Rise of Christianity: How to obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force ....

Great, thorough book

I really enjoyed this book, thought it was great and definitely would recommend it to others. I would also pretty much agree with the first reviewer of this book, including his statement that the author's knowledge of Christian history is "quite good" and about the "constant reference" to other historians. The latter was a reassurance to me that the author had studied the subject thoroughly. And I also very much agreed with the book author that "...we must be very cautious not to fill the blanks with fantasy and science fiction."(pg 26) But concerning the first reviewer's comment that Christian "growth was gradual", the spirit of the writing gives you the opposite opinion. As the author states: "In the of rate of growth, it probably did not. But because of the rather extraordinary features of exponential curves, this probably was a period of 'miraculous-seeming' growth in terms of absolute numbers."(pg 7) One more point from the first reviewer that I thought missed the spirit of the writing was that "membership in a Christian community was more of being born into it rather that to new converts". You don't get that distinct of a point when reading the book. While the author doesn't go into "personal faith" (and I don't see how he could've), he explains intricately that Christian conversions were extremely more successful with close, personnal relationships and family members. The book still shows people being converted, not some brain-washed member or citizen of a Christianized community. But otherwise, the book came across to me, especially as I pondered it after reading the whole thing, was that the author had much respect and admiration for early Christianity: The vast improvement in Christians' quality of lives, health, rules of conduct, respect for women, respect for the unborn, etc. I did disagree on a few theological points of the author's (Here are just a couple: 1. there probably weren't mass-conversions to Christianity--ever heard of Billy Graham? and 2. "Both Peter and Paul sanctioned marriage between Christians and pagans" See I Cor.6:14-15), but I chalk that up to him maybe not being a born-again Christian! Outside of those, I thought most of his arguments and history were correct. Read and see for yourself.

Sociologist corrects misconceptions about early Christianity

This book is easy reading, and makes some valuable points. I highly recommend it. It should be noted that Stark is a sociologist, not a historian. The intent of the book is to show that modern sociological methods and observations can shed new insights on the past, and can discover clues that traditional historians have missed. Throughout the book Stark gives some good basic discussion of sociological methodology, making sure the reader recognizes its empirical basis. As such, the book almost works as an introduction to sociology in general. Nonetheless, Stark's knowledge of early Christian history is quite good, and he makes constant reference to the opinions reputable historians. Stark takes a lot of time answering the question of how fast did the Christian community grow during its first three centuries. He soundly concludes that the growth was gradual, and not unlike the growth observed in modern sects. As the opinion that Christianity experienced a burst of rapid growth is common among historians, Stark goes to great depth to refute it, and to give the contrary opinion a firm foundation. Firmly establishing this opinion is essential to the remainder of the book, which examines the sources for this growth; and if the growth rate was modest, its sources would not have needed to be out of the ordinary. He evaluates the social climate of the time, dealing in the problems of ancient city life, the role of women, wealth and poverty, and more, each in its own chapter. Attention is also given to the early Christians strong respect for life in all respects, opposing abortion, war, and the execution of criminals. Further attention is also given to the fact that early Christianity was not so much a 'personal faith', but membership in a community. The community established rules of conduct, and duties for each individual. Stark argues that Christian ethics directly equated to a better quality of life, longer lifespans and an increase in offspring. He contrasts this with the decline of Roman society at large. Stark notes that much of the growth of early Christianity was due to children being born into it, rather than to new converts. Still, Stark makes a detailed analysis of how and why new converts were attracted to the movement, and what social classes they came from. This book intentionally avoids any discussion as to the truth or falsity of Christian doctrines, and doesn't discuss any theological controversies. The important issue merely being how those doctrines influenced believers actions. Stark is very careful not to offend anyone, and rarely strays from the point he is making. Upon finishing the book, I still had no firm idea as to Stark's own religious opinions and biases. Stark's conclusions are few, modest and convincing. They are radical only because they reject several widely held misconceptions. I found the book to be valuable reading. In fact, it is likely the single book I have most recommended to others.

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