The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. By Robert Louis Wilken. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2012. x + 390 pp. $35.00 cloth; $22.00 paper.

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity . Robert Louis Wilken . New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press , 2012. x + 390 pp. $35.00 cloth; $22.00 paper.Book Reviews and NotesWith this book, Robert Louis Wilken, one of most distinguished patristic scholars of our time, presents a history of first Christian millennium that is both scholarly rigorous and accessible for general reader.Any historical periodization is to some extent arbitrary, and so is definition of end of Christianity. Wilken carries his narrative beyond usual markers, such as barbarian invasions, pontificate of Gregory Great or iconoclastic controversy in Byzantium. He has chosen two significant developments to conclude his volume: reign of Charlemagne in West (often, it seems, neglected in Anglo-Saxon scholarship) and establishment of Christianity among Kiev Rus in 988. By year 1000, he argues, the map of early Christian world was largely complete (1) and lasted for centuries to come.The title indicates scope of book: Christianity as a global phenomenon already in first millennium. This includes not only Mediterranean world, but also Middle East, and later northern and eastern Europe. Wilken pays particular attention to Syriac-speaking Christianity and his view extends to such regions as Nubia, Ethiopia, Persia, India, and China. Special consideration is given to rise and spread of Islam, which proved to be most consequential external factor in shaping Christian history of first millennium. Wilken records early experiences of Christians under Muslim rule, and his dispassionate account of martyrs of Cordoba helps to dispel anachronistic notions of coexistence of religions in conquered Spain.Church history is often dominated by questions of doctrinal and theological development, and this is for good reasons. author gives admirably clear and concise accounts of Council of Nicaea and of Christological controversies of fifth century. However, strength of book lies in its treatment of how Christian faith formed and transformed cultures. As in previous publications, Wilken shows a particular sensitivity to questions of language, but also to rituals, institutions, laws, works of charity, and arts. Thus book includes chapters on Architecture and Art, Music and Worship, and The Sick, Aged, and Poor: Birth of Hospitals. …