The Rise of Christianity

1997-05-09
The Rise of Christianity

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  • Author: Rodney Stark
  • Publisher: Harper Collins
  • ISBN: 0060677015
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 274

This "fresh, blunt, and highly persuasive account of how the West was won—for Jesus" (Newsweek) is now available in paperback. Stark's provocative report challenges conventional wisdom and finds that Christianity's astounding dominance of the Western world arose from its offer of a better, more secure way of life. "Compelling reading" (Library Journal) that is sure to "generate spirited argument" (Publishers Weekly), this account of Christianity's remarkable growth within the Roman Empire is the subject of much fanfare. "Anyone who has puzzled over Christianity's rise to dominance...must read it." says Yale University's Wayne A. Meeks, for The Rise of Christianity makes a compelling case for startling conclusions. Combining his expertise in social science with historical evidence, and his insight into contemporary religion's appeal, Stark finds that early Christianity attracted the privileged rather than the poor, that most early converts were women or marginalized Jews—and ultimately "that Christianity was a success because it proved those who joined it with a more appealing, more assuring, happier, and perhaps longer life" (Andrew M. Greeley, University of Chicago).

The Rise of Christianity

1984-01-01
The Rise of Christianity

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  • Author: W. H. C. Frend
  • Publisher: Fortress Press
  • ISBN: 9781451419528
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 1048

Traces the early history of the Christian church from Jewish Palestine prior to Christ's birth to the sixth century monastic movement, and explains how Christianity survived under a variety of cultures

Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity

2002-04-17
Jesus and the Rise of Early Christianity

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  • Author: Paul Barnett
  • Publisher: InterVarsity Press
  • ISBN: 9780830826995
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 452

Paul Barnett not only places the New Testament within the world of caesars and Herods, proconsuls and Pharisees, Sadducee and revolutionaries, but argues that the mainspring and driving force of early Christian history is the historical Jesus.

The Emergence of Christianity

2010-10-01
The Emergence of Christianity

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  • Author: Cynthia White
  • Publisher: Fortress Press
  • ISBN: 0800697472
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 238

This brief survey text tells the story of early Christianity. Cynthia White explores the emergence of Christianity in Rome during the first four centuries of the Greco-Roman empire, from the first followers of Jesus Christ, to conflicts between Christians and Jewish kings under Roman occupation, to the torture of Christian followers, Diocletian's reforms, and Constantine's eventual conversion to monotheism, which cemented Christianity's status as the official religion of Rome. The text's chapters will integrate key pedagogy, including introductions, study questions, textboxes, photos, maps, suggested readings, and a glossary and timeline.

Religious Rivalries in the Early Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity

2006-04-21
Religious Rivalries in the Early Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity

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  • Author: Leif E. Vaage
  • Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
  • ISBN: 0889205361
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 344

Religious Rivalries in the Early Roman Empire and the Rise of Christianity discusses the diverse cultural destinies of early Christianity, early Judaism, and other ancient religious groups as a question of social rivalry. The book is divided into three main sections. The first section debates the degree to which the category of rivalry adequately names the issue(s) that must be addressed when comparing and contrasting the social “success” of different religious groups in antiquity. The second is a critical assessment of the common modern category of “mission” to describe the inner dynamic of such a process; it discusses the early Christian apostle Paul, the early Jewish historian Josephus, and ancient Mithraism. The third section of the book is devoted to “the rise of Christianity,” primarily in response to the similarly titled work of the American sociologist of religion Rodney Stark. While it is not clear that any of these groups imagined its own success necessarily entailing the elimination of others, it does seem that early Christianity had certain habits, both of speech and practice, which made it particularly apt to succeed (in) the Roman Empire.

A Star in the East

2015-05-02
A Star in the East

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  • Author: Rodney Stark
  • Publisher: Templeton Foundation Press
  • ISBN: 1599474883
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 160

What is the state of Christianity in China, really? Some scholars say that China is invulnerable to religion. Some say that past efforts of missionaries have failed, writing off those who were converted as nothing more than “rice Christians,” or cynical souls who had frequented the missions for the benefits they provided. Some wonder if the Cultural Revolution extinguished any chances of Christianity in China. Rodney Stark and Xiuhua Wang offer a different perspective, arguing that Christianity is alive, well, and even on the rise. Stark approaches the topic from an extensive research background in both Christianity and Chinese history, and Wang provides an inside look at Christianity and its place in her home country of China. Both authors cover the history of religion in China, disproving older theories concerning not only the number of Christians, but the kinds of Christians that have emerged in the past 155 years. Stark and Wang claim that when just considering the visible Christians, those not part of underground churches, there are still thousands of Chinese being converted to Christianity each day, and forty new churches opening each week. A Star in the East draws on two major national surveys to sketch a close-up of religion in China. A reliable estimate is that by 2007 there were approximately 60 million Christians in China. If the current rate of growth were to hold until 2030, there would be more Christians in China—about 295 million—than in any other nation on earth. This has significant implications, not just for China but for the greater world order. It is probable that Chinese Christianity will splinter into denominations, likely leading to the same kinds of political, social, and economic ramifications seen in the West today. Whether you’re new to studying Christianity in China, or whether this has been your area of interest for years, A Star in the East provides a reliable, thought-provoking, and engaging account of the resilience of the Christian faith in China and the implications it has for the future.

The Rise of Christianity Through the Eyes of Gibbon, Harnack and Rodney Stark

2010
The Rise of Christianity Through the Eyes of Gibbon, Harnack and Rodney Stark

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  • Author: Jan N. Bremmer
  • Publisher: Barkhuis
  • ISBN: 9077922709
  • Category : Biography & Autobiography
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 98

The rise of Christianity up to the victory of Constantine has often been studied and remains a puzzling phenomenon. In this valedictory lecture Jan N. Bremmer concentrates on the explanations adduced, focusing in particular on the works of three iconic figures from the last two hundred and fifty years: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire of Edward Gibbon, the most famous ancient historian of all time, at the end of the eighteenth century; Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums of Adolf von Harnack, the greatest historian of early Christianity of all time, around 1900, and The Rise of Christianity of Rodney Stark, the most adventurous sociologist of religion of our times, at the end of the twentieth century.Bremmer locates their concerns and explanations within their own times, but also takes them seriously as scholars, discussing their analyses and approaches. In this way he shows both the continuities and the innovations in the evolving view which scholarship presents of early Christianity. Bremmer's exceptional knowledge of the huge range of scholarship and his humane and balanced judgment make this lecture the ideal introduction to the many problems raised by Christianity's displacement of paganism

The Rise of Christianity

2001
The Rise of Christianity

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  • Author: Don Nardo
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN: 9781560068082
  • Category : History
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 112

Now one of the world's predominant religions, Christianity survived difficult beginnings during a turbulent time in history. The authors of the essays in this volume discuss the birth, growth, and spread of Christianity as well as the problems faced by the early christians.

The Rise of Christianity

2024-02-05
The Rise of Christianity

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  • Author: Ernest William Barnes
  • Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
  • ISBN: 3368655809
  • Category : Fiction
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 378

Reprint of the original, first published in 1948.

The Rise of Normative Christianity

2004-07-05
The Rise of Normative Christianity

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  • Author: Arland J. Hultgren
  • Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
  • ISBN: 1592447384
  • Category : Religion
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 225

More than fifty years ago, Walter Bauer's 'Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity' undercut the traditional views on the making of orthodox Christianity by arguing that in several geographic areas, heresy preceded orthodoxy. Subsequently, the ancient documents discovered at Nag Hammadi proved that early Christianity was tremendously diverse. These influences have given rise to the notion that the various gnostic interpretations are mere alternatives to more traditional interpretations of Jesus and his significance. Using a focused but broad definition of normative Christianity, Hultgren contends that such a tradition originated at the very beginnings of the Christian movements, developed, and came to dominate as the most adequate expression of Jesus' legacy. Normative Christianity - a stream as wide as the New Testament canon - forged a coherence between confession of faith and community ethos that could endure and was the basis for later orthodoxy.