When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity

Bakke paints a fascinating picture of children's first realemergence as people against a backdrop of the ancientworld.

Using theological and social history research, Bakkecompares Greco-Roman and Christian attitudes towardabortion and child prostitution, pedagogy and moralupbringing, and the involvement of children in liturgy andchurch life. He also assesses Christian attitudes towardchildren in the church's developing doctrinal commitments.

Today, growing numbers of children are impoverished,exploited, abandoned, orphaned, or killed. Bakke's insightfulwork begins to untangle the roots of their complex plight.