Abstract
Dr. John Martens is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas, where his specialization is the New Testament and early Christianity. He is currently the Scripture columnist at America Magazine and will soon publish a commentary on the Gospel of Mark. He has presented numerous papers and published articles and a book, “let the little children come to me:” childhood and children in early Christianity, on children in Judaism, Christianity and the Greco-Roman world. Dr. Martens will discuss the lives of children in the ancient Roman Empire and what difference Christianity made in the lives of children.