The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries - Softcover

Rodney Stark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060677015 ISBN 13: 9780060677015

Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997

Synopsis

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).

About this title

Review:

... fresh, blunt, and highly persuasive account of how the West was won for Jesus --Newsweek

Compelling reading --Library Journal

... sure to generate spirited argument --Publishers Weekly

Compelling reading...highly recommended. --Library Journal

This book raises, simply and brilliantly, just the kinds of questions anyone concerned with early Christianity should ask. --The Christian Century

About the Author:

Rodney Stark grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota, and began his career as a newspaper reporter. Following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, he received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments as a research sociologist at the Survey Research Center and at the Center for the Study of Law and Society. He left Berkeley to become Professor of Sociology and of Comparative Religion at the University of Washington. In 2004 he joined the faculty of Baylor University. He has published 30 books and more than 140 scholarly articles on subjects as diverse as prejudice, crime, suicide, and city life in ancient Rome. However, the greater part of his work has been on religion. He is past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and of the Association for the Sociology of Religion. He also has won a number of national and international awards for distinguished scholarship. Many of his books and articles have been translated and published in foreign languages, including Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Slovene, and Turkish.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0060677015
• ISBN 13: 9780060677015
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272