The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion
The religious historian and author of God's Battalions delivers an accessible and illuminating account of Christianity's rise in the West.
In The Triumph of Christianity, celebrated sociologist and religious historian Rodney Stark traces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal and controversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world's largest religion. Stark gathers and distills decades of authoritative research into a concise and highly readable volume that explores Christianity's most crucial episodes.
Stark begins with an overview of the pre-Christian religious landscape before examining how Christianity spread among the Roman Empire's elite—especially women—and then expanded throughout Europe. Eschewing dense chronologies, Stark delivers a fascinating and often surprising narrative, bringing readers right to the heart of Christian history's most vital controversies and enduring lessons.
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The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion
The religious historian and author of God's Battalions delivers an accessible and illuminating account of Christianity's rise in the West.
In The Triumph of Christianity, celebrated sociologist and religious historian Rodney Stark traces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal and controversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world's largest religion. Stark gathers and distills decades of authoritative research into a concise and highly readable volume that explores Christianity's most crucial episodes.
Stark begins with an overview of the pre-Christian religious landscape before examining how Christianity spread among the Roman Empire's elite—especially women—and then expanded throughout Europe. Eschewing dense chronologies, Stark delivers a fascinating and often surprising narrative, bringing readers right to the heart of Christian history's most vital controversies and enduring lessons.
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The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion

The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion

by Rodney Stark
The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion

The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion

by Rodney Stark

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Overview

The religious historian and author of God's Battalions delivers an accessible and illuminating account of Christianity's rise in the West.
In The Triumph of Christianity, celebrated sociologist and religious historian Rodney Stark traces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal and controversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world's largest religion. Stark gathers and distills decades of authoritative research into a concise and highly readable volume that explores Christianity's most crucial episodes.
Stark begins with an overview of the pre-Christian religious landscape before examining how Christianity spread among the Roman Empire's elite—especially women—and then expanded throughout Europe. Eschewing dense chronologies, Stark delivers a fascinating and often surprising narrative, bringing readers right to the heart of Christian history's most vital controversies and enduring lessons.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780062098702
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 02/27/2024
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 515
File size: 6 MB

About the Author

Rodney Stark is the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University. His thirty books on the history and sociology of religion include The Rise of Christianity, Cities of God, For the Glory of God, Discovering God, and The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success. Stark received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1 Christmas Eve

1 The Religious Context 9

2 Many Judaisms 33

Part 2 Christianizing the Empire

3 Jesus and the Jesus Movement 49

4 Missions to the Jews and the Gentiles 71

5 Christianity and Privilege 87

6 Misery and Mercy 105

7 Appeals to Women 121

8 Persecution and Commitment 137

9 Assessing Christian Growth 153

Part 3 Consolidating Christian Europe

10 Constantine's Very Mixed Blessings 169

11 The Demise of Paganism 183

12 Islam and the Destruction of Eastern and North African Christianity 199

13 Europe Responds: The Case for the Crusades 213

Part 4 Medieval Currents

14 The "Dark Ages" and Other Mythical Eras 237

15 The People's Religion 255

16 Faith and the Scientific "Revolution" 273

Part 5 Christianity Divided

17 Two "Churches" and the Challenge of Heresy 299

18 Luther's Reformation 315

19 The Shocking Truth About the Spanish Inquisition 333

Part 6 New Worlds and Christian Growth

20 Pluralism and American Piety 353

21 Secularization: Facts and Fantasies 369

22 Globalization 387

Conclusion 413

Bibliography 419

Notes 461

Index 495

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