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The Triumph Of Christianity: How The Jesus Movement Became The World's Largest Religion (2011)

by Rodney Stark(Favorite Author)

4.21 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0062007688 (ISBN13: 9780062007681)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

HarperCollins Publishers (NYC)

review 1: Thought-provoking and accessible sociological explanation about the rise of Christianity that brings together Stark's findings from more than five of us previous publications. I was a bit surprised at the polemical tone as Stark debunks one historical myth after another though this style certainly keeps the reader interested. Most of the sources cited are used effectively for his argument while in a few places where I find an authoritative source lacking.
review 2: I've long been a fan of Rodney Stark, starting with his influential book The Rise of Christianity. This book covers similar ground, but expands to travel through all of church history. It is perhaps a sort of magnum opus, since readers familiar to Stark will see things he covered in other of his bo... moreoks too. But basic church history this is not, instead you could call it church history through a sociologist's eyes.Or perhaps, everything you think you know about how Christianity grew is wrong!Stark takes pleasure in bursting a lot of false ideas we have about christian history and religion. Just a few he covers here:*Do you think Christianity grew among the poor in its earliest days? Wrong! Like most new religious movements, Christianity caught on with upper classes. This is because upper classes have the free time to explore new religions while lower classes tend to not have such time and thus stick with the traditions.*Did Christianity grow through mass revivals and conversions? Nope. If you take the number of Christians in Constantine's day (325 CE) and the number reported in the book of Acts all you need is about 3% growth per year to get there. Christianity grew slowly but steadily. Along with that, the things Stark writes about why people convert, social networks and religious capital, is fascinating.*Was the fall of the Roman Empire the beginning of a dark age? No, and most historians now do not call it that, despite what you hear on the popular level. Technology continued to advance in this era on many fronts, from agriculture to warfare to politics. The whole "dark age" mythology arose because elites during the enlightenment did not see the sort of cultural advances elites tend to be drawn to, such as literature. Though, ironically, the languages the elites in the Enlightenment wrote in all flowered during the so-called Dark Ages.*Were witch-burnings a trait of close-minded religious medievals? No. Actually witch burning happened most frequently after the Renaissance due to the political and other cultural structures being shaken. In places where there was political unrest and turmoil, witches were burned as structure broke down. In places, such as Spain, surprisingly, few witches were burned as ordered investigations often exonerated the accused or gave room for them to repent.And so on. If you enjoy history, want to learn about the growth of Christianity, or want to learn the other side of some common accusations against Christians throughout history, check this out. less

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