, Overall, a good read. At times I got lost in the geography and the large cast of characters and peoples, which detracted a bit. This is all the more impressive because as the Christian community grew the line separating the church and 'the world' were blurred if not erased.
The parade of luminaries is impressive: Yet Augustine towers above all. It is not hyperbolic to say that during his lifetime he was the most intelligent man in the Mediterranean world. From the time of Plato and Aristotle, the great philosophers of ancient Greece, across more than fifteen centuries until Thomas Aquinas in the High Middle Ages, he has no equal.
More than any other Christian author in the early centuries, he is a world. He lived very long, seventy-six years, and wrote more profusely and thought more profoundly than any other early Christian, and his vigorous intelligence and fertile imagination moved across a much larger canvas. Care must be taken to order the guild of undertakers to place a very big and heavy stone on his grave to stop him coming back here.
Few irruptions in history have transformed societies as rapidly and irrevocably as did the conquest and expansion of the Arabs of Islam in the seventh century. And none came with greater swiftness. Of all the history books I've had to read, I probably enjoyed this one the most of all.
This is a book that is written almost in story book fashion. It's not like a textbook like it was meant to be.
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As the title points out, it covers the first thousand years of Christianity and its rise. It begins with a very brief overview of the life of Jesus. It talks about the Acts of the Apostles; the controversies in the early Church such as: It outlines Of all the history books I've had to read, I probably enjoyed this one the most of all. It outlines the formation of the organized church, Papias Greek Apostolic Father, Bishop of Hierapolis pushing for the Gospels to be written down, and for the rule of Bishop like you'd see in the early Catholic church.
It covers a broad range of topics like the first instances of Monasticism, the Gnostic Gospels and arguments against them, and the people started them.
There's a lot more, and too much for an overview. I thought this was a very well-written history book. It has more of a storybook type tone that really guides you through different time periods in an interesting and frankly enjoyable way to read. I would recommend it to anyone who would like to know more about the early church, and the formation of the church as you would see it today. I give it 5 stars. A very clear, concise, and captivating review of the early history of the Church.
I've taken a class in seminary which required this text, and I would recommend it to Christians in general for its non-scholarly tone, and its openness to the neglected areas of history like the rise of Islam and the Church of the East. I also liked it was approximately ten pages for each chapter which led to smooth progression from one step in history to the other without being too overbearing on a specific subjec A very clear, concise, and captivating review of the early history of the Church.
I also liked it was approximately ten pages for each chapter which led to smooth progression from one step in history to the other without being too overbearing on a specific subject. Oct 31, Brian rated it it was amazing Shelves: Moreover, Trinitarian theology also emphasized the communality of God, of which Christian communality was a reflection, creating a type of virtuous circle of community, reaching from Heaven to earth. This ties to a second theme—the development of theology over time. Not new theology, but the deepening of thought and understanding on many topics.
In his earlier The Spirit of Early Christian Thought , Wilken discusses the theology of the Trinity through this lens; here, the focus is on the development of the theology surrounding the simultaneous divine and human natures of Christ. I find this fascinating, just as I find Christian heresies extremely interesting. Related to this second theme is a third, that intra-Christian disputes were the norm, rather than the exception, throughout the first thousand years of Christianity. This was true among theologians, and it was also true among the various centers of ecclesiastical power in the East with the West, centered on Rome, also being involved during much of the period, with a gap after the decline of the Western Roman Empire.
We are used to the idea that ongoing Christian disputes are rare, of minor importance, and either, for Protestants, decided by the individual, or for Catholics, ultimately decided by the Pope at least until the past few years, when we have been disserved by Pope Francis. But this was most definitely not true of early Christianity, where significant disputes were common and usually settled by church councils. Some of those disputes were with currents of thought wholly outside mainstream Christianity, most notably Gnosticism. Others were within Christianity, but still were very substantial and led to lasting cracks.
The latter led to whole groups regarding themselves as partially separate, including the Nestorian Christians, whose persecution by the Byzantines resulted, in part, in their cooperation with Muslim conquerors, whom they saw as heretics, not a new religion, a blind spot they recognized too late. Beginning at the beginning, in Jerusalem, Wilken moves outward in time and space, first to the journeys of Paul, and thence to other areas of the Middle East to which Christianity spread, gradually increasing its hold on the population. Almost all of these areas are areas we think of as Muslim today.
He also talks about numerous important individuals, some still famous today Origen; Gregory of Nyssa; Athanasius; Maximus the Confessor and many less famous, at least in the West Shenoute, abbot of the giant White Monastery in Egypt; Mashtots, inventor of the Armenian alphabet, created as part of the work of conversion.
The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity - Robert Louis Wilken - Google Книги
He talks of church dependence on the state, and of its independence. He also discusses the tangled Christian relationship with the Jews—not the later, medieval one of pogroms, but one where Jews, who had large numbers in the Roman Empire, often persecuted Christians, and got the same and more in return. Naturally, Church councils, including Nicaea and Chalcedon, receive a lot of attention, both for the events themselves and for their subsequent ripples through history.